Lf gov't job opening (UPDATE: it's been filled!)

[papercam]

I feel badly for the poor people that had to read resumes from people who hadn't the foggiest notion what "HABS" meant. I wonder how many out of the 4000+ were actually qualified for the position.

[Wayne]

I doubt they read them, just scanned them for keywords

[Mark Sawyer]

I feel badly for the poor people that had to read resumes from people who hadn't the foggiest notion what "HABS" meant...

"Uh, yeah man, I was like, in and out of re-hab a bunch, dude. I got lots of experience in the 'habs..."

[papercam]

That's a lot of scanning !
( Probably the KSA questions helped. )
Mark Sawyer, THAT is funny 8D

[goamules]

I am a headhunter for trainers and training developers. When I post an ad, I am extremely clear on what the required skills are, so no one wastes time. For example, I may say you need a degree in something, industry experience in something else, or live in a certain city. It never fails, I get lots of resumes from people that are not remotely qualified. But I have to contact many, because a person who looks good but otherwise their resume says they live in Chicago, may have just moved to Dallas. When I ask, they always reply, "um...no...I don't live in Dallas, but I'd be willing to move there if they paid me for the move..." Even if my ad says "no move included, local candidates only." This week I'm looking for a Java Trainer with Telecomm experience. I've gotten school teacher resumes with no Java. Java programmers with no training experience. And lots that have the first two, but no Telecom.

I think many listen to the old advice that "you should just send your resume anyway...you never know...they might be looking for something else....they'll keep you on file for the next one..." It really bogs down a systematic, focused search, which is what my company does. And that's why clients pay headhunters, by the way. If the Photo job had used one, they could have weeded through all the non-qualified, and just submitted the top 5 or 10 people, pre-interviewed, and looking quite good. Clients want to assume you have every bit of the qualifications. Then they just want to see if the personalities and work styles match.

[Corran]

Depends on the job. In my sector, I have seen numerous jobs where the required skills were quite varied, and the "perfect" candidate likely was very rare or worse wouldn't be going for that job due to the salary. There's also been "hidden" qualifications, as I've found. I had two big interviews last year. One I thought was a shoe-in but didn't work out, which was fine as I didn't like the person who would be my boss. The other, at the interview they asked me a ton of questions that had nothing to do with what they advertised. I was not at all qualified for what they asked for (and it certainly wasn't in my resume). It was a strange experience. Friends have told me similar stories, about necessary skills getting really diversified in some jobs in an effort to make one position do two positions of work. This is in higher ed though. I assume IT is very different.

[goamules]

I see that effect a lot, clients wanting to merge two or three career fields into one person. I always try to coach them. It's like a dual purpose motorcycle, yes it works in the dirt, and on the street, but not very good at either!

I'll often have a client that says they want an Instructional Designer (our main focus). ID's use the knowledge of a subject matter expert to prepare training materials, that will be deployed over IT systems (if not lecture based). But these clients ask me to find an ID with a Master's degree (ok, pretty senior), but that can also program the training in XYZ program (a programmer), and can set up their Learning Management System (IT). Oh, and they need to be experts at Molecular Biophysics or Space Launch or some such (a SME). Sorry, but a person that is good at one of those fields is not going to even WANT to do the others! Another analogy is an operating room, where you have a surgeon, anesthetist, nurses, and equipment techs. None can do the other person's job. But for training, they want it all. I always explain they want a team, not one man show. But that's more expensive, and there is their real agenda.

Sorry....too much off topic, I'll stop.

[Tin Can]

I always got a kick out my job description which was 2 pages single spaced. They would add to it during review. I stopped asking them who could replace me, right before they went to self review. I guess I was there so long I lost touch with modern human resource management. Glad to be out of that game.

[bgh]

It seems like NPS should be pretty close to having filled the position. Does anyone know who was hired? I work in this field, and a few friends had suggested that I apply (which I declined, I think wisely), and am curious. I'll see what I can find.

Bruce

[Wayne]

Government doesn't work that fast. I doubt they are anywhere close to filling it yet. They might be close to interviews