A Job Hunter's Top Pet Peeves About Today's Hiring Policies

Computerworld ^ | July 19, 2004 | Michael K. Norris

[Mini-14]

JULY 19, 2004 - Employers are doing a collectively lousy job at filling positions. People who have been employed for the past four years don't know how difficult it is to search for work in today's economy. Despite recent gains in job creation, we're still in a hiring slump. For every job that appears, at least two seem to disappear. Looking for a job is the most frustrating and demeaning job there is. Worst of all, employers are the most removed from the pain of this experience. Those with openings receive so many applications that they can never appreciate job seekers' difficulties or desperation.

What employers may forget is that nameless, faceless applicants also buy their products and their services. One day they even may be in positions at other companies where they have to decide whether to buy those employers' products or services. Job seekers are a growing constituency, and while it's easy to cast them away now, employers should be cautious in how they do so. Obviously, rejecting applicants is expected, but candidates who felt humiliated or tortured in the process will remember the experience.

After a demeaning experience applying for work at a New York state college, I decided to never enroll my kids there. Not only were the title and description of the job vague, but it had also apparently been posted on the school's Web site indefinitely. And the representative with the college's human resources department was so inept, I couldn't get a straight answer on whether the position was open. Follow-up calls and e-mails to the hiring manager went unanswered. I consider the HR department -- and the hiring manager -- a reflection of the institution and decided I didn't want anything to do with it. Based on my conversations with other job seekers, my experience was not unique.

Here's a list of my pet peeves about today's hiring practices. Hopefully, HR managers and employers reading this know to treat job seekers with respect. But the following steps should benefit those who don't -- and their companies -- as much as job seekers.

1. "Only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted."

The time is long past when employers have to print and mail 200 copies of rejection letters. When you fill a position, send a brief e-mail notice to each applicant. Let them cross the potential opening off their lists instead of waiting for a call that won't come. These notifications also will free your staff from answering inquiries.

2. The "stealth" job.

For some job hunters, classified ads for "stealth" jobs are particularly hated. These ads usually include a brief and murky job description, no company name, and possibly a fax number for resume submissions. This causes problems on several fronts. If the job description is vague -- for instance, if it doesn't specify if the opening is entry-level or professional -- employers have to sift through twice as many resumes as they would if a particular category had been specified. And when no company name is provided, you appear to be building a marketing database, not soliciting candidates. Write ads that make sense for jobs that actually exist.

3. "No phone calls accepted."

These words often appear in job postings. They really mean, "We don't want you to call us. As a job seeker, you aren't important enough for us to talk to. Send your resume like everyone else, and we'll call you if we feel like it."

Please recognize this is only one of the many disadvantages heaped upon job seekers. Isn't it obvious that someone who takes the initiative to call is worth interviewing? If you don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry calling, don't provide a phone number in the ad. But don't say, "No phone calls." Give the job seekers who genuinely want to work for you the ability to call your office and chat with someone who knows about the position.

4. "Site last updated May 2003."

Let's be clear on something that seems so basic it shouldn't be mentioned: Company recruitment pages should be current.

Too often the notice appears: "Site last updated May 2003." When you fill a position, take the job posting down from your site and any other sites where it's published. It wastes job seekers' time to apply for positions that don't exist, and processing useless applications is a waste your staff's time. It also makes your company appear disorganized, thus generating a ton of ill will among candidates.

5. "Click Apply Now!"

Job seekers understand that the odds are stacked against them, and they know they must apply for as many positions in the shortest amount of time possible. But complicated online applications that require entering the same information repeatedly are frustrating and time-consuming. Then, after all this aggravation, candidates might receive only a "thank you for your application" message -- and perhaps junk e-mail from spammers that secured their contact information.

Don't ask applicants to retype their resumes line for line in online applications. Keep these forms simple and to one page in length. Then allow applicants to attach their resumes and cover letters as PDF or Word files.

6. "I'm sorry, you don't have an appointment."

Employers don't realize how the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, affected job seekers. Buildings -- especially in large metropolitan areas -- maintain tight security, and the days of "pounding the pavement" are all but gone. It's practically impossible to show up unannounced and meet with someone. Some employers don't have a procedure for security guards to follow if a job seeker does arrive unannounced. Security or no, when job seekers visit your reception desk, they don't deserve to be treated as if they're handing out business cards at a funeral.

Provide security guards and receptionists with steps to follow if candidates do show up. Even if you can't let them into the building (or send someone to talk with them), at least request copies of their resumes. Why make it unpleasant for candidates who demonstrate initiative? One job seeker told me he felt humiliated when a security guard at one company gave him a slip of paper listing the employer's recruitment Web site address. Any company that can afford a security guard can do better than that.

Here's the bottom line: Treat job seekers with respect and dignity, or be prepared to see a difference in the bottom line. At minimum, consider how you'd like to be treated if you were unemployed, and make sure your company meets those standards. After all, you might be on the other side of the counter someday.

Norris is a freelance writer and adviser specializing in recruitment and career issues. He's based in Stamford, Conn.

[TheBigB]

Because we're all evil, undereducated narcissists. Haven't you been paying attention to Dad2Angels? :) We're supposed to give scientific jobs to ex-ballplayers because...well, just because! Because they're desperate!

