The soul has greater need of the ideal than the real for it is by the real that we exist, it is by the ideal that we live

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Human Resources

Is it me? Or is Careerbuilder a complete farce of a website?

Once, long ago I registered on their site looking for a job. Nothing came of it though. Every single job they had posted was either already filled, even though it was posted within 24-72 hours of the time I attempted to apply, or it was so old I didn't even bother to apply. i.e. if a job listing is 60 days old when you contact the employer they're about to end the probationary period of the person they did hire. Now that's old.

Monster is much the same. These sites don't provide what they promised when they burst on the scene several years ago. Now they're nothing more than generators of cash for their owners, who likely spend a lot of their time justifying their existence to their clients, none of whom ever get many applicants from their listings with these sites.

The most pervasive problem I am currently seeing is with Human Resource departments in general. They live and die by the Hayes scale. Don't make one criteria? Out! Banished. No matter that we might have denied what was possibly a good employee the chance to find a new career, to relocate, to come to our community and bring their own special talents. Nope, we don't care, you didn't fit the Hayes mold of employee perfection. It's simple mindedness, nothing more.

I am about to engage a battle I know at the outset I'll lose. I have applied to work at a library in a southwestern city, and they've asked me to come submit to a test...tomorrow...in their city.

I have to wonder if they even read the application I spent several hours on. Are they aware I'm over 800 miles away? Are they interested? Do they realize that I am outrageously overqualified for the job I am applying for? Do they realize that they;d be getting a bargain if they hired me? Do they know that they will not find a candidate more qualified than I am in their locale? Do they care?

Obviously I won't be dropping everything and jetting down there to take a test that will amount to a screening to be sure I'm not an illegal alien or a terrorist. I mean, really, they could ask me that and not make me buy a plane ticket.

So in a few minutes I'll be emailing the head of HR for that fair city. Likely ruining any chance of ever getting a job with that particular city, but seriously, if someone doesn't stand up against stupidity it'll run even more rampant than it already is. And I'd like to goto my grave one day knowing I did all I could to fight it.

Wish me luck I'll need it. I'm dealing with bureaucrats all day.