lexi29 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 I'm not sure where to post this. At work part of my job is to handle some our our HR duties. Right now we are doing a lot of hiring (we're expanding) and I've run into some applicants that are just clueless. I really don't understand what people are thinking when they apply for a job. I know a lot of people are out of work right now due to the bad economy and people aren't willing to drive very far for employment due to the cost of gasoline. However here are some of the things I've come across in just the last week. We have an opening in our accounting department. The job requires at least a two year degree and pays thirty-some thousand a year with benefits. (we pay for NONE of our benefits). I'm the contact person who pre-screens the resumes, talks to interested candidates etc. THe job requires at least 4 years of experience. First thing is out of about forty candidates NOT one of them submitted a cover letter with their resume. When did cover letters become obsolete? Especially when some of these applicants have degrees other than in accounting. Might help to explain WHY we should interview you for a job you don't appear qualified for. I called one woman in for an interview- gave her directions to our office etc. She asked a few questions about the job. Two hours before her interview she called me to ask me the name of our company and what we do? HELLO- first of all, she applied for the job and should know who she applied with, 2nd anytime we answer the phone we state the name of the company, when I called her to schedule the interview, I told her the name of the company and gave her the address. She could have easily looked us up on a reverse phone search or driven to our address to see the co. name. Or maybe she should have listened when I told her about three times. Also serveral people did not bother to update their resumes. They would list that they were presently employed with XYZ company and if I'd call to schedule an interview I'd ask what was convenient for their current work schedule and they would say oh I haven't worked there since November. Well you have had four months to update your resume. This job requires attention to detail and frankly you've just shown you don't care much for that. Yesterday a guy called me to ask if a job he applied for had been filled. I asked him what job he had applied for and he said he wasn't sure. That he didn't know any of the details of the job-the wage, the job title, the qualficiations etc. Just said that he knew it was Monday through friday from 8 to 5. Well, yes those are when we are open. I told him that I wasn't able to tell him if the job had been filled unless he could provide more information about WHICH job it was. Anyone have stories to share? Link to post Share on other sites
tanbark813 Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Tan: "So you have 3 years experience in .NET?" Candidate: "Yes." later... Tan: "Okay, we have this little coding .NET exercise--" Candidate: "Oh... well... I haven't really done much .NET programming." Tan: _______________________________________________ Tan: "So it says here you have 10 years experience in SQL Server 2000?" Candidate: "Yes." Tan: "10 years? In SQL Server 2000?" Candidate: "Yes." _______________________________________________ And half the people that come in have accents so thick I can barely understand what they're saying. Link to post Share on other sites
Star Gazer Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 And half the people that come in have accents so thick I can barely understand what they're saying. Ugh, I can imagine that would be tough. Link to post Share on other sites
Author lexi29 Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 Tan: "_______________________________________________ Tan: "So it says here you have 10 years experience in SQL Server 2000?" Candidate: "Yes." Tan: "10 years? In SQL Server 2000?" Candidate: "Yes." _______________________________________________ lol too funny Link to post Share on other sites
infiniteQuest Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Did you expect Harvard graduates to apply to the 30K job you're advertising? I don't know what type of position that is, but I am not surprised about the caliber of candidates that you're getting. Link to post Share on other sites
Lizzie60 Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I also thought the same thing... 30-something for a job like that.. it's not a lot of $$... I am not really surprised.. It's true though that people don't take job's interview/CV etc.. seriously enough and don't do enough homework. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts