Look Around HR

One of the most irritating parts of recruiting is trying to get references from past employers on possible new hires. Most companies have a policy that states they can only give the employee’s dates of employment and position. I had some who said that I must say what the candidate put down and they will tell me if it’s right or wrong.

Some would only give dates of service. And I would have to fax over the verification form and get it back in a couple of days. Yes, 48-72 hours to look up a former employee’s hire and term date. Kind of frustrating when you are on the waiting end.

But there is a reason behind giving out as little information as possible. Just read this story about a lawsuit involving a positive reference.

An anesthesiologist was fired after he was caught using narcotics at work. But when he tried to get another job two months later, his old boss told the new employer he was “an excellent clinician” and “would be an asset to any anesthesia service.”

After he was hired by the new company, he came to work high and almost killed a patient. The patient sued and won $8 million. So that company sued the man’s old employer — and won.

Here is some more detail on the case. The potential employee has been terminated from a previous job because of poor recordkeeping and being under the influence of narcotics. However, the same doctors that signed his termination notice also wrote a recommendation for him, which the new company relied on in hiring him. From what I have read it did not say anything about his drug use.

The lesson here is to be careful. If you are honest in your recommendation (in a good or bad way) you should be able to avoid any litigation in the future. But, I would say, that giving out as little information is probably the best way to go.

I am guessing these blatantly illegal ads are more common on Craig’s List than you might expect…

See my post below from yesterday for another not-so-subtle ad.

This is a definite advertising no-no…

Pictured above is a clip from an ad on Craig’s List. The title and first line indicate the company is looking for a “Young and Experienced Realtor Wanted ASAP.” It does not take a lawyer to know that the word “young” is a no-no.

Like most Craig List ads, the company is anonymous and I am not sure of their motives, but all managers, recruiters, HR pros, etc. need to know what you can and can’t say. Any indication of age- young or old- is illegal.

From the Daily Mail (in the UK):

When his father couldn’t find anyone to enjoy a pint with, Jack Hammond’s son decided to buy one for him.

A friend, that is, not a pint.

He has put a notice in the local post office advertising for someone to accompany his elderly father to the pub twice a week.

The successful applicant will get £7 an hour plus expenses and the promise of excellent conversation with 88-year-old Mr Hammond, a retired engineer.

Your posting includes the great pay you are offering, the great benefits your company has, your generous PTO, but still can’t nab that candidate you are looking for? Little did you know that a new fringe benefit would be free alcohol.

According to a new study, none of the top three presidential contenders make the grade. Using methodology to rate and pick top executives, Top Gun Ventures would not recommend Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Barack Obama (D-IL) or John McCain (R-AZ) for the nation’s top job.

The selection criteria included leadership, organizational capabilities, skills to manage a troubled economy, and ability act as commander in chief during a war.

Obama had the lowest score at just 57 percent (or 17 out of 30 possible points). Hillary was slightly higher at 60 percent, while McCain scored the highest- 70 percent. Keep in mind the firm usually only recommends candidates who score a 90 or higher.

“If I presented this slate of candidates for the top job at a corporation they would politely kick me out the door,” said Don Tuttle, a managing partner at TGV.

Ouch!

The search firm also rated three other potential candidates, including two former presidential wannabe’s, but none of them measured up. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and former GOP presidential candidate, received the high score of 77. Jack Welch, the businessman and former GE CEO, was next at 73, while Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico and former Democratic presidential candidates scored a 67.

Read the entire study here.

I saw a headline on Google News today that made me look again and click on the story to see if it was actually true. The title, “Boss makes girls strip for job.” Yes, you heard that right.

According to ShortNews.com via The Sun:

45-year-old travel agent Andreas Stumpel has been sentenced to eight months in jail and ordered to pay £2,630 in compensation after pleading guilty to abusing a minor.

Stumpel had been forcing teenage girls to remove an item of clothing every time they answered incorrectly during job interviews. One 17-year-old who was afraid of not getting the position ended up naked except for a G-string.

This is so bizarre and so out of the ordinary; it does not merit a lot of comment. I know the no-no’s in an interview include you can’t ask things like their age or when they graduated from high school; but never would have imagined you might have remind that interviewer not to have the candidates stripping to get the job.

The conventional wisdom these days seems to be that the job market is so bad that any opening will result in endless resumes and applications (as someone who is recruiting RNs in rural Mississippi, I know that not to be true). However, the reason you can’t nail down those top recruits is not necessarily because they don’t like the job or pay, but because of how the internet job postings looks.

From an MRI Network study:

According to MRINetwork, one of the world’s largest search and recruitment organizations, that situation may have more to do with the posting than with the job.

“Job postings have to do more than describe responsibilities and list requirements,” says Michael Jalbert, President of MRINetwork. “Even if they don’t consciously think about it, most companies are hoping to attract the passive candidate – the person who has a job and is not actively seeking to change, the person who is already filling the position for some other company. In order to get that person’s attention, the job posting has to inspire.”

To paraphrase some of Jalbert’s advise, he says to highlight your selling points early on- before the job description or candidate requirements. The pitch that you would give at a job fair or open house should be the first thing potential candidates see. And you also need to make sure you include what sets your company apart. Chances are, you have some competitors no matter what business you are in. Talk about your history and where you are going as a company.

And last, but not least, keep it short. Those sought after passive candidates are not going to spend all day to see if you offer free medical insurance or if your company made much money last year.

You paid a lot for that Monster or CareerBuilder ad, you might as well show it off.

According to a new press release from The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series, there was decline of about 0.6 percent in the job postings in March 2008 when compared with one year ago.

This is the first time the study has seen such a decline of a years span, and shows further evidence of the tightening job market.

From the press release:

“The softening in advertised vacancies evident over the last few months spread to more states in March and, for the first time, annual growth turned negative for the nation as a whole,” said Gad Levanon, Economist at The Conference Board. “It would not be surprising to see a third straight month of job losses when employment data are released later this week as well as continued weakness in the months ahead. The weak demand for labor and a soft employment market help explain the significant decline in the Consumer Confidence Index released last week, which dropped to 64.5, its lowest level since 2003,” explained Levanon.

Not a real optimistic view. For the record- the states with the highest labor demand were Alaska, Nevada, and Delaware (when comparing the labor pool to number of postings) and the states at the bottom were Arkansas, Indiana, and Kentucky.

And to the surprise of no one (hopefully) is the finding that health care was the most sought after industry.