[jimt]

I don't know about factoryrat's hiring methods. When I worked for local government here I was severely restricted by HR as to how to interview and hire people for technical positions. In the old days we would use comprehensive written and logic tests. But nowadays we can't ask more than a few questions that have to be pre-approved by HR. Made it extremely tough to find any diamonds in the rough. The fresh college graduates were poor interviews, and demanding more money than was offered. Young graduates are really dumbed down nowadays.

As a manager I expected HR to collect the resumes and pass them on, nothing more. Caused a bit of friction, as the larger the corporation the more grandiose (and worthless) the HR department is.

I picked the wheat from the chaff quite easily without any "professional" help, as I knew what was wanted. Not to say I didn't have brilliant help, just none of it came from "HR".

[roadcat]

Not to say I didn't have brilliant help, just none of it came from "HR".

Likewise here. HR is a hindrance and useless when trying to hire good people. Sometimes I'd have to go through 500 resumes for a dozen hires. Of the resumes that looked promising, by speaking to the interviewees I would quickly find out who was lying or overstating their qualifications. Quite a few, actually. HR didn't have a clue.