For Hire

I am a human resources professional with ten years of experience, currently looking for a manager or director of HR position in New Jersey or New York City. Looking for work at any time is stressful and hard on the ego, but in our current economy, with so many people looking, it is even harder and takes a toll on even the most confident of individuals.

There's a lot of advice out there for job seekers, some of it good, a lot of it bad. As someone who's worked in recruiting I have the advantage of knowing which tips would help and which would hurt. But to be honest, when I was recruiting and sorting through resumes, none of the tips and tricks everyone is mentioning really mattered. I looked to see if each individual met the requirements for the position. That was it. Sure, I have my preferred resume format, and a number of other preferences for how an application should be put together, but if someone submitted their resume in a format I didn't like, or addressed me as "Dear Sir" but met the requirements for the position, I didn't disqualify them! My job was to find suitable candidates, not disqualify as many of them as I could based on picayune details about their application.

What I find surprising is how little advice there is out there for organizations looking for new talent. Because, as a Human Resources professional, I'm appalled by a number of things about the job search process. And, as an experienced Human Resources professional applying to an organization for a position the HR department, I frequently wonder if the company I'm applying to is one I really want to work for. A few things that cause me to wonder:

1) The job description. So you've posted your job opening on your website or on a job board or on LinkedIn. It should not have any typos in it. None. If, as an applicant, you're expecting my cover letter and resume to be free of errors, you should have the courtesy of applying the same standards to yourself. No typos. Also, cut the buzz words. No one knows what you’re talking about. Say what you want in plain English and you'll probably get more qualified applicants. One of my favorites is "Change Leadership". Frankly, all leadership is about guiding others through change, even if that change is as small as taking on a new task or learning a new skill.

2) The application process. Ok, you've got a brand new Applicant Tracking System that has all kinds of bells and whistles, and I'm happy to enter my details into for you. The system should be self explanatory. I should be able to figure out what I need to do to complete the application process. Unlike the one I used the other day, where all I could figure out how to enter was my contact details. After saving it, I realized that way up at the top there was a way to go to the rest of the tabs, but then it was too late, I couldn't enter my application to edit it! And your required fields should be limited to the ones that are truly required, like name, contact details, etc. You should not require me to enter my last five employers, when I may not have had that many. Or require me to give you the phone numbers of my prior employers (two of mine are no longer in business, so if you need their numbers I guess I can't apply).

3) The interview. I've been lucky. Most of my interviews so far have been pretty standard. Except the one that spent a lot of time telling me how the former person in the position had done such a bad job. That wasn't a good interviewing technique. Stick to the normal questions. Ask me about my biggest weakness.

4) The follow up. If you interviewed me, you should follow up. If you're a recruiter and you met with me about a specific job, you should let me know if the company was interested. As a job hunter I'm used to rejection, I can handle it. If you interviewed me as a pipeline initiative, you should still keep in touch - it's not a pipeline if I don't feel a connection to you. If you're a company and you interviewed me, let me know when I can expect to hear back, and then make sure you get back to me. If you've put me on hold because you're not 100% sure I'm the best candidate and want to do another search just in case, let me know that too.

So now there's at least some advice out there for organizations looking for candidates. Hope it helps. And if you need more help, I'm available for hire.