Tags - Blog, Human Resources, workplace communication
When I worked in corporate security I saw hopeful workers line up starting at 4 a.m. for day jobs at a steel plant. The floor boss would walk the line at 7 selecting however many he needed. I never knew his criteria but he covered the gamut of age, race, body type and grooming practices. When he gave a man a nod the selected worker jogged into the office, signed a day-wage form and checked out gloves and a hard hat. Today, walk into many national chain stores and they refer you to their Web site. You must first apply online, set up your application account, establish a user name and password, type in pages of information including every school you have attended and job you have held, and then try and load your resume and a “cover” letter. Funny, the letter no longer “covers” anything – a term now beyond its prime.
Many independent organizations allow you to simply e-mail your materials to them, attaching your letter and resume, references, certificates, and sometimes your transcripts. Their Human Resources department manages the flow and establishes packets for the reviewers.
All of this is well and good, except for what happens next. With many organizations, too many to my mind, you will never, ever hear from them again. There seems to be a trend toward non-notification of the non-interviewed applicant. That is poor form, pure and simple, and it speaks loudly and poorly of the culture of the organization.
I know there can be a volume problem – too little HR staffing and too many applicants. Too bad. If you cannot manage with dignity the applications of good people who apply for a job you posted then you should not run the search. Some organizations even state on the job notice that due to the number of applications they receive non-finalists will not be contacted. The “volume” there is loud and clear how little they care for the people they do hire.
Organizations who value people, their “human resources” find a way to say “no thanks.” I’ve collected some of these over the years, including a letter from Montana State University, saying “out of respect for your time and effort, you will receive notice … if you are no longer considered.” I received such a letter, was disappointed, but greatly respected MSU for their practices.
Boise City uses an online hiring process, and they don’t send out notices – the applicant must log in daily until one day the word “Reject” appears in their “status.” Yet stalwart Idaho Power sends new applicants an email stating, among other things, “All candidates will be notified, either in writing or via phone, whether or not they will be interviewed.” That is very nicely done and speaks to their organizational culture.
All applications have to be logged in anyway, and EEOC data collected. A simple “form” e-mail message letting applicants know that they are no longer in consideration is not a lot to ask. At least at the steel company as you stood in line you knew if you did not make the cut as the floor boss walked past, completed his selection and said to the rest “men, I can’t use you today, thank you,” a process far better than some 2008 corporations and government agencies.
8 Comments
The trouble with most HR departments in organizations is that they have handed over the screening process to computer systems. If someone, somehow, gets through the screening process, they get an interview and maybe they get hired. It's not the best way to fill a position or a need in a company. There's no human element or "gut-check" a computer system can do better than a hiring manager, executive or business owner who has a vested interested in the success of their company.
Comment By Justin Beller Wednesday, August 6, 2008 @ 12:41 PM
Michael, I have to agree with you 100% for hires at that level. But expanding on this concept, it seems Idaho has overpromised & then hired top performers in major locations [i.e. universities, govt posts, etc], and here lately a number of them have left within 1-2-3 years. And these were high-profile departures. In fact, I discovered another one at ISU that left in July while I was out of state. Our reputation is becoming crap, simply crap due to this kind of treatment.
Comment By Bill Wednesday, August 6, 2008 @ 12:44 PM
This is what happens when jobs and people are commiditized. It does streamline the process and if you are at the top it improves your bottom line, shareholders hold this view as well.
If this becomes in industry practice everybody can do it, after all industry leaders are doing it and it lowers cost...
I wonder if pension funds (hahaha), salaries for those bieng hired in this way, or healthcare are the recipeints of the money saved by the effort circumvented and thus not paid.
I would bet not, after all why should an hourly worker benefit from the innovation in cost cuts that (s)he did not contribute directly to?
Comment By Nobody Special Wednesday, August 6, 2008 @ 10:23 PM
I must be pretty old school, I even respond to shotgun email resumes I receive with an acknowledgement and thank you for inquiring. HR folks need to remember that they are in a form of customer service, those rejected with no notification will remember and probably bring it up in future conversations.
Comment By Patrick Thursday, August 7, 2008 @ 1:25 PM
The labor market is tight right now, but things will eventually change and labor will be in shorter supply. I agree, people will not forget those companies who didn't value those applications when times were tough. It reminds be of all the construction contractors who were to busy to get back to me when things were booming now they call twice a week for work. Guess who gets the work....the ones who were there when I needed them. This valley is too small to burn bridges.
