People Share Unrealistic Requirements They Get When Trying To Find A Job, And Here Are 40 Of The Most Ridiculous Ones (New Pics)

Bored Panda reached out to Steven Mostyn, a best-selling author and CEO of LP Writers, a professional LinkedIn profile writing service, to talk about the disconnect between job seekers and hiring managers. He specializes in recruitment, resumes and job-hunting strategies, and for over 20 years has successfully coached hundreds into finding a new job.

According to Mostyn, one of the motives for setting unrealistic requirements is simply trying to find another worker who has the same set of skills and personality traits as the employee who left. “This is a massive mistake“, he said. “It is better for employers to have realistic expectations on hiring someone new for the role and train any areas that they will be missing. If employers fail to do so, they will never be satisfied with the new hire or have an open position for a very long time."

Another reason could be that employers often have too little tolerance for applicants who do not meet every role aspect. Mostyn agreed that it could be very discouraging: “The candidate may have tremendous skills, personality, and potential but might be overlooked due to unrealistic expectations by the employer,” he said.

Mostyn told us that if your talents meet the key aspects of the role, tell them all about it during the interview and explain what you can do for the company. “This can sometimes make the employers forget about looking at the nitty-gritty skills and make the focus on what is really important for the job,” he explained to Bored Panda.

However, candidates can also be too critical of themselves. According to this report, men usually apply for a job after meeting around 60% of the criteria, while women feel they need to meet 100%. But this also means that women are more likely to get hired since they make sure that all expectations are met.

Lastly, let's not forget new graduates. According to this study, out of almost 4 million job postings on LinkedIn, 35% asked for at least three years of work experience for an entry-level job. Steven Mostyn thinks that the laziness of the employer could be at fault here: “They do not want to go through the trouble and time of training and instead want someone ready to go. This might be fine for the short term, but the employer could lose big time in the future as a candidate with high potential could have done a better job.”

It's clear that expecting too much of your potential employees is harmful for everyone; companies can drag on with the search and applicants can experience a lack of confidence. Recruiters should be more realistic on what qualities the job actually needs instead of just ticking a bunch of boxes on the list. Just remember, if you have ever been in a situation like this, you can always turn to the r/recruitinghell community and share your own recruitment horror stories.