July 2007

Hi,

I am Working in an Electronics Security Company as HR Executive. I was in need of new Hirings and tried, Local Consultancies, Newspaper Advertisements, Campus Interviews, Referals and still didn’t get a Quality Staff.

(My Product is a Construction Magazine that is Market Leader in South and we are the only company who have Operating Authorities in 5 States in North…we need to Market that magazine in North)

I don’t know anything about your industry (publishing), nor do I know your area, but when traditional means of recruiting fail, you need to look around your office.

Who are your successful employees? How did they come to work for you?

Then offer bonuses for employee referrals. Quality employees tend to have quality friends. You say you used referrals, but how much were you willing to pay for a referral?

You may have to go to an outside recruiter, someone who is focused on your industry.

Finally, you may have to think outside the box. You say you are a construction magazine? Have you been looking for people who declare themselves as writers? Or are you looking for people who know the industry and can write? In my experience (as a creative writing minor in college) is that people who label themselves as writers first would know squat about construction.

If you need a construction writer, I bet there are construction blogs. Try contacting one of those people.

Have you gone to trade fairs? You said you went to colleges. Do the jobs you are recruiting for require a college degree?

How is your pay and benefits package? If you are below industry standards you’ve either got to hire substandard workers or raise up your packages. If you are at industry standards and you still can’t meet your recruiting goals, try going above, or adding non-cash perks, such as flextime and telecommuting.

Recruiting is hard. You’ve got a challenge ahead of you. I hope it works out for you.

{ 3 comments }

Hi, HRLady,

After reading the last entry in your blog, I start wondering what would be your take on my current situation, so here goes a question for you.

I’m working as a contractor for a 100 Fortune company in the US, while I wait for my greencard process to complete.

After 4 months in this position, and a few weeks of going back and forth with my superior about my frustration with the way he delegates tasks to me (no clarity of assignments and no provision of the necessary resources to get to the desired result), I decided to resign.

The only reason I resigned is this direct supervisor, which I think lacks leadership skills (he communicates very poorly his expectations to subordinates and sometimes shows disrespect for them by not letting them know of important changes in a timely manner) and, as already mentioned, doesn’t know how to properly delegate assignments to his team.

My resignation has been communicated by my supervisor to his bosses, but I’m staying for two more months so I can finish the work I’m doing and offer some guidance to my replacement before I leave. I’m in a senior support position, and because the business partners I serve like my work a lot, other groups in the same company are now trying to recruit me.

When I am asked by the people interviewing me (inside and outside the same company) why I decided to leave my current position, what should I say? Is it a good answer to say that my supervisor and I had different management styles and I felt I wasn’t a good fit for his needs?

Your comments will be highly appreciated.

I believe that interviewing for internal positions is very different than interviewing for external positions. Internally, they already know your work and they know your manager.

I think in this case a very polite, “Bob and I have different styles,” would be appropriate. I imagine that the people trying to recruit you already know this–please note, they are after you to join their group, not Bob.

Externally, you’ve got a more difficult row to hoe. 4 months in a position needs explanation. You may have to say the whole “different styles” thing to explain why you left. Especially since you are working towards your greencard. Does quitting this job make it more difficult to get that greencard?

The problem with leaving a large company after so short a time is that it’s difficult to state convincingly, “there weren’t any promotional opportunities available” because, really, there are. And if you are looking for positions in a similar industry, with a similar size you probably don’t want to give the “I’m looking for a different corporate culture.”

So, yes, overall I think you will have to mention the differences in style. But you don’t insult your former (current) boss. Don’t do that ever. And hopefully your resume has a longer term job prior to this position so you aren’t branded as a job hopper.

I bet, though, that you’ll get hired internally and you won’t have to worry about any short positions.

Good luck!

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Dear Evil HR Lady,

Thanks for listening and for your advice.

I’m quite disappointed that I’ve already used my “Bitter? Party of one?” line in another post. This means instead of being sarcastic and a bit rude (one might say, evil), I’m going to have to answer your questions.