Comment By Scott Thursday, August 7, 2008 @ 4:30 PM
(Full disclosure: I work for a highly specialized headhunting/placement agency)
To begin… if a candidate can’t finish the online application, how were they expecting to perform the job? A candidate’s successful completion of the online application is an example of that person’s ability to follow instructions and finalize tasks. From some employers’ perspective the application is the easiest part of the job; if you can’t even do that, how are we going to trust you to do the actual job?
The article addresses one symptom of a larger problem. The headline should read, “The Age of Human Resource Commoditization” and let’s discuss the larger initiatives in play that result in otherwise good companies not offering the personal touch of yesteryear. There is increasing pressure on HR departments to streamline process and lower costs. For most organizations this effort is expressed in the commoditization of jobs, job titles and career tracks. In short, HR departments are striving for control of the product: greater control of job definitions; greater control of compensation strategies; and greater control of forecasting shortages and surpluses in the talent pool. All of this effort does in fact reduce costs visible on the balance sheet. The modern ‘impersonal’ application process is a rational, logical and competitive solution to a common management problem, and arguably good medicine for any organization.
The labor response to these initiatives (read: job applicant) is equally reasonable and fair: fight back with scale and continue to deliver the human element on the job. For scale, one job applicant can simultaneously apply to thousands of jobs online. That kind of exposure was impossible just 15 years ago, but now any applicant can be digitally anywhere anytime. From the applicants perspective, if 1 company is unresponsive, so be it, there 999 other companies that could be considering the applicant this very moment. For the human element, the hiring processes may have changed but the value of talent has not. Most (not all) executives and managers in business know the hard dollar worth of the human element. At any given moment a single individual employee can correct an overlooked haphazard mistake and in doing so save the organization a lot of money. Time and again even the ‘lowest level’ employee will provide sound judgment at a critical moment –often outside of that employees formal job description- and subsequently save millions of dollars. Ultimately employers want to know that a potential employee will bring that kind of initiative to work every day.
Today’s challenge for applicants is to communicate their professionalism within or in addition to the sterilized application process.
Today’s challenge for employers is to communicate their continued respect and support for great workers in spite of hiring processes that end up offending.
Comment By Ilya Kucherenko Thursday, August 7, 2008 @ 5:44 PM
1000 no response applications is not better than one no response application, is it?
If you put a resume on a placement agency, it will be processed into an oracle or excel report that is run through many programs.
I would rather talk to somebody who is employed by the potential employer and review the position and me then guess what words are flagged for a position in a program, if all they have to say is go to the webpage, this is not abode well, especially since many of these same companies will say that what makes them different to thier competitors is thier world class customer service.
A complete job application (on a web based, java based program no less) with a resume as a seperate document and with a resume builder resume does not even guarentee an email that states "We here at XXX have looked over your experience and qualifications and despite your prodigous talents we are not able to place you in the YYY position at this time." (Code for your resume did not set off any green flags, we put a 96 hour delay to make it look like somebody looked at it though).
I remember just getting out of the army and getting telemarketing opportunities emailed to me as well as university of somewhere applications(indiscriminate spam).
A degree, licensing, and networking are the only methods that I have used successfully to get a job that has at least the theoretical prospect of career growth.
Without the name, number, and the attention of a person that can hire you, sending resumes to 1000 companies is just a form of masterbation.
Comment By Nobody Special Thursday, August 7, 2008 @ 7:51 PM
There is also the issue of a generalized resume with no cover letter.
Typically when a resume is submitted, it is arranged in such a way that it shows the best qualifications and inclinations of the prospective employee, and a cover letter that states why the employee is interested in the position as well as what seperates him/her from the other candidates.
With current hiring practices, I imagine that putting an unsolicited resume can be much like placing a personals ad.
If a position is open, and you are well qualified (education (MS, MBA, licenses/certifications), experience ("Ive been doing this for 10 years, you don't need to spend much time training me" or if applicable "I sold 25MM worth of merchandise over the last 5 years"), flexibility (e.g. "Sure Ill relocate for a good opportunity") and other useful skills (speak Spanish and Chinese perhaps?), the more chance there is that an HR rep will look at the resume and/or a headhunter will put much effort in placing the candidate.
If you do not have quantifiable experience and education, you need to get some because why should a money making enterprise take the chance on an unknown quantity? There are enough problems (I should say challanges) with supply/demand, customer satasfaction, taxes, international trade policies, legal liability, et al. for time and money to be wasted talking to a person with an unimpressive resume....
Comment By TFBP Saturday, August 9, 2008 @ 12:44 PM
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