Dear McCrabby,
I'm a hiring manager and I think you have been very unfair to us. You've taken your shots, and I've read them, but now there are so many comments about one article, in particular (http://t.co/zQbM4im), that I felt it was time we hiring managers got our say. And, you've hit us multiple times:
You don't know how tough we have it. I'd like to share with you what I, and most hiring managers, go through.
I advertise for a new job and, whether I really have a job to fill or not, I get 500 resumes in the first week. Now, after our screening software kicks out half of those, and after I randomly throw away another 200, I'm down to 50 that I actually have to look at. There are only so many hours in my workday (sometimes, as many as seven or eight)..
So, I try to pick 20 that are on the nicest paper, and then I try to read the first paragraph on those twenty. I can usually get it down to ten from that. Then, I try to look at the applicants' names. If they have an odd number of letters, I eliminate them, and if their first names have more letters than their last, I eliminate them.
Now, with a little luck on the names, I'm down to four applicants. We call those our finalists. That's who we'll interview. We'll contact each one for a preliminary phone interview.
McCrabby, I have to conduct ALL FOUR of those interviews; it isn't easy. I have to schedule the time, and then remember to call them somewhere near that time. I have to ask them inane questions, such as "why did you leave your last job?" I know why they left; they got down-sized, but I want to have them re-live that humiliation and see how they handle it.
I always try to ask them what they liked best and least in their last jobs. That's a question I originated (and some others have stolen the idea), and the answer to that one can often be pretty revealing. One applicant once told me that he "enjoyed the challenge of creating new programs that increased company revenues." Do they think we can't see through that B/S? You can bet, HE didn't get the job. But, we didn't have a job anyway, so NOBODY got the job.
Maybe I should clear something up now. We don't always have jobs. But we DO have HR, and we may want to hire someone SOMETIME, so we interview now for later. What the heck, I have to be here almost every day anyway, so we might as well do some HR work -- do you realize that a lot of people don't seem to think that our work is important?
And, even though we don't have jobs now, most of these people won't be working in a year, so when we're ready to hire, if ever, we can call back our "finalists" then. No sense in wasting a phone call now.
McCrabby, I'd give you more info on my day, but it's time for a break, and I was supposed to call an applicant 15 minutes ago, so I should give her a call right after I get back from coffee. After all, what else has she got to do?
Hurried and Rushed in Hell, MI
___________________________________________________________
Dear HR Hell:
Nuff said. McCrabby thinks you have nailed it. We'll just wait for a call.
And, good luck to all on the job-searches...
___________________________________________________________
I'm a hiring manager and I think you have been very unfair to us. You've taken your shots, and I've read them, but now there are so many comments about one article, in particular (http://t.co/zQbM4im), that I felt it was time we hiring managers got our say. And, you've hit us multiple times:
- McCrabby Rants...: Dear Hiring Manager: I reject YOU.. http://t.co/zQbM4im
- Hiring is a cruel business http://t.co/i69UxD5
- Too old to find work?? No way!! http://t.co/GlAaj4R
- I just had my 17th interview without a callback... HELP!! http://t.co/yVWDvui
You don't know how tough we have it. I'd like to share with you what I, and most hiring managers, go through.
So, I try to pick 20 that are on the nicest paper, and then I try to read the first paragraph on those twenty. I can usually get it down to ten from that. Then, I try to look at the applicants' names. If they have an odd number of letters, I eliminate them, and if their first names have more letters than their last, I eliminate them.
Now, with a little luck on the names, I'm down to four applicants. We call those our finalists. That's who we'll interview. We'll contact each one for a preliminary phone interview.
McCrabby, I have to conduct ALL FOUR of those interviews; it isn't easy. I have to schedule the time, and then remember to call them somewhere near that time. I have to ask them inane questions, such as "why did you leave your last job?" I know why they left; they got down-sized, but I want to have them re-live that humiliation and see how they handle it.
I always try to ask them what they liked best and least in their last jobs. That's a question I originated (and some others have stolen the idea), and the answer to that one can often be pretty revealing. One applicant once told me that he "enjoyed the challenge of creating new programs that increased company revenues." Do they think we can't see through that B/S? You can bet, HE didn't get the job. But, we didn't have a job anyway, so NOBODY got the job.
Maybe I should clear something up now. We don't always have jobs. But we DO have HR, and we may want to hire someone SOMETIME, so we interview now for later. What the heck, I have to be here almost every day anyway, so we might as well do some HR work -- do you realize that a lot of people don't seem to think that our work is important?
And, even though we don't have jobs now, most of these people won't be working in a year, so when we're ready to hire, if ever, we can call back our "finalists" then. No sense in wasting a phone call now.
McCrabby, I'd give you more info on my day, but it's time for a break, and I was supposed to call an applicant 15 minutes ago, so I should give her a call right after I get back from coffee. After all, what else has she got to do?
Hurried and Rushed in Hell, MI
___________________________________________________________
Dear HR Hell:
Nuff said. McCrabby thinks you have nailed it. We'll just wait for a call.
And, good luck to all on the job-searches...
___________________________________________________________
- McCrabby's LinkedIn -- http://www.linkedin.com/in/cmacrae
- McCrabby's Support (group): http://lnkd.in/4TkF7_
- McCrabby's Twitter -- http://twitter.com/curtmacrae
- McCrabby's website -- www.humantransitions.com