Most companies don't know who they need. Here's how to get hired anyway
Most companies don’t know what roles they actually need. Herizon talents get hired by pitching solutions, not applying to job posts.
I stumbled upon this rejection email on LinkedIn:
Let's talk about the company's point of view here, why something like this happens.
I'll be blunt: most companies are bad at hiring. Not because they’re evil, but because they don’t connect hiring to real business needs.
Two classic fails:
1. No link between hiring and actual KPIs
You’d be surprised how many roles are opened because someone feels like they need a “marketing person” or “sales lead.” Not because they’ve looked at CAC, lead velocity, or churn. So when candidates apply based on the vague job title, no one gets hired, because the need was never clear to begin with.
2. Talent team and team leads don’t talk
Another common one. HR posts a job based on last year’s template or something scraped from a competitor. The real team? They’re deep in the product or sales trenches and weren’t even looped in. The applications come in, and nobody’s happy.
So yeah - it’s not you. But it is your job to work around this mess.
The fix: Stop applying like a job-seeker.
Start applying like a problem solver. Study the company. Form a hypothesis about what they’re trying to grow or fix. Then pitch yourself as the solution to that, not to the job title.
Example 1:
One Herizon community member wanted to get into a B2B SaaS company that hadn’t posted anything. She noticed their sales team was tiny, but the blog was ranking well on SEO. She pitched herself as a content-to-sales play: owning the funnel from lead magnet to demo. Got the job. No job post involved.
Example 2:
Another member spotted a Finnish startup trying to internationalize. She used LinkedIn to notice they were hiring customer support reps in new time zones. She cold-pitched herself as a user onboarding and CX lead, with examples from previous roles. Got in before the job description was even written.
Over 30 monthly hires like this have happened in the Herizon network. No ATS or “Dear Hiring Manager.” People are reading between the lines and positioning themselves as outcomes, not roles.
So what should you do?
- Don’t trust the role name.
- Don’t trust the job description.
- Find the real problem to solve.
- Solve it better than anyone else.
Where to get help?
Join Herizon’s free community to learn job search skills that actually work. Attend our LinkedIn Bootcamp and networking events - this is something anyone can learn.
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