Carl Bradford

A highly respected subject matter expert in the recruiting field – Kevin Wheeler – wrote an article entitled “We Should be Ashamed“.  As a professional recruiter for over 40 years, I agree!

The author opened his article as follows:

“Top-notch job candidates are tired of the recruiting mess we have created in the U.S. I would guess that well over half of all recruiting functions are dysfunctional. By that I mean they have no standard process for dealing with candidates, treat some candidates much differently than others, respond sporadically to requests and phone calls, fail to follow through on verbal commitments to candidates, and let themselves be constantly swayed by hiring managers who are unaware of the talent market.”

Most of the recruiting professionals that responded to this article agreed and many of these responders are external recruiters who must battle these same dysfunctional processes when recruiting on behalf of these employers.  You’d think that when these same employers pay external recruiters large fees, they’d at least have efficient processes in place to manage the recruiting partnership.

Unfortunately this is not always the case.

One internal recruiter’s response in particular caught my eye.

Among her comments were:

“I would like to call you on this article.” “We are constantly looking for the best.” Our recruitment process is arduous as we are looking for elite developers…”

That prompted me to take a look at this employer’s web site. to see just what she was defending.  As a consultant who has been engaged to review and evaluate company web sites and their related recruiting processes, the FIRST thing I look for is a obvious link on the Home page that clearly directs the reader to their career section.

If hiring great employees and treating them as the important asset they are doesn’t merit a Home page link, I don’t know what does!  If it’s not there, it is the first “red flag” that a job seeker should consider.

This link should always be displayed and visible without having to search to find it.

Guess What?

That link is nowhere to be seen and you have to start guessing just where to find it.  I finally did find it, as a sub-link in the About section of their site.  Strike one.

Next I looked to see what their job descriptions were like.  They were a series of bullet points, not very compelling and well….quiet boring from my perspective.  Strike two.

I really can’t speak to their “back end” recruiting process once a candidate provides their resume, but given the above discoveries, I’m certainly skeptical about the former claims.

As the individual who certifies company recruiters world-wide in the Adler recruiting methods – which requires my review of employers recruiting processes – I’m not surprised.  But I am dismayed that so many employers don’t get it.

It’s not any wonder that job seekers that I hear from are so disillusioned by their job hunting experience.

You can read the article in full here.