Audio By Carbonatix
The state’s job losses were more gruesome than previously thought, the Post reported yesterday, as updated stats showed an additional 17,000 lost jobs last year. So that’s depressing — especially if you’re one of the people out there looking for work.
I meet more and more such people every week, it seems, and what always strikes me about their stories is the apparent erosion of HR manners.
Yeah, I know: Employers are getting 4,000 resumes for every job posting, and it’s hard to treat every applicant with dignity — a lesson I learned the hard way when I was the point person on our freelance pot-reviewer opening last year and found myself mismanaging hundreds of applications from stoned writer-types.
But there seems to be a sense among some employers that in a market that obviously favors them, they can treat applicants however they want. I’ve heard of applicants being called in for multiple in-person interviews — and then told they didn’t get the job by callous, form e-mail. I’ve heard countless stories of poor or nonexistent correspondence from employers — not even a “Hey, we got your résumé.” The tales of woe are endless, and they make a process that’s already a mind-fuck even worse.
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So! In hopes of inspiring an employer or two to be a little more thoughtful the next time they post a job, we’re naming all bad-mannered employers our Shmucks of the Week. May their office microwaves break right before they heat up their Lean Cuisines.
Meet more shmucks in our Shmuck of the Week archive.
