Hiring Managers and Karma

I want to first say that not everyone in the business of recruiting/hiring is doing this and for those of you staying true to the highest of principles during this bad economy, thank you!

BUT...
Hey all of you folks out there in the business of posting jobs, receiving resumes, setting up interviews, interviewing, making hiring decisions etc... I know you are busy, but...

I am working with students (undergraduate and graduate level), new alums entering the workforce, well trained and highly skilled alums with years of experience, colleagues in search of work, friends and family who have been laid off...you get my drift...I am working with people across the entire spectrum of careers, professional specializations, skills sets, ages, gender, ethnic groups and so on...they have at least two things in common:

1.) They are in search of a job

2.) They feel that during the process, they have been treated in an appalling way by organizations seeking employees

The complaints go like this: (some of these have always been so and some are clearly new in the game)

1.) No response: They send a resume and do not even get a simple email response (which can be automated people!) to notify the sender of receipt of the resume/cover letter. There is apparently a huge black hole circling the Earth like a ring of Saturn sucking up all the resumes and cover letters. How else to explain the dead air that greets so many applicants?

2.) HR is outsourced so they are talking to an HR person in Idaho for a job in San Diego. The HR firm clearly has no real idea about the structure of the office for which the person is applying and therefore the details shared about reporting structure, office setting, interview dates and so on have little, if any, bearing in reality. I am working with someone who has now been told 3 different individuals will be his supervisor for this one job. We figure he will find out once he actually begins his job.

3.) In house HR offices have been downsized to the point of insanity. One person is now HR, recruiting, payroll, and even operations! This may explain 1 and 2 above but it does not explain the organizational decision to do this in the first place. My grandmother used to call this "penny-wise, pound foolish"!

4.) The number of interviews being conducted to get to the point of an offer has gotten completely out of hand. I know someone who went on 12 interviews (yes, I said 12) only to lose the job in the last round once the VP determined he was over 50! Twelve interviews for one job...give me a break, do you really think that many people need to be in the process? If yes, they for heaven sake...have you heard of panel interviews! The candidate felt as thought the window washer would be called in next to give his opinion. Don't even get me started on the visual of the VP using the date of college graduation to actually do the math on the resume to calculate the applicant's age!!!

5.) The timeline from job posting to phone screen to first on site interview to potential offer has become nothing short of a torturous marathon with very little respect shown for the individual wanting to work for your organization. Here we are nearing pumpkin time and I have candidates being called for interviews for jobs they applied to in July!

The smugness of a company figuring they can drag this on as for long as they feel like is callous and not ethical. I have heard people near the top say, "well if they don't like it they can withdraw from the process"...really?...can they? Easy to say when you have a job. Try thinking that way when you are on COBRA, paying your own life insurance and your unemployment is about to give out. Or how about saying this when you are renting out your home to pay the mortgage (so you don't lose your home) as you sleep on the sofa of a friend. Or say this to me when you are actually talking about selling blood/plasma to pay bills. (All real and happening to people I am working with right now!)

6.) How about the company who is cynically hiring the new college graduate with the intent of using them up at the lowest pay they can get away with based on the downturn in the economy. Can you sleep at night? Would you encourage your own kid to take this job? Would you take this job? What happens down the road when this new talent won't touch you based on the reputation you have?

7.) Discrimination based on any protected category because you can get away with it. You think it is not obvious, but it is...go to Glassdoor.com and read about yourself...not as opaque as you thought huh?.

Believe me, the bad deeds are shared on blogs, newsletters, in coffee shops, among friends, with career counselors and coaches. Memories will be long after this one folks.

I have names, I have companies, I have seen this terrible side of the economic downturn and I am saddened and appalled. It is tough out there, but human courtesy to people looking for work should be the norm in the best of times and is incredibly necessary at the worst of times. People are hurting and even when they do not provide a fit for what you need, you can be civil and professional in your treatment. A simple thank you for considering us but...would be fantastic.

So, just keep in mind that people will remember this behavior and when the table turns (as it will as anyone in the HR field knows), these skilled and currently out of work people will be sought after, they will be the same people you will try your darnedest to recruit...and they will remember. I know I will.

Last gripe...Okay giant software companies who do not believe in telecommuting...what dinosaur did you ride in on?