How does the modern American corporate hiring process work?

The Coffee Shop
1

I’m looking for a new job, and it seems that the most common means of applying for a corporate job in the US is to submit your resume (along with whatever else is required) via an anonymous HR website. I imagine that the information goes into a database that’s organized by the company’s open positions, and then some HR type enters search terms and the database retrieves the resumes that contain those terms. The HR type then looks at the selected resumes and passes at least some of them along to the hiring manager.

I’m wondering who typically makes the decision on which resumes get to the hiring manager’s desk. Is it the HR type who filters the selected resumes and only passes some along, or does an unfiltered stack typically make it to the manager? I know every company is going to be different, but what’s typical in the world of hiring?

I ask because I applied for a job for which I know I’m qualified and that I know I can do. I just got an anonymous e-mail from the HR department saying, “thanks but no thanks.” I know who the hiring manager is and I have his contact information. I’m thinking of calling him and saying, “hey, you don’t know me but I want that job.”

Would I be making a fool of myself if I call the guy and it turns out that he’s already seen my resume?

2

Would I be making a fool of myself if I call the guy and it turns out that he’s already seen my resume?

Maybe, but the worst thing that can happen is you don’t get the job which you already don’t have.

Good advice while job-hunting is to be aggressive, but not annoying. A phone call does not cross the line to annoying unless you’re specifically advised not to call.

3

100% certain that you will not get the job if you don’t call.

Any good HR executive will appreciate any extra effort a candidate makes. Maybe ask him what qualities will make you a compelling candidate for the company. Then re-tool your resume to sync-up with what you learn. Good luck.

4

You’ve got nothing to lose calling the hiring manager or sending an email. If you got an automated response it could be they already found someone or that your resme didn’t match some key words they were looking for.

If I have an opening at my company, I will tell HR and give them the requirements. They will post on Monster or Career Builder and screen the resumes that come in before forwarding to the hiring manager. Since HR doesn’t really have detailed insight about what I think makes a good resume, I usually end up seeing a lot that aren’t very close. The other route we go is to use a recruiter. If we do that we rely a lot less on the bug websites.

I can tell you that if someone called or emailed me and knew they were qualified (and indeed were) and really expressed interest in the position, I would give them more of a look than the cursory two minute scan. The worse that can happen is they say thanks but no thanks and you’re no worse off.

5

most common means of applying for a corporate job in the US is to submit your resume (along with whatever else is required) via an anonymous HR website

The people that get the jobs, or at least the interviews, are those that figure out a way around merely submitting via internet.

I know who the hiring manager is and I have his contact information. I’m thinking of calling him and saying, “hey, you don’t know me but I want that job.”

I would recommend that. Like someone else are posted, the worst that could happen is a rejection, which you’ve already received. Maybe something along the lines of "I’m really interested. I understand that you may have already made a decision on someone else. But I would appreciate your future consideration should something else open up. By the way " The longer you can keep her on the phone without her thinking you’re weird, the better.

I think the better approach is to submit the resume on line and then immediate or as soon as possible, before they have a chance to review it, try to talk to someone with authority, either over the phone or in person, just to let them know that you’ve submitted, that your extremely interested, etc.

Even better if you have networked and have someone’s name that you can drop during the converstion. And even better if you can get that person to drop your name on your behalf.

I screen resumes all the time. Every once in a while someone really stands out. And it’s really easy to screen out those that don’t make the grade. But the remainder, which is a lot, look very similar. And who among those gets selected for an interview, etc., is really subjective – there’s little science to it. Anything that someone can do to make them stand out in a positive way helps. If someone is able to submit a resume through a partner, especialy if that person either knows the partner or has spoken with him or her, that person’s resume is going to get a much closer look. If a judge calls up and recommends a clerk. that clerk is going to get an interview. Likewise for a major client or someone prominent in the community.

Everyone should always looking to network, no matter how comfortable or secure they may think they are in their current position. Before submitting an application, you should then get in touch with your contacts to see if someone has insider info, can provide a reference, etc.

6

Let me be honest with you. The percentages you are working on for submitted resume’s are very low. This is a huge miss-understanding amongst many job-seekers. If all it takes is the click of a mouse to submit a resume for a job, guess how many people submitted resumes. In an economy with this many people looking for work, even the most obscure jobs advertised for will get a mountain of submissions.

It’s part of the process and you need to keep submitting resumes, but that should be just one aspect of your job-search. Sometimes they work at getting an interview, but most times they don’t.

Remember that all this up-front activity in the job search is to get that first interview. Nothing really happens in the process until that happens.

The really great opportunities come from networking and when you get a direct referral to someone. That’s gold! You always want to be landing on a warm beach!

But do make that phone call - always call. Always follow-up.Take a good sales-persons attitude to the job search. Be persistent, proactive but professional. You want to keep pushing until you get the words “yes” or “no” from the decision maker.

Many seem to underestimate how relentless you have to be when you are out of work and looking for work. The few times, that I was in this situation, I was at it all day, every day.* Looking for a job, was my job!! *

7

Recently I submitted my resume through a big corporate website…VERY big corporate website. Didn’t hear anything for weeks.

Turns out, my University’s job search database also has a bunch of company contacts…so I just started forwarding off my resume to contacts at the company, along with a cover letter that explained why I wanted the job and why I would be good at it.

A few weeks/interviews later, they offered me the job yesterday. You gotta stick out.

-Physiojoe

8

Like others have said, your best bet is to get a recommendation from someone that already works with the company or to speak with someone close to the hiring process. Most large corporations have recruiters that filter through all of the submissions and candidates. Based on the qualification skills for the role, they will forward candidates meeting that description to the hiring manager. As you can imagine, only a small percentage ever make it in front of the decision maker.

More and more companies are moving to recruitment software where as you described, simple creates a big database that allows hiring managers to search by key terms. When I hired for a smaller company a few years ago, I was able to filter all resumes submitted for a posting and make my own decision. This is become less common.