about Good Talent Attraction Is Crucial Just like Star Wars has been enjoying a resurgence of popularity with the good that is, Luke Sywalker fighting the evil that is, Darth Vadar, it seems like the Evil has returned to the job market!
There is one simple reason why this is happening - the global credit crunch.
The unfortunate effect of the recession is that many more people are looking for, and applying for jobs. And this has given the interviewers too much choice!
So why is this a problem?
Many interviewers - and I include both corporates and recruitment agencies in this - don't possess a fantastic array of interviewing skills. They have probably taught themselves through experience, and it is unlikely that they will have had much training at all. For approximately 12 months prior to the start of the credit crunch, these interviewers were really 'trying hard' to up their game when interviewing new candidates - they had to as there were very limited job seekers out there. So we saw them working hard at learning new skills like competency interviewing, taking advice from colleagues and, dare I say it, actually doubting whether they had the skills to be able to interview in the first place! Then came the credit crunch……
Now there is more choice and some ugly habits have returned!
With all the job seekers on the market and with many companies being inundated with applications - 300-400 per application being fairly regular - the recruiters and the interviewers now have many more candidates to choose from. So in just a few months I have seen many of these interviewers returning to type - pre-credit crunch - with the ways they are selecting candidates at the interview stage.
They suddenly have a perception of choice, and rightly or wrongly, they are exerting this on people looking for a job. So what exactly am I talking about? Here are some of the things that are occurring :
- Discrimination has again started to show it's ugly head (you could argue that it never went away!) Age, sex, race and disability discrimination are back with us again, with a new one to add to the list - experience discrimination.
- Professional courtesy has started to vanish! Companies are failing to communicate with candidates at all! They are getting many applications, and just don't even bother responding to them. Even worse is when it is at interview stage, with companies choosing only to inform successful candidates of further interviews.
- Choosing to ignore needs of the generation Y workforce. Like it or not, the gen Y'ers have hit the job market with different work expectations. Only 8 months ago, they were being hailed as the saviours to worldwide staff shortages, and that for companies to get the best out of them, they would have to 'manage them in a different way'. Many interviewEr's (the shortsighted ones) are now ignoring this generation and expecting them to exhibit normal interviewing skills and traits. The problem is that most gen Y'ers just dont' know these 'traditional' interview methods, because no-one has taken the time to show them. So straight away they are at a disadvantage!
- Selecting candidates on a whim or a gut reaction. They are doing this because they can - if they get it wrong, then they have many more applicants that they will be too willing for an opportunity.
I would like to add a caveat to this and say that there are also many companies that are actually investing in online recruitment systems, and really trying to address the volume and quality issues.
However there are still way too many companies and recruitment agencies that are doing what I have highlighted above, and it is very disappointing indeed, for all of us that still value good recruitment standards and ethics.
But, will they change?
Not a chance - in fact in my opinion I think it could actually get worse, with many more people 'arriving' on the job market.
What do you think, have you experienced the dark side of job interviewers?
Comments 8
Comments 8
Karl
I was speaking to an employer yesterday who confessed that due to the overwhelming volume of candidates that are applying for their jobs, they have adopted the “alphabetical candidate screening system” i.e. they are binning all applications from candidates with surnames M to Z. It’s tough out there.
Andy Headworth
Thanks Karl for sharing that.
Sometimes it is slightly understandable for companies to do ‘random’
things like that, when they are getting 100′s and 100′s of applications,
and don’t have an ATS in place!
It is not ideal by any stretch, but time just becomes the enemy!!
Iain Jeffrey
Having been in the marketplace for the past 12 months and having submitted over 170 applications in this time, I have had first hand experience of the “black hole”. I have been selective and only applied for roles where I have directly relevant experience and fit all the stated criteria. It is rare to even receive a call or acknowledgement of receipt, let alone have a discussion with an agency. Even on those rare occassions, when I have had a positive and meaningful discussion with the agency, invariably all goes totally silent and my calls or emails are met with “in a meeting”, “Away from desk”, “will get back to you”… I can only surmise that these are euphemisms for “we don’t want to give you the bad news directly. Why don’t you just assume this and stop bothering us.” Although I have no empirical evidence, I am guessing that having just had my 50th birthday doesn’t bode well for me.
Andy Headworth
Iain,
Sorry to hear that - I never understand why consultants etc just don’t
play with a straight bat and be honest with people. It gains far more
respect in the long run.
With parts of the job seeking world, I am actively advising people to
saty away from recruitment agencies, as they are struggling as much as
others. They have been inundated with applicants, and just don’t know
how to deal with the influx. So unless you are ‘THAT rocket scientist
with the EXACT experience in launching a space shuttle’, you are
probably wasting your time going to them.
It may prove more useful developing a direct strategy, using online,
networking, and making EFFECTIVE use of certain job boards.
RE your age, unfortunately I have highlighted that in the post above. No
one will ever admit it, but ageism, sexism and recism etc are back here
again in the job market - lets hope only for a short time!!
Good luck with the job hunt.
Philip Williams
I have seen both sides of the coin but a distinct bias towards poor communication and issuing letters containing phrases such as “after a rigorous selection process we are sorry to say…”
Whilst I understand that the volume of applicants has gone up (driven by the wonders of the web and the ease with which applications can be collected)the common courtesy of an acknowledgment or response seems to have gone. I sit here wondering what has happened to an application and will often follow up with a call to be told if you haven’t heard then we aren’t progressing your application…
Grumpy old man here… common courtesies should be extended and for the same reason that applications are easier to collect then letters confirming what has happened are just as easily sent out.
To balance this mini rant there are some agencies I’ve met with who have shown a genuine interest in who I am and what I can do and I believe that if a job comes from an agency it will be through one of these more enlightened ones.
Andy Headworth
Phillip,
I think you have highlighted a valuable point that some people seem to
miss. There are some cracking consultants out there working for
agencies, some you have experienced, and they ‘do the job properly’, by
engaging properly with candidates. Infortunately there are also many
that aren’t, and they do give the industry a bad name. After all common
courtesy is free isn’t it? I believe it is better to be honest with
people (even if it isn’t what they want to hear sometimes), as it saves
wasting their time or giving them any false expectations.
Andy
Philip Williams
Andy
So as a job hunter how do I get on the radar screen of those good consultants who are probably also very successful.
I guess the industry is no different to any other - a long history in credit cards and banking has caused me to cross paths with some great people delivering excellent services - and then there are the mob in front of the parliamentary committee at the moment and some of their colleagues that creates the image that all bankers are bad news
Philip
Andy Headworth
Phillip,
Good question and the answer is a bit of detective work.
It is really a question of knowing your sector - which I know you do. It
is a question of establishing who all the consultancies, agencies and
search firms in your sector first, by using different research like
google, linkedin, directories, etc. Also track a range of relevant job
boards, to see who are advertising vacancies in your industry, as that
will give you the names of some of the consultantancies (and maybe some
consultants.)
When you have the names of the consultancies, it is then a question of
contacting them and asking the questions and finding out some names to
talk to.
Alternatively - reach out to your network, and using sites like linkedin
- people will be only too helpful telling you the names of good
consultants. And it also tells people that you are on the market, just
in case they are currently recruiting.
It takes some time, but it will yield some good contacts for you for
years to come.
Good luck with the search.
Andy