Thoughts on the hiring process, and The Bachelor-ette?
Recently, I have been thinking about jobs and hiring. A lot.
In addition to me checking out a lot of job opportunities, with Understorey, Ash and I have also been working on a hiring and onboarding offering for leaders of purpose-driven organisations.
So I thought I would put my thoughts around hiring here - looking at it from both the perspective of a job seeker and someone keen to improve current practices.
First of all, most people can agree that the job application process sucks. Encapsulated in the above meme and in certain communities that exist online (e.g., the RecruitingHell subreddit), there is a loooong list of grievances towards the process.
My current gear-grinders include:
Unrealistic job descriptions with fifty thousand things you should be doing which are both minute and vague at the same time
No salary listed (why do hiring managers pretend it doesn't matter?)
Being ghosted after making me fill out a custom application or a cover letter, which can take hours!
Interviews, interviews and more interviews. For one job application, the organisation wanted me to have five one-to-one interviews, and I had already done a technical assessment and a screening interview. I have found some of these interviews are with people who have no clue what I will be doing. I have also done a few video interviews where you talk to yourself, which is pretty off-putting
Dumb questions. Such as, "what is your weakness?"
I'm certain we all could add a few more points to the above list. In fact, while I would not consider us negative people, we easily came up with 33 things to dislike about, and/or our pain points with current hiring and onboarding practices and processes.
The Bachelor/ette
Talking this over, we naturally came up with the idea that the hiring process was a lot like the dating show, The Bachelor/ette.
For instance, candidates compete for a prize, where they are eliminated over the course of the process until the "right" one is found. The competitors all have to look good and do their best to impress. They have to go through challenges and prove their worth. They are assessed based on someone's subjective opinions and biases.
Is this not substantially similar to hiring?
In hindsight it seems pretty obvious that treating candidates poorly, making them jump through hoops, and compete with others are not ideal ways to start a relationship. The above image shows this quite clearly. Whether the Bachelor/ette proposes or not, the chances of a real relationship are quite slim. Plus, who knows how long they last?
Bringing us back into the world of work, it's clear that the relationship starts from the first interaction, not when you are chosen or selected. The entire hiring process is important in getting to know each other. From the side of the candidate, this means you submit your CV and cover letter (which we still think are stupid, and are thinking of ways to replace them), despite the effort, and you show up for the interviews. If hiring managers ask for feedback on the process, provide it, so they can improve.
From those hiring, the communication, respect, the interview(s), the follow up, and the care during the onboarding, are all important. After all, you do not want to select someone who is already annoyed with you!