I will always laugh at the job responsibilities associated with my current position as a corporate trainer. This role would require the following:

• Delivers live and virtual (online) instructor-led training to employees
• Leads or supports learning projects as assigned
• Perform other duties as requested or assigned

That’s it. They did a VERY good job of keeping the description vague enough to encompass any and all supporting tasks that may be required, and in doing so, likely avoided the chance of a lawsuit surrounding working outside of your job function.

Thankfully, the job description did not really influence my decision to apply for the role. I had already known that getting into training was something I wanted to do AND had already been somewhat head-hunted by the two managers on the team.

My experience on the job very much aligned with the listed description and responsibilities (see below) – the main focus of the role is delivering training content to different departments that we support. When not actively training a class, I’m assisting our design team with developing and updating the content to be delivered, or I’m partnering with internal clients determining what updates need to be made to existing material. All of these required tasks are included in the job description, so I’d say my role sticks quite closely to the listed experience. Adding a responsibility such as “perform other duties as required” is also a great way (from a job analysis perspective) to keep things vague enough to allow flexibility in day to day tasks. It is hard to claim “that’s not my job” when really anything could be considered an “other duty.”

I don’t have a picture of the exact job posting, but I did capture the information and email it to myself at the time of applying:

Scenario

You come across a news article reporting that your favorite company was faced with a public lawsuit in which they were accused of widespread discrimination against individuals from an ethnicity, culture, or belief system you associate with.

Thoughts

Recent executive orders and policies that have been put into play are unfortunately somewhat relevant to our prompt for this week. While the widespread discrimination may not be in effect just yet, there are several companies out there that are “showing their true colors,” so to speak, and have dropped their DEI policies that were previously in place. Seeing which companies decided to agree to this was an eye-opening experience for sure and left me in a position of needing to reevaluate the way I felt about each of them.

Before jumping to any conclusions, I would first need to do my own research, confirming that the rumors (of dropping DEI practices, or facing a lawsuit surrounding widespread discrimination) were true. If the research was fruitful, I do believe I would feel differently about each company – we were meant to have come such a long way since the discrimination in our country’s history, it would be disappointing to know we were heading back in that direction.

This change in perspective would also very likely influence my decisions to support the company as well, especially if I had relatively easy alternatives to do business. It can be hard to boycott certain companies, especially if living in a place that does not offer much variation. But, if there is a choice available, I would absolutely stand with the company that does NOT have discrimination lawsuits against them.

I would not willingly apply to work for a company that had a public lawsuit against them due to discrimination. Personally, I want to be proud of the company I work for, I want to share that with my peers who my employer is. If there is any sense of discomfort or uncertainty when sharing that information, that is not the company for me.

Marketing/Product Design over Recruitment?

Organizations may prioritize marketing or product design over employee recruitment because of the more immediate and visible outcomes. Some industries work in highly competitive markets and need to quickly differentiate themselves from their competitors. Ultimately, having the product to sell and the creative means to market it, is what is going to drive sales and increase revenue. On the other hand, when considering start ups or smaller companies, there is likely less resources available. Less money to “play” with means a stricter budget, and more focus spent on hot to bring money in quickly.

Recruitment and employee selection are often considered to be more long term investments, not necessarily yielding financial returns very quickly. Some companies, as mentioned above, may have to choose between investing in a marketing strategy, or product development, over strategic hiring practices due to their current financial standings.

Strengths and Weaknesses

One possible strength associated with not prioritizing recruitment and selection and instead focusing on aspects such as marketing or product development include being able to respond to immediate business needs. Those smaller or startup businesses referenced earlier may be much more focused on bringing in revenue to ensure they can keep operations running. Having a product line and an effective marketing strategy is a crucial step to bringing in customers and making sales.

The weakness to this decision, however, comes with potential long term consequences. By not paying necessary attention to recruiting and selecting the right employee, companies may face higher turnover thus leading to higher expenditures down the line. Having a workforce that lacks the right skills, or doesn’t blend culturally, can lead to reduced employee morale and productivity.

Experiences

The last job I applied for was for my current position as a corporate trainer, about 2.5 years ago. I was already working for the company, so the application process was fairly straight forward. The managers of the two training teams already knew me and had heard through the grapevine that I was interested in taking on a role as a trainer, so they had both reached out to me before the position was even posted to chat. The application process itself was very easy – we have an internal job posting site, so I uploaded my resume and applied to the role. Because the managers already knew me, it felt as though they already knew they wanted me to join the team, so the process was very quick. I interviewed with the Talent Acquisition partner and then had a few days to prepare for the panel interview to be had with the Training team leadership members.

This interview was different from anything I had experienced before. The panel I was interviewing with consisted of a Senior Trainer (who I had trained under in the past), the 4 department managers (including my prospective manager), and the director of the department. The interview consisted of three sections: common job-related questions, situational questions, and the final part (being the new experience) was needing to deliver a 20-minute presentation discussing adult learning principles. I had to create this presentation myself, performing necessary research to ensure I was discussing all the principles, as well as incorporating facilitation techniques to engage my audience as “learners.”

Impressions

This interview process definitely set high expectations for the department. It felt structured and really captured a wide array of skills in the 1 hour discussion. Being able to chat with the director and the different managers all at one time was a great way of getting to know the different functions within the Training team and left me feeling excited and hopeful about landing the position.