ILLUSTRATION: Lorraine Brevig
I’m sure everyone has experienced the process and frustration of applying for a job online. Because now there’s virtually no other way to apply.
Registering.
Filling out all of the required fields.
Uploading resumes and cover letters or worse, needing to convert them into text so that you can copy and paste them into the required boxes.
Halfway through, coming across a ‘Mandatory Field’ that doesn’t apply to you and the only way to get past it, is to lie.
But you’re honest so you quit the application instead.
And even if you do manage to fill in all the boxes, you hope that there won’t be a glitch when you click ‘submit’ and you have to do it all over again.
Then, when you’ve successfully completed your online application you’re left wondering whether it was in fact, successful. Because you seldom hear back. Sure, some of these sites have an automated response mechanism.
“Thank you for applying, blah, blah, blah…”
but they also include
“…only those being considered will be contacted.”
And with that, you immediately put the whole experience behind you and move on to something more rewarding. Like talking to the dog.
So why has the ‘human’ disappeared in Human Resources?
Efficiency?
Dr. Leonard McCoy might say, “We’re humans Spock. We feel.”
Ged Stankus
