Employers don't hire hybrids, well that’s BS!
“You can’t always get what you want…” Sound familiar?
What hybrid professionals want is to find hybrid jobs and get hired BECAUSE of their hybridity, and it is possible.
Yet, hybrids tell me, “Sarabeth, employers aren’t ready for this. They’re only hiring hyperspecialists or deep experts. I like this concept, but the world isn’t ready for it.”
And, you know what my response is?
That’s BS!
And, you know why I think that? Here’s why:
My biggest piece of advice is if an employer doesn’t hire you for your hybridity, then that’s the wrong job and employer for you in the first place. Employers who understand hybridity also recognize its value, and you become a unicorn in their eyes.
Hybridity means you’re a type of “specialized generalist” (in the words of Tim Ferriss) and that means you’re rare, one-of-a-kind, and not many people can do what you do. You represent hard to find talent that any employer would be lucky to have. Employers who don’t recognize hybridity as an asset don’t understand the future of work and how to stay competitive. It shows you their mindset is already behind the curve (shall we say fixed instead of growth?).
When I encounter this in my own job searches or in potential consulting gigs, I say to myself, “Thank goodness! I just dodged a role that sounded enticing but actually isn’t going to meet my needs as a hybrid or be able to adapt with the times. NEXT!”
Essentially, the very notion that an employer or client “gets” hybridity is a hallmark that they’re the type of company or client I want to work with. And if they don’t get it, then it’s not going to be the right fit so why force it or feel rejected? Research tells us that values alignment is a huge indicator of success for any type of work, and valuing hybridity out of the gate lets me know if I should pursue an opportunity further or not.
If employers don’t understand why they should hire hybrid workers, I see it as a time saver in a job search instead of a metric that the job market isn’t ready for hybrids.
On the flip side…awareness of hybrid professionals is still just emerging.
The concept of hybrid professionals is just starting to reach mainstream, but it hasn’t saturated employer, recruiter, or HR thinking yet. What that means is at this stage awareness and education are still required to help companies understand the necessity of hybrid talent. It takes the effort of many people talking about an idea to popularize it and adopt it, but widespread knowledge of hybrid professionals is on its way to happening.
From the perspective of a hybrid professional, you have to take responsibility for helping educate employers about hybrid identity, what it means, and how it brings more to the table in addition to fulfilling whatever specialized role they’re trying to fill. This takes finesse and practice. Some employers will see what you mean right away, and others won’t be convinced because they’re focused on placing a certain kind of talent.
You have to believe in your hybridity and why it’s a selling point in order to sell it as your greatest attribute.
Plus, share how hybrid jobs are growing twice as fast as traditional work because it can’t be automated or outsourced. It’s work that only humans who have a breadth of expertise can do. That should get their attention.
What I know is that employers ARE hiring hybrid talent. That’s a fact.
Some are doing this consciously and others unconsciously. See my blog post on hybrid job postings to read what I mean. It’s all about the language they’re using directly and indirectly. You have to be a detective to suss out when a posting implies they need a hybrid professional, even if they don’t realize they’re looking for one. In your cover letter and interviews, you need to explain to them that what they stated in the job post infers a person who has intertwined skills and identities, and that’s who you are. Ta da! Like a magic trick.
Also, these are real stats compiled by Burning Glass in their Hybrid Jobs report in 2019. It shows how traditional workers have to combine divergent skills to be competitive for new jobs:
57% of engineering positions now require business and leadership skills
More than half of all IT jobs now require some form of digital design
Marketing managers who know SQL make 41% more money than those who do not
Do you believe me yet?
The final thing I have to add is hybrid everything is trending right now. We’ve never seen a time where so many tings are hybridizing at once—events, learning, work, workplaces, and jobs. It’s just a matter of time before employers and society realize that if products, places, and experiences are hybridizing, then people are too.