Tired

I am tired. Tired of this job application process where employers out of convenience have turned one of their most important functions attracting, recruiting and retaining great talent into a soulless endeavor left to machines to sort out applications based on key words. Proving that that it is not the most qualified people that are hired but just the ones that can write the best application. We then wonder why only 30% of employees in the United States are engaged at their job, according to Gallup¹.

As a potential employee, the process is nothing less than degrading. I spend at least an hour on an application reviewing the website, making sure my skills match the qualifications and present it all in a nice present to my potential new employer. I upload my resume and cover letter and for some I need to enter all that data into boxes. After I just uploaded my resume, I now need to copy and paste the EXACT SAME INFORMATION into a box. There is no excuse for this. If you want to use the lame excuse that “it is how our system works”. I have news for you, your system sucks and it is broken. It is an insult to anyone that tries to apply.

Then I wait. If I am lucky I will get a form email telling me they are going with someone else but a majority of time my application is just lost in a black hole. My hard work is meaningless and somehow, I am supposed to accept this. This is absolute bullshit.

As a potential employee, I understand that I should prove why I am the best applicant out of the group but what I will not tolerate is being treated like a beggar. Someone that most bow down, kiss your ring and worship you. Someone that must believe that I am lucky enough to be treated like crap by you as an employer just for the mere opportunity to get an interview. This shit does not work, and I am not the only one that believes it.

While it may be true that  people need jobs to live their lives. What is often lost in the equation is the fact that organizations need employees just as bad. Employers, pay attention because people are ready to leave (in fact they already are). They are tired of being treated like crap. They are tired of spending 35% of their lives working for you only to have you run them over when you find it convenient or it will save you money. People are leaving and while it may be harder to work on their own, it will be a lot less degrading in fact it may even be rewarding.

The sad thing is, it does not have to be this way. If you are an employer, take the time to actually apply for an open position in your organization. If you get frustrated just imagine the message it is sending to all your potential employees. More importantly what is one of the first message you gave to your new hire about how you value them. As they say, talk is cheap. If you talk about how much you value your employees but make it impossible and painful to apply for a job, you are not speaking the truth.

Yes it will cost more but think of all the time, money and energy you waste on bad hires and how much it sucks the life out of an organization. Invest the time and money up front and get the right people on the bus.

While not everyone will be a fit for your organization it is time that we make the hiring process human again and not some machine output. It is time that we value the biggest asset of any organization, its people.

¹ https://news.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/212045/world-broken-workplace.aspx?g_source=position1&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles