Being on the job search is not easy, and nobody says that it is. For the last 10-15 years of my life, I spent many sleepless nights working to design and push forward a state-of-the-art Recruitmnent Management System and award-winning application process with the greatest emphasis on usability on the front end.
As I started applying to jobs across the web, 8 out of 10 jobs took me Taleo, a supposed leader in HRIS. I always looked up to Taleo as a benchmark on other systems, and most likely that is still the case from a technology point of view; but being in a business to satisfy the data requirements for a government reporting company is completely different than trying to make the world a better, more efficient, more intelligent place in recruiting.
I am shocked at how many world-class organizations dont look closely at how their online applications work. Here are some of the probles I encountered 4 times in the online application process:
1) Please Enter Your Previous Employer - When I enter it, the system calls an error because the company name “Bertelsmann” doesnt exist in their data table. This is so backwards and outdated, why the hell does anybody need to keep a running list of company names to verify against a data table, and why wouldnt this system (TALEO) be setup to “learn” from new entries, instead of WASTE valuable time from an applicant!!! Luckily I thought of every other company I knew about and after about 22 attempts, the system did recognize BMG Music (which by the way no longer exists in this form). There was no easy way to get help, and when you are faced with a 14 Step Online Application Process this is VERY FRUSTRATING. It doesnt matter that this was a 1 time error, or bad HRIS management – but the fact that these things get lost in the details, is a shame on companies which invest millions to have a system like Taleo, which can handle the configurations needed to keep business moving. I also blame Taleo, for in this day and age, allowing or convincing a company to keep such a backwards-oriented function, in such an instant, web 2.o world that we live in now.
2)Please Enter Your Country (pause, data loads) –> Please Enter Your State (pause, data loads) –> Please Enter Your County (pause, data loads) –> Please Enter Your City. For all the big fans of data tables, wouldnt all this be solved easily with a USPS or Google Maps integration, or a table with Zip Codes? It shouldt take 4 clicks just to tell you what city I live in.
3)Nobody wants to just “talk” or “learn” – we all know that a resume is just a taste, and we all do our best to represent ourselves to the fullest, but many recruiters are hurting their organizations by refusing to look outside their industry’s and fields. We all know that companies like Lexus, Apple, Nordstrom, Etc. are all companies which have taken ideas from other places, and integrated them into their business to stand apart (think Genius Bar, Think Lexus Free Car Wash, and Bottle of water taken from hotels) and survice. What I find happens is that nobody reads the resume anymore, but more the “sorting, and filter data” which has been input in the 14-step Online Submission Form and thats it! Being in HR for 15 years, I know quite well if Iam qualified for a job (to at least get a “ping” back or a “poke” just to make sure I fit or dont fit)
4) At MACY’s I had the worst 14 step application ever, I had to input my Social Security Number 3 times, so that Macys can check if my application would yield them a Tax Credit, then I had to agree to their 401k policy, and lastly after spending 20+ minutes filling this out, for a job I am definitely worthy of at least competing in, I got an instant, system generated, non human, rejection. This kind of process DOES NOT HELP THE ORGANIZATION. I dont know who is running HR at Macy’s but its time to wake up, and reinvent – because a stock room person making $7.50 should not be subject to a 20-45 minute interrogation; and for that matter – the job seekers time is also worth something, we have a job to find, and bill to pay, so please dont waste our time either.
5) Careerbuilder is not a job board, but a place where spammers can build their marketing lists. Since when does a VP of HR get an offer to run a car wash for $35,000 a year – and again, this is because companies stopped checking the quality, stopped testing, and went to sleep. Careerbuilder doesnt have the right checks, balances and controls.
So what do all these observations mean??? Well to sum it up here is my thought on all this:
Companies invest millions of dollars in technology, and allow the technology to dictate the process. At Bertelsmann, I worked with HR to build the technology to support our decentralized process. Usability in this day and age is important, so is image, loyalty, identification, brand-awareness, and your overall positioning as an employer of choice. Many HR employees are, unfortunately afraid of the change process, they do things as they have been doing for many years (in some cases thats not bad) – but generally, it is bad. The world around is changing, information is instant, people can connect easier, and the new wave of the future is less data entry and greater emphasis to protect privacy. Its a shame when world-class companies get caught up in system maintenance and reporting and forget about the reason they are in business to begin with, forget about innovation, and forget that the person applying is also a customer. Very simply put – its time for a wake up call.
