Let’s make hunting for jobs more like hailing an Uber

A good friend of mine was recently laid off after a successful 10-year run at two Fortune 100s. Over dinner last week, she described a dystopian job hunt that was draining her energy and confidence.

Hundreds of resume submissions through clunky career sites. Dozens of applications unanswered after weeks of waiting. Hiring managers cancelling interviews five minutes prior to their start. Rejection emails in 25 words or less – when they bothered to respond at all.

Sadly, I think we can all relate.

While many CEOs declare that hiring the best and most diverse talent is their top priority, talent acquisition has stagnated. We’re slow to adopt technology, underutilizing data to make better hiring decisions, and too passive in how we engage talent. 

It’s time to totally rethink recruiting from the ground up. 

Are bulleted job descriptions still the best way to convey roles and responsibilities? Is a static career site better than social media to share what it’s like to work somewhere? Are face-to-face interviews necessary to assess talent? And is it really so hard to transparently show candidates where they are in the hiring process?

I know we can do better. That’s why I joined Johnson & Johnson last year. 

My team and I are on a mission to reimagine recruiting. To see how we can tell a richer, more dynamic story about what it’s like to work here. To figure out how virtual reality, artificial intelligence and robotics can take our hiring efforts to the next level. To make sure hundreds of thousands of candidates each year can leave our recruiting process feeling satisfied and respected – even if they didn’t get the job.

I’m on an eight-week sprint to assemble the team to do just that. 

We have some brilliant people in our talent acquisition team today. Now we’re looking for different kind of people to augment our thinking.

People who understand what make others tick. Who get technology and how it can make things better. Who are bold enough to blow up the status quo, yet care enough to build something new.

Maybe you’re skeptical that a 130-year-old, Fortune 40 company is the place to shake things up. Good. A little skepticism is healthy. 

But you’d be surprised.

Like by how Johnson & Johnson was ranked the happiest place to work in America, five spots ahead of Google. Or how we’re one of the top 10 most desirable places to work in the world. Or how we’re innovating with the courage and agility of a startup.

I believe Johnson & Johnson has a truly worthy mission: to help people live longer, healthier and happier lives. As a talent acquisition organization, we have over 20,000 opportunities a year to better our teams and company, patients and society. And with every hire, we bring the world one person closer to a major breakthrough in healthcare.

Interested in disrupting recruiting in big ways? Looking for more purpose behind your paycheck? I think we should chat.

Message me if you’re interested in joining our team, or follow me and I’ll share our story along the way.

Hope to have you on our side.