www.martynemko.com/pub/articles/snow.shtm
Employers: Don't Let Job Applicants Snow You Marty Nemko Whether you're a foreman or a CEO, among your most important tasks is to hire wisely. Land a good employee and the job will get done well and you'll probably avoid the often draining task of trying to fire a bad employee. As a career counselor, I know that many job applicants will go to great lengths to get an employer to hire them: Truth: The job seeker has been in an alcohol-induced stupor for a year. What the job seeker tells a prospective employer: My mother was ill for the last year and I had to help her. Truth: The job seeker has been unable to land a job for a decade. What the job seeker tells prospective employers: I've been continually employed. What the job seeker tells a prospective employer: My employer was pleased with my work but no longer needed someone with my skill set. com, a screening service in Redding, California, nearly 30 percent of applicants stretched the truth on their resumes regarding their employment or education. Nearly one-fourth of the applicants that ADP, a New Jersey firm, reviewed last year had lied about their employment or education records or both, and six percent had been convicted of crimes in the previous seven years. Other job applicants, while honest, make it difficult for an employer to fairly assess their suitability for the job. These applicants hire professionals to write their resumes and cover letters and to coach them for interviews. These coaches have the client rehearse scripted answers to the most commonly asked interview questions. That is often done on videotape to ensure the candidate not only says the right words, but seems sincere and unrehearsed. Your respected colleagues, employees, and friends are unlikely to unload a loser on you. Good employees often participate in such professional development. com only when the job requires skills so rarely held that you'd otherwise likely get fewer than a dozen decent applicants. It's usually easier for a motivated quick learner to gain experience than for an experienced person to gain intelligence and drive. Again, this is a very important position and I really want to hire someone wonderful. Excellent candidates usually get at least six of 10 callbacks. Thanks to Internet searching capabilities, a background check now only costs $100 to $200 per employee and can reveal criminal convictions and falsified employment and education information. Despite a careful screening, candidates on the job aren't always what they seemed during the screening. And even in at-will states, which, at least, on paper, allow employers to terminate employees at will, terminating a permanent employee can be exceedingly difficult, especially if the employee is in a protected class, for example, woman, minority, or person over 40. To reassure the prospective employee that the job truly is a long-term one, agree that unless there are serious problems, you'll convert the person to permanent status in 30 days. Most serious problems reveal themselves within the first month. Yes, some applicants lie, but don't let that blind you to the fact that most people are quite ethical. Most of my clients want to present themselves honestly and be hired on their merits.
|
http://csua.com/feed/