We here at Global Wahrman believe that online Corporate Employment and Career web sites can do a better job at taking an unpleasant and difficult situation, looking for work in a down economy, and making it not just unpleasant but also hurtful to the worker as well. We believe that Human Resources Departments must recognize that they have a responsibility to make the job search experience as negative, stupid and damaging as possible.
As we all know, the new way of getting a job is to apply through the Internet. No other ways are permitted. This is an excellent improvement for society as a whole over the old and discredited way that people got work: through colleagues who recommended them. This old way was very inefficient because it allowed employees and friends who knew the skills of individuals and the needs of corporations to find a match that was good for both parties. With the new system we can depersonalize the process, fail to get the information necessary to find that match, and destroy the self-esteem of the job seeker all at the same time. Clearly, this is a great improvement.
But some web sites for major corporations have failed to completely embrace this new paradigm, and still make modest efforts to do a good job of hiring people. This is completely out of line with the Internet paradigm which works so hard to use technology as stupidly as possible in order to make life as unpleasant as possible. This post serves notice to those archaic practitioners of the old, bad ways to get with the program.
To make their job of crafting an unpleasant experience for the job-seeker easier, we have compiled a series of suggestions based on our examination of the Career sections of major corporate web sites as well as some selected smaller companies. We have also personally tested many of these web sites. Many corporations are making excellent progress along the lines of making the online application process both self-defeating and destructive, but clearly there is more to do.
Here are some specific suggestions:
1. Do not permit the work candidate to upload a cover letter. A cover letter can be used to defeat the process of depersonalizaton by providing information that is useful to the hiring process. Therefore, cover letters must not be permitted.
2. Do not permit the work candidate to upload a resume for each job they apply for. The work candidate must acknowledge that their resume is generic and has no useful information that could contribute to the hiring process. One resume should be sufficient no matter what job it is, or when that resume was created.
3. Do not permit the work candidate to efficiently upload information, instead demand that information as if they were a disabled child, and make them fill in endless categories about education, skills and so forth no matter how well that information is presented on a resume, it is important to waste their time and badly and stupidly elicit that information on a case by case basis. We are not going to use that information, it is only there to waste the candidates' time and that is why it is important.
4. Do not allow the candidate to know whether or not they have successfully applied for the position. To do so would be to give the candidate some degree of reward for going through the immensely stupid process we have had them endure online. Much better to not acknowledge whether the job was applied for and leave them in a state of uncertainty. By frustrating the candidate in even this basic way, we can contribute to the psychology that nothing they do matters.
5. Do not allow the candidate to be able to contact anyone at the company in order to be able to ask questions or seek points of clarification. That would be inefficient and far too expensive. The work candidate is not interesting enough to be worth providing this kind of individual treatment. In fact, the work candidate should realize that they are worthless, faceless garbage. Allowing them to ask questions and seek clarification is counterproductive to achieving that realization.
6. Do not permit the worker any choice in the format with which documents are prepared. Thus if they are permitted to upload a resume at all, make certain that you do not accomodate the standard formats of text, html, doc and pdf, but at most one of them, or better yet, none of them.
7. Make jobs come and go and make it very difficult to return to a job listing once found. In this way, the job seeker can experience character-building frustration as he or she tries to find that previously listed job (which probably wasn't real anyway) and fail to find it.
8. Do not in any way serve notice to the applicant that the job is no longer available, or give him or her any useful information about how the job was filled, or even if the job was filled.
9. Do not in any way indicate that the job applicant's paperwork or application was in any way looked at by a human, but rather give the impression that they were dismissed without consideration. Even better, is to not reply in any way at all, and thus they do not know whether they ever successfully applied and got rejected or have any other information. Under no circumstances give constructive feedback.
But more important than any of the above is the following hard and fast rule: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LIST ANY GENUINE OPPORTUNITIES ON YOUR WEB SITE. The only jobs that are permitted to be listed are (a) entry level jobs, or (b) jobs that are already filled and are being listed in pro forma compliance with law, (c) as a way of getting information about your competition and (d) as a way of misleading your competition.
The candidate must understand in a deep and meaningful way that any real opportunities will never be listed on your web site, now or in the future.