[clamper1797]

I was out 16 months out of 24. During those 16 months I had a lot of interviews. What I found was that getting a job is a lot harder than it used to be. I've been a chip (ASIC) designer for 25 years and I've had experience in most of the various disiplines required to bring a chip design thru the DV, DFT, timing analysis, place and route, then ultimately to poting the test vectors to the tester and running the silicon on the it.

In the old days it was enough to know just one of the above mentioned tasks. What I have found recently is that one has to know at least three of the aboved mentioned tasks and related tools to compete.

What a company would do during my interviews was to have the companies expert on whatever the task was and ask very complex and in-depth questions about that area of the flow. So I would have to interview with the manager of design, then the manager of DFT/verification, then the lead guy in test etc. Not only did you have to field the questions off the top of your head ... you could not miss even one question or you did NOT get the job. I was my opinion that most of my interviewers could not pass that same interview.

BUT after a while I learned to do several important things for and during an interview.

1. During the phone interview which is usually given as a pre screen ... determine what topic the questions are about. In one example the phone interviewer asked me mostly about "multi-cycle clock domains". Well that's a big big hint about what the on-site interview will be focused on. Schedule the on-site a week or so after the phone interview and then find and learn/cram ALL you can about that topic before the on-site.

2. If the interviewer asks you about something you don't know or may know but don't remember. Ask him to start you off ... because you may know it by another name. This not only buys time but it may jog your memory and you can take it up after a "jump start".

3. If you still don't know it ... ask the interviewer to explain it and make notes ... then later LEARN that stuff for your NEXT interview.

4. Study for your interview ... Don't assume you are totally prepared for it. I have been doing chip design for 25 years ... but I still studied for 40 hours for my last interview (and I got the job).

5. If your interviewer asks if you want coffee or a restroom break ... TAKE IT. It burns the time and each interviewer only has so much ... usually 1/2 hour. The important stuff is asked first and anything after that is just stuff that is filling up the time slot for the interviewer and is NOT really important to them .... but it still could trip you up. So don't give them the chance to stumble into an area that you may be weak in.

After 40 hours of intense study and then the interview from hell ... I got the job. When I started working for the company I realized that I was far above the rest in over all knowledge and I am recognized as the sites guru in what I do ... but I had to go thru the gauntlet to get thru the door. That's just the way it is now a days.

Good luck out there ... Lord knows it tougher than ever but getting a GOOD job is still do-able ... but now ya gotta really really earn it

[azhenfud]

"Those with openings receive so many applications that they can never appreciate job seekers' difficulties or desperation."

Employers are under no obligation to appreciate anything of an applicant except what's pertinent to their qualifications.

[numberonepal]

One problem is recruiters and HR people not knowing what certain high tech jobs entail. They are getting people wrong for the job either by recommending an interview because someone possessed a certain skill, or passing over someone that doesn't have that same skill. To someone on the outside this may seems cut and dry, but it's not like being a plumber and wanting a job being an electrician. One example is HR folks and recruiters not knowing the difference between JAVA and JavaScript, or splitting hairs between dynamic JavaScript and dynamic HTML.

[dmz]

I disagree with each of your points.

Your assumptions in #1 are unwarranted. An applicant asking those questions where there is ambiguity in the job posting or description appears to be paying close attention to details, which where I come from is a really good thing.

Your statement in #2 is (IMHO) also similarly flawed. If a position is exempt level, there is no such thing as overtime, but asking what the core business hours is an important thing to know.

Finally, #3, I, as the recruiter, typically provide an overview of our benefits package to each interviewee. It is part of the sales process (yes, me selling our organization to the applicant). It is one of our distinguishing characteristics as an organization.

[dfwgator]

It's all about networking. If you are in IT, and you live in a major metropolitan area, there are dozens of various user groups where you can meet others and learn about new technologies, instead of paying through the nose for some tech course. More importantly that is how you learn about job leads and make contacts to get the jobs in the "hidden job market." But you better make a contribution, volunteer to give a presentation or serve as an officer if you want to make the most of it, just don't sit back and be a wallflower.

[windcliff]

ping

[valkyrieanne]

I've been a chip (ASIC) designer for 25 years ...

ASIC design has largely been outsourced to India. What nobody's mentioning in this thread is that between illegal immigration, outsourcing, and H-1B/L-1 visas, it's an employers' market right now, and I don't see how it will change anytime soon.

[gcruse]

I looked for two years for a job in this economy unsuccessfully. My barrier was age discrimination. I finally just retired early.

The problems in this article (hire me. I'm a customer), and for the most part silly and whiny.

[SMARTY]

Sounds like every job I have ever had.

[carton253]

Huge topic switch!

I am in the process of reading April 1865... oh my word! What an exasperating book.

I'm up to the point in the book where Lee is contemplating surrender or heeding Porter Alexander's advice to head for the mountains and turn the war into a guerrilla war.

Then...I get 15 pages on the history and politics of guerrilla warfare... Talk about killing the momentum of the story. And that's not the first time that the author decides to leave the story for pages and pages of his opinion on a subject.

AAAAACCCCKKKKKK!

Anyhoo... just thought I would share.

[Badeye]

Yeah, its not the best laid out book I've ever purchased. And yep, it does get frustrating.

That said, its a great source of info....you just have to exercise more dicipline reading it then the author and editor did putting it together.

[cjp34]

you are right. I agree with you 100%.job hunting stinks. I go on several interviews and get no offers. I was out of work for nearly 4 months.