The challenge of hiring

[Dionysus]

My wife runs a small business, and I help her with a few things, especially with the hiring process.

I’m sure other small business owners have experienced this, but it is absolutely stunning to me how some people conduct themselves with interviews. What I mean is: showing up for the damn thing, or at least having the courtesy to call to cancel or reschedule.

This morning we had three interviews scheduled. Each candidate had applied for the position through Indeed, filled in another application on my wife’s website, participated in a phone interview with the two of us, and confirmed their interview appointment for this morning. We have them do all this partly to gauge how serious they are about the job.

Three interviews scheduled and confirmed. Only one showed up.

This particular position is for a leadership role. One candidate was scheduled for an 11:30 interview (the last of the three time slots for today). At 11:40 she was not there and had not called or texted, so we left. At 12:10 she texts my wife “I’m here for my 11:30 interview.” Forty minutes late to an interview for a leadership role?

This has happened numerous times. We just have to laugh about it now. What is it with people?

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

My wife runs a small business, and I help her with a few things, especially with the hiring process.

I’m sure other small business owners have experienced this, but it is absolutely stunning to me how some people conduct themselves with interviews. What I mean is: showing up for the damn thing, or at least having the courtesy to call to cancel or reschedule.

This morning we had three interviews scheduled. Each candidate had applied for the position through Indeed, filled in another application on my wife’s website, participated in a phone interview with the two of us, and confirmed their interview appointment for this morning. We have them do all this partly to gauge how serious they are about the job.

Three interviews scheduled and confirmed. Only one showed up.

This particular position is for a leadership role. One candidate was scheduled for an 11:30 interview (the last of the three time slots for today). At 11:40 she was not there and had not called or texted, so we left. At 12:10 she texts my wife “I’m here for my 11:30 interview.” Forty minutes late to an interview for a leadership role?

This has happened numerous times. We just have to laugh about it now. What is it with people?

It's today's society. I have the same issues all...the....time. It's miserable trying to find anyone to do just about anything these days. We have about 20 openings at all times and have to filter through hundreds of applicants just to get to the phone screening. Then we filter through more during screenings to confirm 10 to 14 for interviews and even after all that effort we might get 6-8 show up. Then after interviews we might only hire 3 or 4. Really frustrating.

 

[SabreHorn]

Wanna know why Alabama got AirBus, ThyssenKrupp, Mercedes Benz, BMW, et al?

AIDT | We Are Workforce Development

Gary, et al are incredible to work with. Everyone of the officers & employees at AirBus except three executives was hired through AIDT.

 

[Sangre Naranjada]

It's today's society. I have the same issues all...the....time. It's miserable trying to find anyone to do just about anything these days. We have about 20 openings at all times and have to filter through hundreds of applicants just to get to the phone screening. Then we filter through more during screenings to confirm 10 to 14 for interviews and even after all that effort we might get 6-8 show up. Then after interviews we might only hire 3 or 4. Really frustrating.

What business are you in, if I may ask?

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

What business are you in, if I may ask?

I'm a Director in food retail.

 

[Dionysus]

Got an application from someone this morning. We have a question on the app “What qualities do you have that meet the job requirements” and they wrote: fast paste.

I kid you not.

Another wrote: Will to give my best quality I get a good satisfaction from doing a good hob

So professionally worded, and a good hob!

 

[SabreHorn]

Did she start at noon or the evening shift?

 

[Dionysus]

Did she start at noon or the evening shift?

I’m not looking for perfection but the ability to speak and write in one’s native language doesn’t seem like an unreasonable expectation, especially on a job application where you might want to make a decent impression.

 

[SabreHorn]

You're being unreasonable.

When I was in corporate world downtown, I was given a report from HR that showed the results of tests given to entry level clerical personnel. These were people walking in and applying for any job. One of the questions was a multiple choice option:

Which word best defines "chore"? Of the options, choice "B" was "task"; choice "D" was "prostitute"

79% chose "D"

All were HS graduates

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

Soooooo, it seems the applicant pool runneth over now. We're getting about 3,000 applicants a week to fill a couple of spots. It's pretty clear they are applying everywhere as fast as possible all over the place. Our screeners deny 40-50 before they find ONE who took the time to enter a job history. It's sad and pathetic at the same time.

 

[Dionysus]

We had a few applicants that responded to the question “Why do you want to work here” with: I need the money.

No kidding. Next!

Another guy wrote: I’ll do a really f**king good job

He seriously wrote that on an application. I actually kind of appreciate these idiots disqualifying themselves like that before we waste time on a phone interview. I think on average we will review 15-20 applications to get to one candidate that might work out.

Hire slow, fire fast.

 

[SabreHorn]

It may be too huge a task, but you're making me appreciate AIDT more & more. The governor needs to go to Montgomery and throw a ton of cash at Gary to come to Austin

 

[Vol Horn 4 Life]

The best part about this is that I think if we do the digging through the crap we'll both find some amazing talent that we normally wouldn't have seen otherwise. I just have to figure out how to keep them after everything goes back to normal.

 

[Dionysus]

The best part about this is that I think if we do the digging through the crap we'll both find some amazing talent that we normally wouldn't have seen otherwise. I just have to figure out how to keep them after everything goes back to normal.

Agree 100%. We see this as a time to grab some talent. We are fortunate that, although business is down, it’s not gone so we have some work to give them.

On this latest job posting we had over 70 applicants. About 20 of them actually followed the instructions, so the rest eliminated themselves. Out of those 20 we did phone interviews with 9. Out of those 9 we scheduled 3 in-person interviews, and one agreed to the scheduled invitation. That one looks like a winner and she starts work tomorrow.

 

[SabreHorn]

Dion,

Hungry applicants, like hungry players & hungry teams are a really good thing

 

[Dionysus]

Dion,
Hungry applicants, like hungry players & hungry teams are a really good thing

The one we hired did really well in her first week, which was mostly training and some independent work. Showed up on time every day, asked good questions, great attitude. Also she’s a single mom so we’re really happy to see her doing well.