Well as you can tell sometimes my spelling isn’t that greatest( thanks for pointing that out Liz ) but i can assure you that it is fantastic when i am in the office. So today i had a look through all of my emailed applications. Wow to my surprise there was 42. You might be wondering how many of those applications came back with a phone call…….. ok there was 10. So 32 of the applications either didn’t get back to me or gave me a typical pre-assigned email back. I must admit in my time in recruitment i have used… ” I am sorry at this time you haven’t made our short list… We appreciate you taking the time to apply but we will not be taking your application further”. When you get this response over 20 times you really have to ask yourself ” why am i not getting any further????” is it because i don’t have a well constructed resume? (i should i used to look at enough), maybe my name wasn’t that attractive to them, maybe if my name was Sophie Jones i might get a look in. Maybe i haven’t included all the extensive in house training i have had from some of New Zealand and The worlds largest companies. The list could go on but not one person has spent time giving me feedback on what they thought i might be short on. Maybe time is a issue these days, maybe people in HR just don’t have the time in between coffee’s with recruitment agencies or there daily paper pushing activities. Or maybe the real reason is not one of them can read a Resume correctly and spend more time on the resumes that actually are a waste of time. I think most of them cant be bothered picking up the phone and actually talking to the applicant. In a Ten Minute phone call you can learn 100% more than you can from reading a emailed application. I think HR departments may have become a little lazy and if they are to scared to call a person or don’t have the time a dedicated recruiter is required. I guess that brings me to my next point… “Recruiters” How many people out there have seen a AD on Seek or Trade Me and thought that sounds like my ideal job????? I am sure a lot of people have but how many times have you called up and the advertiser cant actually tell you anything about that role… Not who it is with, not the salary range nothing? But they do tell you about a job that you dont want, you never would be interested in and you feel like they are wasting your time???. That happens everyday. Yes we are in a recession and things have tighten up but there is no reason or need to advertise no existent roles just to get numbers of people calling you to make sure that you personal KPI’s are up and that you look busy. Stop mucking people. I am guilty of it and it would be a lie to say that i have never done it but i quickly realised that it is a waste of time and you lose a lot of creditability and you lose your company creditability. Creditabilty is a funny thing really mainly due to the fact that it can also be effected by jealous and evil people you work with as a tool for them to get ahead. How many people in management positions these days actually deserve it??? I know a few but i also know a lot more that have been robbed of the opportunity. Its like being 1 metre from the try line and you are going to score that winning try, nothing can stop you. There is no-one in front of you its a gimmy. What the whistle has been blowen i have even put the ball down yet.. Waita second it wasn’t a forward pass, I wasnt offside, i didnt knock it on, What is happening???. And there is my answer the ref has been paid off by one of the opposition. That may not make sense to you but in a nutshell certain people in the work place will do anything to get ahead even if they have to cheat, backstab and pretend to be your best friend the next day. I have got a little sidetracked so you can really see my frustration. The biggest thing that is frustrating me now is the fact that senior management are losing there 100k + roles and dont back themsleves to get a role like that again. You know what they are doing??? They are taking the more Jnr roles for significant less pay and pushing people like me out of contension. There has been more than one case during my unemployment where they have taken one of these muppets and they have left 3 weeks later. Can they really be blamed?? or is it the gutless employers that are at fault??. As a company you would think that investing in the future is a better option than taking somebody that is almost certain to be leaving you at the first sniff of a high paying role. Something to think about…..
I have had enough of writing tonight. And i tell you what it is depressing when you are on a PC at 11:31pm on a Friday night. With no money in the account and only yourself to keep you entertained.
Dave