The Mathematics of Hiring 1

[CorBlimeyLimey]

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2006/03/07/1476229-sun.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060307.RHIRE07/TPStory/Business

Hmmm ... No more verbal interviews ... better brush up on that gramma & speeling.

[Cheers]

 

[columb]

This illustrates one of the major dilemmas of the modern age. On the one hand using modern technology removes the idiosyncrasies and quirks we humans are prone to. It's well known that interviewers tend to recruit mirror images of themselves, whatever their suitability.

On the other hand I've never been one to fit in with the norm and I'm deeply distrustful of any system making value judgments where there's no human input. I personally have no degree and very few paper qualifications (University and I didn't get on) but I would say that twenty odd years as a Unix admin have given me more insight into problems than someone with a pocket full of degrees and qualifications. Fortunately my boss thinks so too.

So, do we let machines make flawless decisions or do we let people use their wisdom?

Columb Healy

 

[BoxHead]

I saw a job posting a few months ago for a "Change Specialist".

The description went on to explain that the client company was looking for someone who could come in with a fresh perspective and evaluate all of the company's processes for improvement.

In listing the very detailed requirements, however, it seemed clear that this "new breed" of employee should have
the exact same experiences, training, credentials and mind set as everyone else in the company.

I suppose by now the company has filled the position and is currently celebrating the fact that "everything is fine the way it was".

Reading the articles about eliminating more of the human interaction in the hiring process is disturbing to me. When I hear about things like this, I often remember that Ghandi was a lawyer. A lawyer. How well do you suppose he would have fared in the interview process for a Spiritual Leader?


John





When Galileo theorized that Aristotle's view of the Universe contained errors, he was labeled a fool.
It wasn't until he proved it that he was called dangerous.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
If it is used like a lot of companies use their allegedly objective selection methods, they will pre-determine who they want and tailor the testing and the algorithms to insure they get that person.






To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[Golom]

I don't doubt that its possible to develop equations to match the "perfect" candidate to the job. Just plug in job requirements and candidate attributes and out pops the star performer.

Isn't the problem that determination of the job requirements and the candidate's attributes are still a judgement call?

Is this a case of the HR types coming up with what us computer nerds have known forever ... Garbage In, Garbage Out?

 

[CajunCenturion]

All we have to do is quantify the intangibles.

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[SilentAiche]

Cor,

I've an older brother, very much loved. He graduated HS and went to work, and he's now a senior so-n-so.

I went to, and actually graduated from, university. My big brother and I differ on whether college matters; he says work matters, and I agree with that. I also think it matters that one has heard of Poe, Frost, Winslow and Breamlizof.

Tim

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I love logging onto Tek-Tips. It's always so exciting to see what the hell I
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[CajunCenturion]

==> I went to, and actually graduated from, university.

Yeah, but you went to Wake Forest, right? :-D Just kidding!!


Ed note: Wake Forest in an excellent school

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Good Luck
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[CajunCenturion]

well, academically anyway

he quickly adds as March Madness quickly descends upon us ...

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Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
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[Trevoke]

March Madness ? I thought we were still stuck in September..

"That time in Seattle... was a nightmare. I came out of it dead broke, without a house, without anything except a girlfriend and a knowledge of UNIX."
"Well, that's something," Avi says. "Normally those two are mutually exclusive."
-- Neal Stephenson, "Cryptonomicon"

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Actually March Madness is now non-pc see
todays ( 3/7/2006) Borowitz Report

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[CajunCenturion]

Thanks Turkbear


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Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
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[SilentAiche]

CC,

Yeah, yeah.

Enjoy the "Big Trance," since you won't see it for a while.

Wheel be back, with a spin!

Tim

(I have no idea what that means...)

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I love logging onto Tek-Tips. It's always so exciting to see what the hell I
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[chiph]

All we have to do is quantify the intangibles.

As well as envision our change agents actualizing their game plan as they build the brand while minimizing the firm's burn rate.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[chiph]

Actually, I used to work for a HR software company (go to the employment section at IBM USA and you'll be on their servers), and it is a numbers game once the company gets large enough or has a mass hiring binge.

From the company's perspective, they're getting resumes at 2-3 per minute (or faster), and there's no way for a human to look at them all. So companies set up workflows where the initial screening is done by the software, in an effort to reduce the workload on their recruiters.

Side note: We came across one guy in the database who applied for over 210 jobs at one client (caused some system problems for us, actually) -- everything from janator to CIO. Guess he really wanted to work there.

So, your resume becomes critical not because it'll get you hired, but because it'll get you filtered out unless you can structure it in a way to make the filters happy.

So, always use plain text. Do not use these characters in it anywhere: & ' " < > as many systems store or transfer data in XML, and those character entities commonly cause problems (not the systems I wrote, of course! But 3rd party vendors, etc.) Use a keyword summary section, where you list every keyword you think a filter might hit on for the items in your resume, plus common variations (acronyms, etc). And most importantly: check your spelling!

Chip H.

____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[tsdragon]

I've had several people tell me that the format of my resume is wrong because one of the first things I do is list the hardward, software and operating systems I have current or recent experience on. After that I go into the work experience and history itself. I refused to accept their criticism because I knew intuitively that the format I used was better, at least for the computer field. Later I had a job where I actually had to go through resumes to fill a position. I found that the resumes that were written like mine were MUCH easier to vet - I could simply scan the front page lists for certain keywords. The ones where I had to scan paragraphs of job descriptions to find the information I needed usually just got tossed aside because I didn't have time to deal with them.

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[chiph]

I've received resumes from people who used a matrix organization in their resume.

They'd list the jobs they've worked at, followed by a comma-separated list of numbers which reflected the skills they used at that job. After flipping to about page 9, you'd find out that a "12" was Cisco IOS, and a "17" was Microsoft Word.

Hated it.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[CRilliterate]

Tracy,
I was always wondering...when you hiring does someone give you time frame for which you have to read all this resumes? Why is it always 'no time to deal with it' when it comes to serious task like selecting person for the interview? I think my resume is easy to read but it gets longer every time. I am worry that next time you will see it and go 'wowowow...toss it, toss it...too long, no time to read' and I am going to be sitting there waiting crying my eyes out...is it fare?

________________________________________
I am using Windows XP, Crystal Reports 9.0 with SQL Server

 

[SilentAiche]

OFF-TOPIC:

I, too, after a remarkably enjoyable sabattical, am back in the job-hunt mode.

Having been off the front lines of job hunting for a while (17+ years), I know I'm rusty at the current attitudes.

Thoughts, suggestions? Offers?

Tim

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I love logging onto Tek-Tips. It's always so exciting to see what the hell I
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[donbott]

Tim
First find out if puns upset them.


DonBott