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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

What a whiner! Hey, Buddy...listen up! I'm not in business to provide you with a job.

No, I don't want to talk with you without checking your resume first. If I do want to talk with you, you can make an appointment on the same day I interview everybody else. No, I don't want you hanging around my office on the off chance I might spontaneously create a job opening at 2:10 p.m. Not everybody has email and HR doesn't have the time to email everybody who does. Don't answer ads that are poorly written. If the ad is poorly written, do you really think that yakking on the phone will clear things up?

This guy is unreal. He needs to get out of a field that has been overpaid and is currently overstaffed.

Headhunters are also a big problem.

Depends on the headhunter. Top-notch search firms, working with high-level positions, will typically never present someone who won't be interviewed. That's why they're retained: to do all the screening and to only advance fully-qualified candidates.

You should ask a headhunter if they're on retainer or if they're working on a contingency basis.

Retained firms are more reputable and have exclusive positions.

Contingency firms are simply trying to corral as many resumes they can, and shove them in front of the hiring manager.

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.

Yeah, it's really, really tough. I was told my contract would be up at the end of July on the 6th of this month, and had a full-time job offer by the 12th. Prior to that, I had five companies pursuing me.

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.

If they don't contact me, I can figure out that they ain't interested. No big deal.

Who in the heck faxes a resume any more? This guy is so, like, nineties.

"No phone calls accepted." These words often appear in job postings. They really mean, "We don't want you to call us.

Yeah, when you post a job and are bombarded with resumes from unqualified and marginally qualified people, it would make LOTS of sense to put your phone number in the ad so you can REALLY waste lots of time.

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

Try reading the ad.

Don't ask applicants to retype their resumes line for line in online applications.

Hasn't this guy ever heard of cut-and-paste? Dang, between his inability to simplify tasks and his "I need a hug" attitude, I can see why no one wants to hire him.

m an HR recruiter for a 6500 person organization

I don't know if your organization does this, but what is the point of having every person who comes in the door fill out a standardized application? Every interview I get involves 1/2 an hour putting the same stuff on my resume into a form, which usually includes disclosing a salary history, references, SS# etc.

Typically, I or the employer know after the first interview, if a relationship is worth pursuing. It seems like that would be the appropriate time to solicit the information. Plus, I really don't want to give out my salary history, or throw around the names of my references, or disclose my social security number to employers in which I end up not interested in, or who are not interested in me.

I know its SOP in most companies, but it has many unprofessional aspects to it.

LOL. You write the following sentence and claim the HR guy is stupid.

"HR people - IMO - are extremely ignorant bordering on stupidity people."

We love to receive cover letters with sentences such as that quoted above. It brings levity to our otherwise dull and drab days. Usually those sentences follow a statement on how excellent their communication skills are.

Sounds like your issue is with the hiring manager, who has not bothered to prepare for the interview by looking at your resume. Could also be the HR person not asking the hiring manager to go a bit beyond the job description and get at the skill set actually required by the job.

I don't know (obviously) what kind of experience you have, but I'll wager that everything you know, or have done, is NOT clearly stated on your resume.

Were I you, if you are job searching, go to the library and check out some books on interviewing from the interviewer's perspective. You'd learn a ton.

I used to say the same thing until I was out of work for 8 months

I was out of work for eight months as well in 2002. Instead of bitching about the process of finding a job via websites, I figured out what I had to do to make myself more marketable. And once I found a job I improved my skills, figured out how to position myself and my resume, and now I can find a new position within a week. This economy doesn't suffer fools, especially one like this writer who hasn't even figured out that he can cut-and-paste his resume from Word into the application web form.

All I ever see is bitchin about people who sponge off the govt on this site. Then we get a guy who writes about the problems job-seekers face, and we get more bitchin about that. Try being out of work awhile, and all your political ideals go to $hit, because in the end you realize right or left those a$$holes don't care about you.

I have been out of work. I formed my own company. Problem solved, permanently.

You are 100% correct, however, concerning Human Resource Managers. This peculiar "profession" is made up of those that wear the right clothes, have the right degrees, say the right things in meetings.....but under perform in all areas related to sales, management, leadership, marketing, etc etc etc.

Because they wear the right cloths, have the right degree and say the right things, they don't get fired or downsized. They get DUMPED into Human Resources.

Its been my experience you show me a HR manager, I'll show you somebody incapable of producing anything of value to their respective employer.

In the Military, when you run across an Officer of this caliber, they end up running the Supply Depot......

Finally, there are very few things kids will never say they want to be when they grow up. Human Resource Manager is at the top of that particular list. Dumb as rocks, almost all of them.

I'm astounded that one who purports to be an expert on job-seeking issues can be so dense.

Here is what I learned on my first job-seeking expedition 40 years ago:

Blind ads or vague ads are a scam. Do not apply for those jobs.

Be specific on your resume concerning the job you want. Do not spin your wheels interviewing for jobs that are outside your field of interest.

There is nothing good that happens when you interview with a gatekeeper. If your prospective immediate supervisor is not involved all the interviewer is doing is filling up his own time so that he appears to his boss to be busy.

Spend your time researching the company you want to work for and find out who your boss will be. It would be a good idea if you could find out what problem it is that he is trying to solve by hiring you. This is a lot more important than finding out what the company's closing stock price is.

If you can't get this information before your interview, attach a "Kick me" sign to your forehead.

Having been in the job hunt with a job, witnessing a hiring as well as attempting a promotion (successfully by the way), I can see both sides of the issues.