Remember, your employment web page is a way of communicating to the worker what the company thinks of their workers and that by treating them with contempt at this stage you accurately and efficiently communicate Corporate policy. More than just a human resources department and web site, you are an instrument of the Corporation's desire to demean and destroy the worker.
This is an important task you have been given by the Corporation, remember that, and work as hard as you can to achieve it.
J. Pierpont Finch reading about how to get a job on the Internet.
But some web sites for major corporations have failed to completely embrace this new paradigm, and still make modest efforts to do a good job of hiring people. This is completely out of line with the Internet paradigm which works so hard to use technology as stupidly as possible in order to make life as unpleasant as possible. This post serves notice to those archaic practitioners of the old, bad ways to get with the program.
To make their job of crafting an unpleasant experience for the job-seeker easier, we have compiled a series of suggestions based on our examination of the Career sections of major corporate web sites as well as some selected smaller companies. We have also personally tested many of these web sites. Many corporations are making excellent progress along the lines of making the online application process both self-defeating and destructive, but clearly there is more to do.
Here are some specific suggestions:
1. Do not permit the work candidate to upload a cover letter. A cover letter can be used to defeat the process of depersonalizaton by providing information that is useful to the hiring process. Therefore, cover letters must not be permitted.
2. Do not permit the work candidate to upload a resume for each job they apply for. The work candidate must acknowledge that their resume is generic and has no useful information that could contribute to the hiring process. One resume should be sufficient no matter what job it is, or when that resume was created.
3. Do not permit the work candidate to efficiently upload information, instead demand that information as if they were a disabled child, and make them fill in endless categories about education, skills and so forth no matter how well that information is presented on a resume, it is important to waste their time and badly and stupidly elicit that information on a case by case basis. We are not going to use that information, it is only there to waste the candidates' time and that is why it is important.
4. Do not allow the candidate to know whether or not they have successfully applied for the position. To do so would be to give the candidate some degree of reward for going through the immensely stupid process we have had them endure online. Much better to not acknowledge whether the job was applied for and leave them in a state of uncertainty. By frustrating the candidate in even this basic way, we can contribute to the psychology that nothing they do matters.
5. Do not allow the candidate to be able to contact anyone at the company in order to be able to ask questions or seek points of clarification. That would be inefficient and far too expensive. The work candidate is not interesting enough to be worth providing this kind of individual treatment. In fact, the work candidate should realize that they are worthless, faceless garbage. Allowing them to ask questions and seek clarification is counterproductive to achieving that realization.
6. Do not permit the worker any choice in the format with which documents are prepared. Thus if they are permitted to upload a resume at all, make certain that you do not accomodate the standard formats of text, html, doc and pdf, but at most one of them, or better yet, none of them.
7. Make jobs come and go and make it very difficult to return to a job listing once found. In this way, the job seeker can experience character-building frustration as he or she tries to find that previously listed job (which probably wasn't real anyway) and fail to find it.
8. Do not in any way serve notice to the applicant that the job is no longer available, or give him or her any useful information about how the job was filled, or even if the job was filled.
9. Do not in any way indicate that the job applicant's paperwork or application was in any way looked at by a human, but rather give the impression that they were dismissed without consideration. Even better, is to not reply in any way at all, and thus they do not know whether they ever successfully applied and got rejected or have any other information. Under no circumstances give constructive feedback.
But more important than any of the above is the following hard and fast rule: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LIST ANY GENUINE OPPORTUNITIES ON YOUR WEB SITE. The only jobs that are permitted to be listed are (a) entry level jobs, or (b) jobs that are already filled and are being listed in pro forma compliance with law, (c) as a way of getting information about your competition and (d) as a way of misleading your competition.
The candidate must understand in a deep and meaningful way that any real opportunities will never be listed on your web site, now or in the future.
Remember, your employment web page is a way of communicating to the worker what the company thinks of their workers and that by treating them with contempt at this stage you accurately and efficiently communicate Corporate policy. More than just a human resources department and web site, you are an instrument of the Corporation's desire to demean and destroy the worker.
This is an important task you have been given by the Corporation, remember that, and work as hard as you can to achieve it.
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