The human touch

I recently overheard an interesting conversation.

Two ladies were talking about a position. One lady was looking for a job, another one was a manager in charge of the local branch, and possibly the hiring manager. The women discussed the applying lady's qualifications and availability, when the job starts and what it entails, the pay and the hours - the usual conversation that happens in the interviews.

Except it was not an interview, as it became apparent from what followed. The manager proceeded to tell the applying lady where to find the employment application (online), and exactly what to put in there to make sure her application makes it through the automatic filters and reaches live people - her and her HR manager. And then the manager said that she will check for applications the next day at a certain hour, giving a definite deadline by which the applicant should get her application in.

Consider the situation: the corporate HR has put a process in place for people to apply for jobs using an online application. Yet if anyone has filled out an application for this particular position, they are going to be left in the cold, because the job will most likely go to the woman who approached the manager in-person.

Filling out online applications and posting on job boards is all good and well, but human contact will usually beat the most sophisticated formal process (as it should). Approach that recruiter, find who in your social circle works for ( or knows someone who works for ) a company you'd like to work for - and talk to them. Go to door64 gathering and meet people.

P.S.
My employer Improving Enterprises is hiring .Net developers in Dallas and College Station.

Jane Prusakova
Senior Consultant at Improving Enterprises
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