Posted by richm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 ? Leave a Comment?
I recently had lunch with a client from the UK and the subject turned to the ways American companies hire white collar employees. ?As I detailed the process he could not believe what he was hearing and said ?no wonder so many businesses are in trouble here in the states?. ?The game that some executive recruiters and HR people play has not changed that much in the last 20 years and for many job seekers it?s like going through a maze towards the reward at the other end.
It used to be that when you learned of an opening at a company you wanted to work for you would send your resume with a cover letter and wait for a response. ?There was a time when most companies would at least have the courtesy to respond but those days are long gone. ?Now you still send your resume but it usually goes into the black hole of not hearing a damn thing back from anyone.
If you?re lucky to get a response there is usually a phone interview with an HR person that can last anywhere from a few minutes to a half hour before you are either asked to come in and meet the hiring manager or have another phone call with the hiring manager. ? Even if you do well with both the HR and hiring manager you still need to come in and meet a lot of other people anyone of which can cancel your candidacy because of a check box even though you?re not going to be working directly with that person.
This whole process can last weeks and even months. ?One client I am working with said that they are trying to hire a Director of Social Media but the process has gone on for over 2 months and the candidate in question, because of the long period of time, has accepted a position with another company. ?He was puzzled why he had to start the whole process over again.
To every HR person and executive recruiter here are some things that you should be doing out of good business sense and decency:
(1) Acknowledge when someone applies for a job with your company. Even if it?s an auto responder to say ?we have received your resume?. ?If you don?t have the time to respond than the hell with you too.
(2) Don?t yank candidates chains. ?If you know that the candidate you?re interviewing is not a good fit tell them honestly and openly don?t say things like ?we?ll get back to ?you? because believe it or not some people still believe that shit.
(3) Don?t low ball us. ?Don?t offer a managers job to someone who used to be a VP if their resume indicates that they are a senior level executive. ?That is demeaning and you should know better.
(4) Treat candidates with common courtesy and respect not like you?re doing us a favor by talking to us.
(5) If you run across a marketing Linchpin and innovator do whatever you can to get them in front of decision makers ASAP. ?Believe me these people are hard to come by and your company needs them badly.
(6) Be clear about the hiring process and timeline. ?Don?t tell a candidate that they will hear back on a certain date and then not get back to them. A simple eMail sometimes is all it takes to say ?sorry for the delay, we are still trying to get people lined up for your interviews?.
(7) The most important person who should make the ultimate decision as to whether to hire the person should be the hiring manager. ?Don?t let outsiders within your organization bring a candidate down because they didn?t like her,him . ?They are not the ones who need the results you are.
(8) There are some really great executive recruiters but for every good one there are 4 bad ones. ?These are people who try and put you in a position that you may not be right for and as soon as you?re out of contention for the job they drop you like a hot rock.
It?s a shame that American companies treat candidates this way but right now they have no incentive to treat them better because after all in their minds it?s a buyers market. ?These are companies that you don?t want to work for and you should avoid them at all costs because it says a lot about how they treat and value their people.
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