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All jokes aside, why is HR so looked down upon. I think that is the area I am going to explore since data analysis jobs are nearly non-existent. My background is in retail management though. I enjoyed interviewing people and hiring and training. I loved price points and budgets though just as much. I have read on here what people think about HR and was very curious as to why?
Because most of them are pinheads who haven't the first clue how to hire a good employee because they usually don't have ANY experience in the field they are hiring for.
To add to my post above, HR people almost always ask stupid interview questions like "What are your strengths and weaknesses?", "Tell me about a time when you have gotten into a conflict with a co-worker", "If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be and why?" (I actually got that one once!) instead of focusing on TECHNICAL questions that relate to the job itself.
At the job I have now, the guy interviewing me was the manager (not someone from HR), and about 70-80% of the questions he asked me were technical questions to see if I really knew my stuff. THAT is how you conduct an interview, not wasting the candidate's time with BS.
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Actually, it's another good excuse for people that can't find a job, someone else to blame. As a hiring manager I have a lot of respect and gratitude for the help of the people I work with in our HR department. When I get 50-60 applicants and none are qualified, they have been willing to re-open the position and try harder.
Are there bad HR people out there? Sure, just like any other job. But. . with recent layoffs and less hiring there are less people doing more work and if it were not for them no one would be getting a job.
I find that HR doesn't attract the best and brightest and they seem to enjoy torturing the applicants. I've heard stories where the HR people invite an applicant to lunch and either will not order food if the applicant orders or order food if the applicant doesn't order. Or interview the applicant when making him or her sit in a chair with one leg shorter than the others. Or hire someone, make them move, and then rescind the job the day they arrive. Or put out job offers when there is no job because they just want to "test the applicant market". Or freakout if they see a piece of lint on the applicant's coat. Or block the hiring of an applicant as they deem him or her unqualified when the department with the position specifically wants that applicant.
I have to admit that I have had zero experience in corporate hiring or interviews--all mine has been in retail or hospitality, but even then I have had my share of dumb HR questions.
However, when I interviewed I never asked those questions. I only asked about what they could bring to the table. I want to know if they can do the job or not. I don't have to like everyone I work with, but I do need to be able to trust them to do the job they were hired for. I rarely called references because I always thought it was best to trust my own impression and judgement over someone else. References can always give negative info if they don't like how things ended with the employee.
I have hired people simply because they were Eagle scouts (they can stick with things), I hired an ex convict and he turned out to be a great manager, I don't think I have ever hired someone because they "played the game" better than everyone else.
I guess this is just another area where I just don't fit in. I really see the importance of HR though for both employee and employer.
I also find HR people have an inflated sense of self importance and get drunk on the power they are given and do not deserve and use it to abuse applicants.
They really are not good at hiring are almost never held accountable. They ask dumb psychobabble questions and go for the person who is the best BSers. Also they make such broad baseless generalizations about people based on all sorts of nonsense they ought to be wearing white bed sheets.
Most that I have encountered have absolutely no practical experience or exposure to the roles they are attempting to fill. By default, they just try to get the cheapest possible labor possible. As a result, the company looses money in productivity, backlogs in work, damage... I've seen companies go belly up as a direct result of top heavy management and idiot HR. I never interview for a job that involved just an HR manager. NEVER. That has bad news written all over it for the company.
I believe I have written a post on here about my experience with a very large corporation that was attempting to fill a rather high paying position. Being that the HR couldn't describe one duty in which I would be responsible for, I refused to go any further. They are, for the most part, a waste of everyone's time, and an obsticle to be overcome when trying to bring the right worker in for the right job. Most jobs are becoming so specialized these days, that HR is an effective means of filling them.
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