My friend spent the summer searching for a job in the communications field. She applied to one place that was advertising for someone with social media and communications experience. It seemed perfect for her! Three days later they did an interview with her and said they wanted a communications manager but with more social media experience. She was surprised because based on the job ad she said, it did not specify this. She later went back to the site she found the post on and it was no longer posted but there was one for the social media manager.

In another instance she applied to a company that was looking for someone with communications experience of five years or more. She had seven, so she applied. During the interview process she was told they wanted someone with marketing experience. Once again this was something that was not listed on the job listing.

Just recently she got in touch with me, sharing her frustration about the current job market. She has found an abundance of openings for communication related roles, but now it’s almost as though employers are expecting too much from potential employees. Not only do many of these jobs require marketing, branding and public relations expertise plus the ability to lift 30lbs, but they also often ask for certifications or even degrees.

In the past year jobs seemed more geared towards focusing on one function. If you had a multiple skill set, they would turn you down. Now they want you to be able to have three to four skills; including lifting. I understand companies wanting to be “lean” and “agile” but at what point can you consider this a form of moving the goal post?