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HR Rudeness
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HR Rudeness
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I read with amusement Laura's storry of being treated rudely by having only four of her 50 (perhaps unsolicited) resumes responded to with a thank you for your interest note. She was also upset with H
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/9/2002 3:00 AM EDT
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Posts: 12
First: 10/9/2002 Last: 12/17/2002 |
I read with amusement Laura's storry of being treated rudely by having only four of her 50 (perhaps unsolicited) resumes responded to with a thank you for your interest note. She was also upset with HR people acting as if her phone call was an interruption. I'm not sure she understands the job hunt process but allow me to break it down for her, so that she might more easily understand. She is the product. Sending out a resume is planting a sales seed of marketing material. Following up with a phone call is trying to make contact with the decision maker to book the appointment. The approach she described was a shotgun approach. The sales seed was unsolicited by the decision maker. The phone call was unsolicited by the decision maker. If the resume ended up in the circular file unopened because it was unsolicited, oh well...that happens to thousands of other pieces of unsolicited mail every day. If a salesperson makes an unsolicited call and feels that he/she is being treated as an interruption, it is because he/she is. HR professionals don't get paid to answer the phone. They get paid to ensure that all applicants and employees are treated fairly and a myriad of other duties related to the career field. They don't get paid to be nice, although most get into the field because they genuinely want to help people. Laura is an excellent writer with a lot of angst if something that happened two years ago is just now getting written about now. Before she criticizes in the future, she should do a bit more research and understand the process. By the way Laura, shotgun approaches don't work well. Perhaps next time you are on the job market, you will do better prospecting and qualifying before you send out your marketing seed. It will certainly save you money and the heartache of rejection. |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/9/2002 7:23 PM EDT
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Posts: 495
First: 9/30/2000 Last: 8/19/2011 |
I work in a manufacturing environment. We have several applicants walk in each day, not to mention how many resumes I receive on my fax or e-mail address. I had an individual that made his way through our plant while the workers were on lunch. He was not wearing the personal protective equipment required to be in the plant, and he bursted into my office while I was on a conference call with our other 15 facilities. He couldn't understand why I would include his application (with the several hundred others) as he was there and insisted I understand his particular situation and why he really needed a job.
Isn't HR great? |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/16/2002 9:56 AM EDT
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Posts: 191
First: 7/27/2000 Last: 9/12/2005 |
I feel compelled to respond to this article as well. The author of the article asked what has happened to caring about others. Indeed, what has happened? I certainly don't see the author caring about what the HR professional goes through every day! In fact, the author seems a bit selfish to me.
The author whines that she only got 4 responses out of 50 resumes, without even considering how many resumes HR has to wade through every day. The numbers are often in the hundreds. Although sending a pre-written postcard acknowledgement might be reasonable upon receipt of only 20 resumes, it becomes completely unreasonable for several hundred. The company would have to hire an employee devoted exclusively to addressing postcards! The author also indicated that the HR managers she contacted to follow-up on her resume submission seemed "put out that their busy day was interrupted." Good read! I'm sure they WERE put out. Common sense dictates that if HR were really interested in talking to you, you would receive a call. Calling HR when you haven't been contacted puts HR in the uncomfortable position of having to tell you that they aren't interested in talking to you. Now, that's rude! Furthermore, if every applicant called to check on their resume, nothing else would get accomplished in HR. No one would actually get hired because the HR manager would be stuck on the phone all day. Despite what many people believe, interviewing and hiring is only a small aspect of HR. HR managers have to be well-versed in at least 30 employment laws (without having a legal education, I might add). In addition, they are often responsible for drafting personnel policies, handling benefit administration, investigating complaints, managing workers' compensation, dealing with unending paperwork, developing a compensation and performance appraisal system, listening to employee grievances, handling payroll, and being the general go-to person whenever any employee has a question about anything. Usually, the function is severely understaffed because it is perceived by management as being marginally important since it isn't a revenue builder. Most HR managers are simply overworked and underappreciated. So, I don't intend to apologize for *perceived* rudeness. I think we ALL need to be a little more caring and understanding. Off my soapbox now...! |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/22/2002 6:54 AM EDT
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Posts: 2
First: 10/2/2002 Last: 10/22/2002 |
While I can understand Kevinxp and the other respondents' points of view, that still does not account for those resumes that are solicited, ie. a newspaper ad or internet posting.
