It seems the days of hiring a friend of a friend and sealing it with a handshake are over. I realize and accept that we all need to evolve and change with the times. However, I think some changes have actually been a regression for all of us. The filling of a position of employment has become a game of power and who can get the upper hand. Job seekers are looking at Indeed or Monster and trying to narrow down the options or increase them with minimal information. It’s now far too common that an advertisement doesn’t even include the most useful of information, such as what the job pays.
Some years ago, it became somewhat accepted that higher management positions did not disclose the pay for the position and it was a window that the applicant negotiated with. Now, we can’t even find the salary base for pizza delivery.
Just what does this accomplish? What sort of applicant is this job seeking to find? One so desperate that the pay is inconsequential? Or one that will just call the company and ask what the position pays? Perhaps it is actually who the job sends away. For example, I don’t respond to those ads. Perhaps the people they wish to drive away are the people who are looking for straightforward jobs with efficient people.
The same might be said for the companies who ask applicants to apply online and then when they set up an interview, they ask the applicant to fill out the same paperwork. Perhaps the applicants this company is really seeking are the ones who will continue to jump through hoops and are not concerned with being disrespected and wasting their time by tedious and mundane tasks such as filling out another application.
Some companies will say they are using this second application to verify information on the first. What a ridiculous waste of time. In truth, these companies are covering up their inability to do simple background checks and to train the hiring person to conduct an interview.
How many times have we been interviewed by a person who simply asked us questions on the application they had in front of them?
Somewhere along the line, we lost the ability to talk and get an impression of a person based on our own feelings and experience. If the position requires an added layer of security, hire a background investigator to check them out and be sure their information is correct. But this treating applicants with the disrespect of repeated paperwork when they are expecting and prepared for an interview, should not be tolerated.
I submit that if you are desperate for a job and allow yourself to be treated with disrespect in the hiring process, you are setting yourself up for more of the same. If the hiring process itself is so inefficient and wasteful of your time and intellect, imagine what your day to day activity will be filled with.
If the very first step in the process of getting a job is applying before you know the pay, and the second step is applying again when you think you have a interview, you have agreed to a culture of more.
Keep in mind that the interview is a two way street. It is for the company to get a feel for you and determine if you are a good fit, but it is also a time for you to do the same. You can leave the process at any stage. If you are sitting there waiting for your interview or even if you are in it, you can leave. Only you can decide what your value is and whether you are receiving what you deserve.
I’m available to point out other obvious issues and help you or your company build relationships and connect with real people. Connect with me here or on Facebook.