How to Put HR in your Corner

The number of job applicants at companies across the country is at its highest level in years, mainly because of the number of unemployed persons in the United States right now. There are thousands of applicants for a single position at most companies, which means that human resource departments need to weed out the unqualified from the qualified for the position. The HR director is the person typically responsible for weeding out those who are not qualified for the position or who would not fit into the company.
When you think about the vast amount of applications sent to companies for a job vacancy, the majority of them will be killed before the hiring manager even reads them. Close to 95 percent of job applicants who reach the HR screening stage will be eliminated from the pool. John Sullivan is the professor of management at San Francisco State University. He is also the author of 1000 Ways to Recruit Top Talent, who has provided the data mentioned in this paragraph.
Human resource screenings are not used for the same reasons across all companies. Some companies will use the HR screens to perform an assessment of qualifications of the applicants while other companies will use the HR screens to do fact checking on the applicants’ resumes.

For the most part, human resource departments are used to eliminate applicants from the potential candidate pool. An applicant should focus on making a point to the HR representative that they are a better candidate than the others in the pool. “While final interviews are designed to identify the ‘very best’, the HR screen is an elimination screen that focuses on identifying all of the problem candidates,” says Sullivan.

An HR recruiter might not understand all the ins and outs of the job they are interviewing applicants for, which means the interview might not go as planned. On the other side of things, the HR representative will know what the hiring manager is looking for in a new employee. An excellent HR representative will have a good working relationship with the hiring manager and the interviewee will recognize this.

Make sure you submit a resume that if free of typos, make sure you are on time for an interview, and treat the HR representative with respect at all costs. “Candidates need to be aware that if you make even one major error, you are likely out,” says Sullivan.

There are some principles that job applicants should remember and they include understanding that an HR screen is an important step in the hiring process, focusing on showing how qualified for the job, and treating HR employees with respect. The last principle is vitally important because the HR employee might keep you in mind for future jobs.