u/Upset-Elevator-9701

For me it’s recruiting. I started in L&D and after a layoff and some pivots I’ve ended up in a recruiting & professional development role. I can’t stand recruiting and really want to stick a fork in a wall socket have the time. Fortunately I just got a new role taking a management position in employee development for a large company so I get to go do what I’m passionate ate about. Now I want to know, as an HR professional, what’s your lease favorite area of HR?

May get taken down but I have to know….

I know a lot of people here hate recruiters because they ghost them or feel like they don’t give them enough attention but I have to say, I hate BEING one more than you can ever hate me. 😂

The reality is recruiting is probably the most thankless job in HR. I started in L&D and through some twists of fate I ended up in a merged professional development and recruiting specialist role. Thankfully I have now gotten a new position doing what I’m really passionate about in the employee development side of things. But because I hate recruiting, I want to give you all my 10 truths of recruiting as a farewell to this miserable side of HR, some you may enjoy for a laugh but I can assure you they are all from true events!

1. Your resume is a really important piece of paper that I very thoughtfully skimmed for 20 seconds. I appreciate the effort but I have to review a lot of these things and I’ve usually got it down pretty solid how to see what I need to see. Mostly I’m looking for what you did at your last job, I really don’t care that you were varsity cheer captain your senior year or that you played Trombone in the marching band.
2. I am the gatekeeper, be nice to me. Calling and yelling at me not only gets you not interviewed for that job, I’ll make sure you don’t get interviewed for any job at this company! And if you’re going to call and DEMAND an interview, make sure you actually submitted your application first!
3. Young people are the future of the workforce, but I’m not hiring your mom so don’t have her call me to ask about a job for you. I really don’t care that you’ve got lacrosse practice until 6. And if you are a mom who calls me, don’t argue with me when I say to have your kid call. Also, don’t tell me your kids name because I will remember you, Karen.
4. Know what job you’re actually coming in for. It’s one thing to be under prepared, but don’t be dumb enough to tell me while I’m interviewing you that you don’t remember what job you applied for. Check your email or politely send me an email and ask me to send you the JD for you to review before the interview!
5. Be on time….do I need to say more?
6. Spellcheck and proofreading is your friend! Your resume says you did shit work….was that the quality of it or how you felt? Oh, you meant shift work….with an F….the grade you got in English class I’m assuming.
7. When I ask why you left your previous employer “I couldn’t stand that motherfu*ker I worked for” is not the right answer. Everyone hates their boss, it’s as classic as a model T. Act like you’ve got some sense and lie to me as I expect you to do. I just want to know that you can pretend to be professional when you have to.
8. Dress like someone who actually wants a job not someone going to a pajama party!
9. I know everyone wants to stretch themselves but if a job says it needs 10 years experience and an MBA and all you’ve got is 10 months and a high school diploma, maybe don’t apply? Aim for something you can hit please!
10. You have a better shot of keeping the job offer if you take the drug test and fail it than you do if you’re stupid enough to get caught trying to cheat it!

We have a candidate who. He told us he really like the company and enjoy what he does. The only reason he is considering our opportunity is his current commute is over an hour (50 miles) one way.

I believed him when he said he wasn’t looking for a job but when he discovered this one on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago. It caught his attention because it is significantly closer, 11 miles away. I know the area he lives and it is a very rural area so professional level jobs nearby are very rare.

His resume came to us when he ended up connecting with the hiring manager on LinkedIn and did a phone screening with the recruiting team. When she asked him to give an overview of his work history, he told her it was about the commute and that he really liked his current company but couldn’t ignore an opportunity this close. Things went well and she said they talked for another 20 minutes before she said she was recommending him for an on site interview in the next couple of weeks.

From my own recruiter mind, my thought was if they bring it up before I ask, they demonstrate self awareness about the situation and that they’re not trying to hide it. My colleague thinks 6 mo. Is bad regardless of reasoning. I think it’s a reasonable desire and that a long commute like that wears on you fast because I’ve done it before.

Share it all! In HR we see it all and constantly have to fight the internal urge to call someone an idiot because only an idiot would say or do that. Everything from a plant director in manufacturing telling an employee that another employee “has a history” because she had to get a restraining order against a former coworker who stalked her to a temp demanding you pay to repair their car and the manager actually giving in and doing it to a guy telling us in an interview he does not have a violent record only to end the conversation saying he was in court pleading DOWN to assaulting a police officer.