Some interviews are silly, but for the most part, it’s the best way people know how to evaluate a candidate. It’s actually not a very effective way (in my humble opinion) but the other ways are more difficult and (sometimes) cost prohibited.

But, to get a job, one must interview, and to interview successfully, one must not come across as bitter and angry about the process. Nor should one let on that you think the interviewer’s questions are silly.

First up, salary. Now, some would disagree with me on this, but the reason I would ask for your salary history is to determine whether or not this job is a possibility for you. If the job I have pays $40,000 a year and you tell me your current salary is $84,000, I know you won’t be interested in going any further. But wait, you say, I want to take a pay cut because I so much want to work for Evil HR Lady! Great. Then say, “I’m looking for jobs in the $35,000-$45,000 range.

And here’s where the objections come in–ack, you’ve played you hand and now you’re going to lose, lose, lose. Maybe. Feel free to counter the question with one of your own: What does this job pay?

Why did you leave your last position? This tells me a ton about you. If you go on a rant about how much you hated you boss and how he was a jerk and blah, blah, blah, guess what? You’ve just eliminated yourself from the slate of candidates! You left it for growth or opportunity? Bah, I know this is what everyone says, but fine. I now know that you aren’t stupid enough to boss bash.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Have you even thought about it? What kind of career path do you want? Do you want to head into management or are you comfortable being an individual contributor. How does this particular position play into your future plans? When I’m hiring, I want someone that will be good for the company today and good for the company in 5 years. If I can’t fulfill your 5 year plans in my company, maybe you aren’t a great fit.

Why do you want to work here? Really, why? Unless you are applying to Burger King, this matters. What is it about [this company] that you want. You better have done your research about the company before you answer this question. (And in the age of the internet, not having at least looked at website is also a career killer.)

Yes, there may be some psychoanalyzing going on, but basically, we’re just trying to see if you are a fit for the company and the job. We’re not trying to be tricky or mean or demand that you have a crystal ball. We just want to hire the right person.

We want that right person to be you, so stop being angry and stop being crabby and try to think about the interview from the interviewer’s viewpoint.

Good luck!

{ 14 comments }

Hi

I would be grateful for your expert view.

Well, then, it seems I have failed in my duties—HR’s sole purpose is to create paperwork and barriers to success! Plus, we like to count people by race and gender!

Sorry, I forgot non-HR people can read this blog. I’d hate to have our secrets get out.

Social Media and HR? Yeah, it’s made a huge difference. First of all, I’m writing this blog, which lets you in on the inner secrets of HR. (Drat! Now I can’t keep the abysmal failure that is forced distribution performance ratings a secret.)

Secondly, we have to realize that the world has changed. HR has a reputation for being followers rather than leaders (which is the exact opposite of how HR should be. What does SHRM say? Leading people, leading organizations. We should be in front.)

So, now we have to create and enforce e-mail policies and internet policies. We have to decide what we’re going to do about employee blogs. Do we restrict what our employees can say about the company? Do we search facebook and myspace and blogger to look at candidates? What if we don’t search, they tell us? If someone says something controversial on a blog do we not hire them?

And about the information employees now have—salary info is more readily available, reviews about the company, sites like Linked In give you a way to find people who work in the company you are interested—and talk to them before accepting a job.

These are all questions that a few years ago, no one would know about. Your writings in 1985 stayed private unless you managed to get them published. Even being published didn’t make that knowledge easily accessible. Today? Anybody can start a website and put whatever they darn well please out there. Do we punish employees whose private thoughts are now public? Why? Does HR really want to be the thought police? (Answer: Yes. Just kidding! No, we don’t. I don’t. Really, I don’t.)

So, yes, I think social networking et al is something that has changed the face of people management and HR should be in front. If we’re leading people we need to make sure we’re not stumbling along at the back of the line, putting in policies only when a crisis arises.

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