Thanks! (Nice to know someone is still reading this blog ;-) Starting to feel like I'm talking to myself, which I sort of am. ;-)).
Yep - used to sit behind the HR department and listened to them list all the turn-offs. I've broken most of the rules at least once - which is how I learned not to do that. Some of the rules don't matter as much as one might think though - such as thank you notes - only HR people seem to *really* care about that, hiring managers think they are sort of silly I've discovered. LOL!
The reason job hunting is so painful is that the employer has all the control. They can treat you like shit. Be rude. Be nasty. Do whatever they damn well please. You can't. And the worse the economy is, the higher unemployment? The worse the employers behave. Sure there are certain laws in place that protect you, but not that much and taking action often will hurt you more than the employer.
And navigating around HR? A nightmare. It helps to know the tricks.
*Never talk or ask about benefits in interviews - let them bring it up. *Wait until the job offer to ask specific questions *Give as little personal info about yourself as you can *Don't argue about filling out the application - bring info with you to make it easier *Realize the HR person is not there to answer questions about the job or company, they are there to screen you for the job - make sure you aren't a crazy person and meet the criteria.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-09-03 04:23 pm (UTC)Yep - used to sit behind the HR department and listened to them list all the turn-offs. I've broken most of the rules at least once - which is how I learned not to do that. Some of the rules don't matter as much as one might think though - such as thank you notes - only HR people seem to *really* care about that, hiring managers think they are sort of silly I've discovered. LOL!
The reason job hunting is so painful is that the employer has all the control. They can treat you like shit. Be rude. Be nasty. Do whatever they damn well please. You can't. And the worse the economy is, the higher unemployment? The worse the employers behave. Sure there are certain laws in place that protect you, but not that much and taking action often will hurt you more than the employer.
And navigating around HR? A nightmare. It helps to know the tricks.
*Never talk or ask about benefits in interviews - let them bring it up.
*Wait until the job offer to ask specific questions
*Give as little personal info about yourself as you can
*Don't argue about filling out the application - bring info with you to make it easier
*Realize the HR person is not there to answer questions about the job or company, they are there to screen you for the job - make sure you aren't a crazy person and meet the criteria.