Credits to Magical Quotes for the Visual
When hiring someone new, companies add a line in the Operating Expenses category of their Income Statement: your salary and benefits. Sometimes, they add another line for your stock options, if you negotiated well. And that's why you did not get the job.
A well-kept company must account for every expense. If you're a salesperson, it's straightforward: they need salespeople so justifying adding expenses for more salespeople is easy. Perhaps the company has a specific expense category for its sales department.
But let's say you're "multipotential" -in other words, a Jack of All Trades. You can do a lot of things, usually skillfully. After all, as the whole saying goes: "Jack of All Trades - Master of None - But Oftentimes, Better Than a Master of One."
That does not translate well in accounting terms. It's that simple.
Companies need financial projections. If they can't clearly see where you'll bring value next quarter, you're just a thorn in their side.
And I did not realize that until I started teaching accounting.
Let's look at one of my failures:
I created that video to pitch a startup. My area of expertise is negotiation and ADR. Yet I am proficient in video editing, motion design, conceptual and visual storytelling, and whatnot. I volunteer for the Fulbright Alumni Club, which helps refugees.
I also had to teach myself:
AI skills -how tokens worked,
AI voice generation (I didn't have the budget or time for a voice actor/actress at the time), including much tinkering with tone, flow and rate, ability to convey emotion, and so on.
The pain points of refugees when they first enter a country.
A lot of other things.
Yet, for all my efforts, the incubator to which I submitted my idea rejected it.
Coming back to my original point, I now have a bunch of skills that are inconsistent with my job or the expectations of a company hiring negotiators.
Do not get me wrong: developing skills in the Seven Arts is the cornerstone of a well-adjusted person.
It just usually does not help you get the job.
My advice on the (French/European?) job market: practice storytelling for your job interviews. Cut out valuable but irrelevant skills, or find a company that needs Jack of All Trades.
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