If a company has taken the time to draft an ad, paid the money to put the ad in a local newspaper (depending on the size of the ad and when it is placed this may be several hundred or several thousand dollars)OR has retained someone on staff to maintain a website which includes job postings, then it would seem not only common sense, but also good business practice to follow-up and reply to those resumes sent in response to an ad. I have been in the job search process many times, and while it may be engaging in a form of russian roulette by sending an unsolicted resume, there are many companies that don't even given the courtesy of a response to resumes recieved on a posted position. As a human resources professional, I realize that we all have a very busy work day, but that is not an excuse to forget the common courtesies that we all expect! Furthermore, companies should not just look at an applicant as an applicant, because depending on the type of company that you have, that job candidate may also be a potential customer that you have alienated or possible revenue lost by not extending the courtesy of a reply to their employment application. |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/22/2002 7:18 AM EDT
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Posts: 191
First: 7/27/2000 Last: 9/12/2005 |
I still maintain that for HR professionals who are "one-person shows" in mid- to large sized companies (like me), it isn't alwyas feasible to respond to every resume, even if solicited. I wish it could be otherwise, but its simply not!
If the above-described HR professionals have time to respond to each resume, every time, my guess is that: 1) their departments are legally noncompliant in a number of areas that could use their attention; or 2) they don't receive many responses to the ads they place. |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/22/2002 7:32 AM EDT
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Posts: 7
First: 10/22/2002 Last: 12/30/2008 |
Ok, it does seem to make sense that when actively soliciting resumes that each response should receive a reply. But, let's look at the responses. Recently, I posted an ad on a major job board. In less than an hour I had 125 emails. My ad clearly stated the minimum requirements and location. Of the 125 resumes, there was less than 25 that met the minimum requirement. Most of them were so far off the mark there was no way they could possibly have thought they were close to the mark. This example, unfortunately, not an isolated case but has become the norm. So why did they respond? My job is to find the candidates to fill the position. Should the unqualified responses keep me from doing my job? I cannot even send automated responses because any incoming spam would then receive a "verification" that my email address is valid and the amount of spam would be increased. (Further making it more difficult to get to the heart of my job.) Why should someone so unqualified be allowed to keep me from doing my job? |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/22/2002 7:34 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 10/22/2002 Last: 10/22/2002 |
I agree that it is not feasible to reply to all applicants for posted jobs. I receive hundreds of applications through e-mail, fax, post and hand delivery. I make a note in my job postings that only those applicants required for an interview will be contacted. I notice that many of my e-mail submissions have an automatic reply, so that applicant would know that their resume has been received. Because of the ease of submitting a resume (e-mail and fax), the volume of applications we receive for advertised jobs is far greater than it was 10 or 15 years ago. Gone are the days when we could reply to all applications. |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/22/2002 9:09 AM EDT
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Posts: 12
First: 10/9/2002 Last: 12/17/2002 |
Things are heating up...I agree that in some cases, a solicited resume should receive some kind of acknowledgement. However, unsolicited resumes are like spam...the kind you eat...who really wants to open it up?
HR Professionals often go into the field because they genuinely want to help people... ...then we find out there is no way to make everyone happy...those of us, who work at Target, at least have the right message on our logo shirts...although I believe the target would probably be more appropriate on our backs... |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/23/2002 5:10 AM EDT
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Posts: 16
First: 7/29/1999 Last: 10/23/2002 |
Even when we advertise in the local newspaper, the ads go online and rather than just a local response, I get email from around the country and sometimes Europe! And even if I do solicit through an ad, the responder does not know how many ads I have run an am sifting through, like the 6 active files on my desk as we speak.
As a one man show, there is no way I can respond to all of these emails/fax/walk ins unless I give up Sundays. Oh, I have 4 job hotlines to respond to also. |
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HR Rudeness
posted at 10/24/2002 4:37 AM EDT
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Posts: 1
First: 10/24/2002 Last: 10/24/2002 |
I would suggest to anyone sending in a resume that is not in response to an actual open position...check to see if the company even accepts resumes before you start sending then out to every company in the phone book. Most organizations don't accept unsolicited resumes. We do NOT accept then, and if we receive one it goes "YOU KNOW WHERE".
Job seekers should understand how to look for a job before they start. If they don't do their homework ahead of time, they shouldn't be whining about not getting call backs. Most organizations have a PROCESS that needs to be followed. AND if the company does not have a job available that has been budgeted for and appropriately posted, then guess what, there is no reason to send in your resume, because a company isn't going to say...oh gee, what a nice resume, let's make up a position for this really nice person. If job seekers do their homework and follow the instructions listed in the ad, and they meet the requirements for the position, believe me, they should have no problems getting call backs. |
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