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Plonter

Plonter is Hebrew for a tangle: a problem that looks easy to fix while many forces pull at once.

120 CVs and nobody fits

In 30 seconds

You post a job, 120 CVs come in and nobody fits, while at the same time good specialists say nobody answers their CVs.

15candidates who would have fitted the job, lost along the way to nobody in the worked example below

From 120 CVs to nobody

⁨CVs received⁩⁨120⁩⁨Would fit, still in: 15 (12.5% of those left)⁩⁨Would have fitted: 6⁩⁨The CV did not use the ad's words,⁩⁨or showed a gap or a career change⁩⁨Passed the first screen⁩⁨36⁩⁨Would fit, still in: 9 (25% of those left)⁩⁨Would have fitted: 3⁩⁨The call came late, some had already⁩⁨said yes elsewhere⁩⁨Reached by phone⁩⁨14⁩⁨Would fit, still in: 6 (42.9% of those left)⁩⁨Would have fitted: 3⁩⁨ChatGPT answers look alike, so the⁩⁨test no longer separates people⁩⁨Passed the home test⁩⁨5⁩⁨Would fit, still in: 3 (60% of those left)⁩⁨Would have fitted: 2⁩⁨No clear bar, each interviewer⁩⁨judged something else⁩⁨Passed the interview⁩⁨1⁩⁨Would fit, still in: 1 (100% of those left)⁩⁨Would have fitted: 1⁩⁨The offer came after the candidate⁩⁨took another job⁩⁨Accepted the offer⁩⁨0⁩⁨Nobody hired, and the job⁩⁨is posted again⁩
One owner's hiring funnel as a worked example: how many candidates are left after each step, and how many of those cut would have fitted the job.

A worked example. The numbers show the mechanism, they are not a statistic.

mobiusbiz.co.il

In 3 minutes

Why the fix looks easy

What confuses people is that they think the solution is very easy. And it's not. So, no easy solutions.
Alexander Slutsker

From the owner's chair the fix looks obvious: there are no good people, so post the job again, on more sites, or raise the salary. From the candidate's chair it looks just as obvious: nobody reads CVs, so send more of them.

Both sides do the easy thing, and both stay stuck. This is how Alex put the knot:

Right now the labour market is short of a great many specialists, but when a specialist looks for work, he cannot find it, because he is screened out right at the start, when he sends his CV.
Alexander Slutsker
So now the specialist cannot find work, and employers cannot find specialists.
Alexander Slutsker

The forces acting at once

  • Volume. When 120 CVs arrive, nobody can read them all properly, so the first screen becomes a quick filter on words, gaps and titles.
  • The CV itself. It shows how well someone writes a CV, not how well they do the job. Good people who changed careers or took a break look weak on paper.
  • Speed. Every day between the CV and the call is a day in which a good candidate can say yes to someone else.
  • AI. Anyone can now produce a polished CV and polished answers to a home test, so written answers separate people less than they used to.
  • No clear bar. When the owner has not written down what "fits" means, each step filters on something else.
  • The owner's own time. Hiring runs on top of the daily work, so it is done in short bursts, late and in a hurry.

In 10 minutes

The data

Figures on the Israeli labour market circulate widely, such as vacancy counts and unemployment rates. None of them was read at its primary source for this page, so none is printed here.

The data that settles this knot for one business is its own: how many applied, how many passed each step, how long each step took and why each person was cut. Counted once, your own funnel shows where it narrows, which the picture above does with example numbers.

The funnel above is a worked example, not a survey of Israeli employers.

The system, step by step

  1. The ad describes the person in general words, so the CVs that arrive are just as general.
  2. The first screen filters on words, titles and gaps, because that is all a CV shows at speed.
  3. The calls come days later, and some of the good candidates are already gone.
  4. A home test is meant to separate people, but written answers can be produced with ChatGPT, so they look alike.
  5. The interview has no fixed bar, so the decision rests on impression.
  6. The few who pass get an offer late, and the funnel ends with nobody. The job is posted again, and the cycle starts over.

The root cause

We may reach, for example, the conclusion that the operational process is built wrong, because there are no set tests, exams or questionnaires that could screen these people.
Alexander Slutsker

The shortage is real at the end of the funnel, but part of it is made inside the funnel. A process that filters on how a person looks on paper, and does it slowly, cuts good candidates at every step, and the owner never sees who was lost.

Ways out, from business life

  • Before you post the ad, write down what the job must deliver and the three skills that matter most for it.
  • Screen for those skills, not for words and titles. A short, fixed list of questions that every candidate answers makes the CVs comparable.
  • Call quickly. For a good candidate, speed is part of the offer.
  • Test the work itself, on site and under supervision, where an answer written with ChatGPT cannot stand in for the candidate.
  • Keep the numbers of every step, so the next hire starts from data, not from a feeling.

The on site test is Alex's own suggestion:

There is a risk that they will answer together with ChatGPT, so the person is called to the workplace and does the questionnaire on a computer, under supervision. As one option.
Alexander Slutsker

A question for you

Look at your last hire. At which step did you lose the most people, and do you know whether any of them would have fitted?

General information that explains how the mechanism works, not personal tax, legal or investment advice.

Alexander Slutsker, business consultant, Mobius Business Solutions

Business, Marketing, Operations & Financial Consultant

Mobius

Alexander Slutsker

9+Years of experience in business consulting

I help entrepreneurs, self-employed people, small businesses and startups understand their own numbers, choose what to do first and grow from there.

+972 055-248-6151. Better on WhatsApp: I am in meetings most of the day and answer as soon as I am free.