In August I launched Elevated HR Solutions as it is today (a reactive, outsourced approach to human resources for small to medium sized businesses) but during that time I've been applying to jobs in the Human Resources field for 2 reasons:
1.) I needed an ego boost to see if I could get the job (am as I good as I think I am? ;)
2.) Everything I know has been self-taught in a lot of ways (I faked it till I made it) and wanted to learn what big corporations did in the interview process that would be different than mine
So here's the confession: After 11 resumes sent out, 9 phone interviews, 7 in-person interviews resulted in 5 job offers. Boo-yah! And I never intended to take one of them! (Pssst - that's the confession!)
The Worst Interview: I'd love to tell you who it was with but I think that may just be mean spirited. I didn't get the job offer either, so it could also be seen as me retaliating (which I'm not - I swear!) After the walk through the back-office, which seemed eerily like a walk-of-shame (employees not smiling, not wanting to make eye contact, no personal possessions on any desk) I had already made the decision this was not a place I wanted to work...ever. As I sat down in front of two women doing the interview, who also could not hold eye contact with me, I knew I too, was written off immediately. And then the scoring began for each of my answers. Since they weren't looking at me, I could also glance at their sheets and see they were scoring me on a scale of 1 to 5. And for each question I gave, I saw my score. And while I did okay on some questions, I had to laugh at the situation. All I could think was, "Note to self: This is how NOT to do an interview." The funniest part was the email rejection letter I received had the wrong name in it. Dear Sasha... We regret to inform you that...Classy.
The Best Job Interview: Admittedly, it was exactly the type of organization I could see myself working at, so it was easy to be enthusiastic and do the research before hand. They were also super bummed that I turned them down and almost felt duped when they found out the truth (I felt I had to tell them at the end!) A couple of things came out of it for me: I got to be interviewed by potential clients (in other words, department heads as well as employees outside of the HR department), they asked me to put a presentation together about myself and my style (rather than them asking canned questions and me firing out canned answers), they took me for a tour prior to my presentation and had me speak to several others that weren't involved in the presentation, and finally at the end when I asked if there were any questions, I could tell they had done their research on ME! They had actually read my twitter account, my blog and checked out my LinkedIn page. It felt great knowing they were investing themselves in the process as much as I was investing myself into theirs.
It's good to know that great organizations exist out there - and that there are those company's that are committed to the recruitment process. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and I'm sure I got this quote from some one else) - you take years before you decide to make a decision on a potential spouse, why would you rush the recruitment decision when you will be spending 40 hours+ a week with this person? Be creative with your approach to hiring - especially if fit is what is most important. Get the community involved in the hiring approach and your results will be worth it in the end.
By the way - I couldn't convince the company that outsourcing was the way to go...but I did make a good impression on the manager and she still calls me occassionally to see what I would do in certain situations. Because I feel like I owe them something, I never hesitate to answer!
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