We had an applicant who was not interview worthy bombarding the office with phone calls. Some of the questions were down right silly (Will I actually be reporting to the title that is listed in my title?) to wanting to know how come she wasn't getting a call for an interview. Luckily we only had one doing this.

I think it would be great if rather than taking down filled jobs, they just put "position filled" and the date after the title for just one week. Since I monitored the same websites religiously, I would catch the interested positions and an email wouldn't be necessary.

It doesn't sound like this guy does the amount of networking needed. I rarely apply for a job cold. I find some one in the company or the industry (or a spouse that knows the dirt) that can give me a better take on the position. It's cost me a lot of coffee, but in the long run was worth it.

Worst thing that happened to me... a larger organization put my application in a secretary/exec. assistant pool without me knowing it (I applied for one position). As the units chose not to interview me, I was sent a letter of rejection for each one. I finally called the H.R. department after the fifth one and they explained to me what happened. I requested that I be removed from the pool and still got one more letter after that. Sometimes not hearing anything is better than getting the same form letter too many times.

You are 100% correct, however, concerning Human Resource Managers.

"I've seen good ones and bad ones. And any company that allows an HR manager to simply perform a word search on a submitted resume without reading the context of those words isn't a company I want to work for anyway."

You want to see Dumb On Parade, attend the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) annual convention.

It rivals the Democrats coming "attraction" of next week in the number of brain dead attendees. I've gone to every one of their conventions over the last decade til this year.

Its simply the overall dumbest single "professional group" I've ever run across. I swear, its amazing they can dress themselves.

While I agree that a good deal of this author's points make him sound like a whiner, I will interject my last two years of experience.

I am currently employed as an independent contractor and as such have been looking for a real full time job for the two years since I got laid off. I have applied for no less than 200 jobs, all of which I was qualified to hold.

Of those 200 applications I have recieved perhaps 30 responses, and 2 interviews. One of the interviews required that I take a day off of work (lost pay), and drive 150 miles each way for a 30 minute interview. I did everything right, dressed correctly, provided a printed copy of my resume, sent a letter to the interviewer thanking him for his time, etc. Three months later I got a thanks but no thanks letter.

Now this might seem trivial to some, but the fact is that a good deal of professional courtesy has been thrown out the window. Say what you want, but taking three months to send a thanks but no thanks letter to one of three people interviewed for a postion is rude. Sending no response at all to an online application is just as rude, even if it's a cookie cutter rubber stamp form letter. I took the time to apply, you can take the time to tell me I didn't get the job.

Then there is the HR hellbot. This little gem is used to scan through resumes looking for keywords and ranks applicants accordingly. Sounds like a real timesaver to me, except there is a flaw. Say you are looking for a "Technical Sales Engineer" and the hellbot is looking for that as a key word. All well and good except my past employer called the same position "Systems Engineer". All the education and experience to do the job is there, but because a hellbot is looking through the resumes not a real live body it's the bottom of the stack for me. I could modify my resume to say what I think they are looking for, but then should they call my past employer to verify my employment history it's not going to jive with my resume. That in turn makes my resume look suspect.

Last but not least my biggest pet peeve is the opening that's posted, but already filled. If you have an internal candidate who is a shoe in for an opening then me taking the time to apply is a royal waste of time. I know there are legal reasons for doing this, but that doesn't change the fact that it's royal waste of time.

The bottom line is that looking for a job is nothing like it used to be. Not for me anyway.

I, too, have been on both sides of the aisle here. While I was never an HR person, in my small office, we had to hire 3 graphic designers for our software company. We advertised in the newspaper (BIG mistake) and got all kinds of resumes, including one typed on notebook paper. We ended up going through the piles of paper and interviewing 24 possible candidates. From that list, we found 1 we felt could walk and chew gum at the same time, thus we could train them to do what we wanted. Luckily, this guy knew some friends also looking, and we heard about another guy who worked for my boss' friend and had just been downsized. We filled the positions through word-of-mouth and they stayed on with the company until May of 2001, where I found myself on the OTHER side of this issue when my company folded.

I searched newspapers, went to headhunters, cold-called and even mailed resume's to companies I might like to work for. I managed a few interviews and had one real good prospect that I interviewed with a couple of times. Until September 11, that is. After that, everything changed. The economy tanked and companies were not about to just let some Joe Schmo walk in and get a sit-down with someone. I was lucky in that about 10 months after my company folded, which saw me deplete our savings and take any odd job I could get, I sent a resume to an architectural firm out of the blue. They happened to need someone on a contract basis to do drafting and help with the computer needs. Since I had an architectural background and was looking into getting my Microsoft certification, they hired me. I have been here just over 2 years now, have started my MCSE process and I start working here full time next week. It has not been fun at all and this isn't exactly what I want to do, but it is paying the bills and is a good company to work for. I loathe the idea of searching for a job again, so I may just sit put for now or take off on my own, which is a real possibility. I am no spring chicken and I know it will be harder for me to get a job, even with my experience and certification that some kid out of college. I also know a lot more now than I did 3 years ago when I HAD to look for a job.

This guy sounds like he hasn't really HAD to look for a job. Sounds like he got downsized and pounded the pavement for a few weeks at most and now is writing to complain about his "ordeal". Well, I had all of these things happen (though I NEVER answered blind ads) and more, but I viewed it as part of the process. No big deal, just the rules of the game.

All that said, I am a firm believer that God has plans for us all. For me, I think He wanted me to focus more on him, as my life revolved around work up until May 2001. It worked. My perspective has now changed dramatically. I no longer have to have nice clothes or a lot of "toys" these days. I am closer to God now than I ever have been. I am also closer to my wife and boys as well.

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