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Not always true Lily. I've worked as a Generalist and assistant and I 've had people in my dept. hire them based on looks or likeability.
Where is YOUR accountability in all of this? I always wonder this with HR, when they hire someone for some "reason" and the person doesn't have the skills, aptitude, or credentials. Well, actually, HR doesn't hire the person, they can present the person to the hiring manager, but still...
If you hired them because they presented themselves well and they went to MIT, okay...but to hire someone based on, and I quote you "looks or likability"...what happens when they can't do the job?
I know a lot of HR departments use staffing agencies and headhunters to screen applicants, because this takes some of the accountability off of them for presenting inept or crazy people to the hiring manager of the department they would work in. Yeah, people can con and fool you, and the most charming people could be the worst or most cutthroat employees.
Some of the best people I have worked with weren't the most likeable. Now, I differentiate that from the backstabbing liars who would cut you in a minute. I mean people who aren't engaging in personality contests at work.
Where is YOUR accountability in all of this? I always wonder this with HR, when they hire someone for some "reason" and the person doesn't have the skills, aptitude, or credentials. Well, actually, HR doesn't hire the person, they can present the person to the hiring manager, but still...
If you hired them because they presented themselves well and they went to MIT, okay...but to hire someone based on, and I quote you "looks or likability"...what happens when they can't do the job?.
I remember my father telling me, when I was going out on my first job interview, to always remember the Three A's... Appearance, Attitude, and Ability... in THAT order.
You only have one shot at making a good first impression, so appearance is very important. I'm not talking about things that are out of your control. If you are homely you can still have a good appearance, just as if you are pretty you can have a poor appearance. Be Neat, clean, and professional.
When interviewing it is important to have a good attitude. If you are already bringing up negatives, or listing for your potential employer all of the things you are not willing to do, then they will just find someone with a better attitude than you.
Ability is something that you either come to the job with, or something they can give you once you get there. I have been hired by many companies in the past to do jobs that I knew nothing about but was quickly able to learn.
As long as you go to an interview with an open mind and a willingness to learn you stand a better chance of getting the job.
Also, remember that if you don't get the job you shouldn't take it personally. There may have been 20 people trying for one opening. One will get it and 19 won't.
I remember my father telling me, when I was going out on my first job interview, to always remember the Three A's... Appearance, Attitude, and Ability... in THAT order.
You only have one shot at making a good first impression, so appearance is very important. I'm not talking about things that are out of your control. If you are homely you can still have a good appearance, just as if you are pretty you can have a poor appearance. Be Neat, clean, and professional.
When interviewing it is important to have a good attitude. If you are already bringing up negatives, or listing for your potential employer all of the things you are not willing to do, then they will just find someone with a better attitude than you.
Ability is something that you either come to the job with, or something they can give you once you get there. I have been hired by many companies in the past to do jobs that I knew nothing about but was quickly able to learn.
As long as you go to an interview with an open mind and a willingness to learn you stand a better chance of getting the job.
Also, remember that if you don't get the job you shouldn't take it personally. There may have been 20 people trying for one opening. One will get it and 19 won't.
The one who knows someone there will get the job.
I agree about dressing appropriately for an interview.
But it is the good old days to think that if you try to impress them with your ability to learn, you will get the job. That was what we were all taught, but we all know it doesn't work that way inside corporate walls.
Just be professional. Don't use words like "trying". They want you to already know how to do the job, they don't want you to say you will try to learn it.
Where is YOUR accountability in all of this? I always wonder this with HR, when they hire someone for some "reason" and the person doesn't have the skills, aptitude, or credentials. Well, actually, HR doesn't hire the person, they can present the person to the hiring manager, but still...
If you hired them because they presented themselves well and they went to MIT, okay...but to hire someone based on, and I quote you "looks or likability"...what happens when they can't do the job?
I know a lot of HR departments use staffing agencies and headhunters to screen applicants, because this takes some of the accountability off of them for presenting inept or crazy people to the hiring manager of the department they would work in. Yeah, people can con and fool you, and the most charming people could be the worst or most cutthroat employees.
Some of the best people I have worked with weren't the most likeable. Now, I differentiate that from the backstabbing liars who would cut you in a minute. I mean people who aren't engaging in personality contests at work.
If you scroll up I didn't say I was hiring on "looks" . I had others do it. I actually read the applicants resumes........Believe me, I think it was wrong to do that!!
I knew I was overqualified once they told me about the misleading position,which in turn, was a joke. I will take the one poster's advice here and get up in the middle of the interview and say "this is NOT for me!"..
I don't think the OP is telling us anything that should surprise anyone, this happens more than we want to realize. Of course there are laws against discrimination, but in a lot of cases how is anyone going to prove that's the reason someone wasn't hired? I mean administrators can simply say between themselves they didn't want to hire a certain individual because they were to quiet, but no one else has to know that, and it would be very hard to find that out.
All they have to do is tell you or anyone else that they hired someone else they felt was better for the job.
Exactly what I was thinking. There is probably a 99% chance that you will never find out the real reason that you were not hired. With so many applicants applying for most jobs, if the hiring recruiter doesnt hire you based on a race, sex, age etc there is really no way to prove that. They can chose from many many different reasons for not hiring you, you will never know the truth. It is sad but true.
In most cases they did not do anything wrong and they interviewed just fine. But they were the wrong age, color, personality, sex, race, to tall, to short, to fat, to perky, to quiet, to aggressive or to passive. Most of the hiring decision were totally subjective because the majority of the people who were brought in for interviews had similar on paper skills and education.
NO, YOU DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG IN YOUR LAST INTERVIEW. Other than being your self!
Your company should have been nailed to the wall.
Not only are there Federal implications, there are also ethical implications.
In my company, I never had a face-to-face interview with Human Resources. I had an initial telephone interview with one of the Admins, then a telephone interview with the supervisor of the department I was going for. Then a face to face with the manager and another supervisor. I got hired. That's how it should be. When you get face-to-face interviews with the HR staff, that's where the discrimination comes in.
Case-in-point: there's only ever been two black employees in my company's HR. Both female. Never a male in HR. Every other employee has been blond and cute, or old...but always female.
In my opinion, I think companies should be required to adhere to a similar provision as with ECOA: an Adverse Action requirement to send a notice clearly outlining the reasons for the rejection. No generic answers such as "we found another suitable..." No.
One of my last employers had positions set aside for "black female" and "black male" and "hispanic male" etc. because the company's multi-national corporate clients required their vendors to have a certain percentage of certain demographics on staff in order to use them.
For all those that are against affirmative action ask yourselves why did we have to have it in the first place??? Food for thought!
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