This cuddly little bunny is experiencing a little taste of what a friend of mine is currently going through while job hunting. She has good credentials/references and an adequate number of publications but it seems as though everywhere she is applying is wasting her time and their resources by requesting that she fly in and interview for positions they have already, unofficially of course, filled.
In my opinion this is but another example of scientific masturbation--lots of foreplay with no payoff. Jump through all the paperwork hoops by showing that you interviewed qualified (or sometimes unqualified) applicants with a variety of backgrounds before giving the job to the person the listing was created for in the first place. I've seen this first hand at previous work places, but I didn't realize how common this practice actually was until recently. I guess it gives meaning to the phrase "it's not what you know, but who you know that matters."
Has anyone else been in this position? Gargantuan waste of time and resources, right?
I don't know, obviously, how many times I went through it but I was naive at the time. Alas, I am one of "them" and have posted positions that no one could possibly fill. Our HR is just lax enough that we can write job descriptions that make it clear you shouldn't bother applying. Kind of like adding "Candidate will be competent in JavaScript and PHP with an understanding of Object Oriented Programming and having size 11 feet, a goatee beard, a British accent and a tattoo of a skull on left biceps".
ReplyDeleteIt is sad and sometimes unfair, but often times there's method in the madness. I can only hope your friend has the moral fortitude to push on through these awful times. I wish hir the best of luck.
I can't say much either. When Dr Boss hired me last year the university required that the position be posted for at least a month, meaning other people applied for a job I was already actively doing (but for less money on a consult basis). You can't beat "already doing that exact job w/ all the exact training needed" when HR reviews your application... she left off "amazon chick with a dragon tattoo preferred," from the description though :)
ReplyDeleteI think she's just getting frustrated at this point, because she's in the weird over qualified for the next step but under qualified to skip it kind of position, which has made job hunting a real challenge.