Where are all the lazy people at?
(I can tell you they aren’t reading this thinking: “you’re not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition!”)
Let me explain why I feel the need for lazy people to be identified: day in and day out I realize that a lot of people, job seekers in particular, are more apathetic and less proactive than they should be.
While applications online are often aimed at being as easy, convenient and quick as possible, is that really the best way to show your interest in a job or a company? Guaranteed you or someone you know has said “I tried to apply online but it took FOREVER!”
Could the tedious steps be part of the screening process for the company or corporation who’s hiring? If a candidate isn’t willing to even fill out the whole application, they probably wouldn’t be willing to follow through on their responsibilities in a new position…
Now, my personal suggestion is that if a company is serious about hiring GOOD people, and not just someone “alive and breathing” for their team, a phone number should be set up and a person should be employed fulltime to field those calls. This receptionist (in that they are receiving the calls) should know the company brand inside and out, should truly understand what the role requires, and not only would then be able to identify quality candidates, but also maintain that brand’s standards and reputation because no one is saying “oh, they never responded to my application.” This is laziness on the part of the hiring side. And while I’d like to say “why would you want to work for a company that doesn’t pay attention to their candidates?” but it’s so prevalent that a rule can’t be made…
There’s a funny story Seth Godin relates here, which he calls the Blind Squirrel problem. “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes.”
So sometimes a company hires an amazing candidate through their CraigsList posting, and sometimes people get great jobs by applying on Craigslist. But it shouldn’t be the most proactive thing you do for your job search.
Technorati Tags: blind squirrel, Seth Godin, laziness, proactivity
February 18th, 2008 at 8:15 am
[…] I’m definitely a grey-area person and don’t believe there are hard and fast rules about a stellar resume. But simple guidelines are always helpful and appropriate and can be found in so many places now-a-days. You just have to do the work. […]