10 Ways to Annoy a Hiring Manager

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And while are are at it, how about those ridiculously looooong application on the web? Do you REALLY need to know my GPA from high school in 1974? Many of the questions simply have no answer, like the space on the form that is MANDATORY for the phone number and name of my supervisor, but will NOT accept that the company has been out of business for 10 years. There IS No Phone Number and my supervisor is retired. Enough of this e-scanning for buzz-words. How about you read my resume' and if you are interested, call my references and call me?
Oh and - if you cannot 'discriminate' on the basis of race, creed, national origin, ethnicity & etc. then WHY are those questions even asked on every form filled-out for emplolyment? You cannot discriminate on what you don't know.

Job Hunter of VA 8:27PM May 01, 2013

A smart HR person will know to either create a job description that will exclude nearly everyone and focus on the perfect candidates and/or will set up a system to sift through "hundreds" of resumes to avoid having to read them all (e.g., asking for the resumes to be sent in the body of the email and then searching for a combination of terms, then only reading those resumes. The ones that don't include the "correct" terms get an auto-generated response.
It's not that hard.
If you don't know how to be perfectly efficient, why are you expecting your applicants to be?

hahaha of WA 8:05AM September 24, 2012

In response to "disgruntled", walk in my shoes for a day. I am tired as an HR professional of being the target of job-seeker's rage. Imagine, if you will, having 400 applications for a single position and trying to give each application the benefit & respect of thoroughly reading it. In the meantime, being called repeatedly by the same applicants (some aggressively) while still trying to balance the work of keeping numerious employees retained, dealing with budget conflicts, employee conflicts, terrible managers, and strategic plans. Do you think it feels good to have to reject people? Or lay them off with lame corporate jargon? It feels HORRIBLE. Oh and by the way, HR jobs are being shipped off overseas to "call centers" every day. So we too, have the burden of not knowing how long our own jobs will be around. It isn't easy and it isn't an ego thing.
Besides, HR does NOT make hiring decisions, managers do. We do all of the leg work shuffling them qualified applicants for them to sit on their hands, take their time to decide who they would like to interview. Talk about a power kick? Talk to a hiring manager! Who does the rejecting (when often times we disagree on who's the right person) it is HR! I have fought for jobs myself but as someone in the field I understand that it isn't easy. I love what I do because I enjoy working with people and I empathize with job-seekers. The fact of the matter is that more often than not, job-seekers are rude. Very rude and very inconsiderate. I had an applicant just yesterday show up, out of the blue to check on her application. She DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE APPLIED FOR!! Then, asked me to run down every job opening and the qualifications. Are you kidding? I POLITELY told her to go to our website & research the jobs. She then proceeded to call my office every half hour to check her status & asked to be considered for all five of the openings. I gave her the benefit of looking at her resume and despite the atrocious grammar and missing information, she didn't even qualify. She didn't bother with the screening questions or remembered my name for that matter. Nor did she apologize for her abrupt behavior and calling patterns.
I wish everyone had a job but fact of the matter is, they don't. Don't shoot the messengers because companies are doing mass lay-offs, or deciding to "reduce" the workforce so that CEO's can get private jets. It isn't HR's fault!! We are the grunt workers with very little decision making authority anymore! My job is important and it is a shame you don't think so. I can't even count anymore how many employees I have gone to bat for. It is thankless, hard work but I do it with a smile on my face because I am blessed to (a) be employed, and (b) do something I love doing.
When the economy improves I hope the same employees who won't "put up with disrespectful HR behavior" will learn a little respect of their own!

Southern HR Lady of LA 12:16PM August 17, 2012

“Job-seekers don’t get to decide to schedule the interview; employers do.”
Human Resources managers might as well put up a sign that says “Job seekers, drop dead!” That’s the attitude I’m getting from a lot of companies.
If companies actually acknowledged my application, then I wouldn’t have to call them up to schedule an interview. If I spent an hour filling out an online application, then the Human Resources department can spend 30 seconds sending me an e-mail that tells me (a.) they have my application, or (b.), they’ve given the job to someone else. I’m not asking for much.
And while we’re at it, I’m sick of reading “advice” from Human Resources people. A lot of it is really a reflection of their own likes and dislikes, and the way they wish job seekers would behave.
The bad economy has really given H.R. people more power than they deserve, and its gone to their heads. With all the hundreds of desperate, unemployed people beating at their doors, it must be quite an ego boost to decide who works and who goes back to the unemployment line. The unstated subtext of all these articles is, “I’m in Human Resources. I am more important than you. Bow down and kiss my you-know-what!”
When and if the economy improves, I think job seekers will be a lot less willing to put up with any disrespectful behavior from H.R. people. What goes around comes around.

Disgrunted Job Seekers of CA 6:36PM February 06, 2012