My HR Blues...
Real Case Scenario
1
It was a hot day of summer during April and I was waiting
for a candidate to come for an interview. Actually I had shortlisted his resume
from a sourced list of 10 resumes fitting our requirement for a technical
position. He has an excellent track record as was evident from his resume and
my earlier telephonic talk with him. But then on that day he got late for the
scheduled interview which was aligned with our Technical Manager.
After 20 minutes of waiting the Tech Manager got pissed off
as he was getting late for a team meeting and our candidate didn’t turned came.
Our tech manager simply stands up and rejected the candidate and left for the
meeting.
I got busy and then suddenly after 15 minutes the candidate
turned up at my office sweating profusely. I told my HR Executive to let him
freshen up and have something to drink. Afterwards when the candidate came to
me, he explained that while coming by auto he faced an accident and then had to
run all the way to our office in the heat of the day for the interview. He was extremely
apologetic for the incident and late coming.
To his utter surprise I just told him that he is hired and
discussed on the salary and joining date. The candidate was very happy to join
our organization.
On the scheduled date of joining the candidate came in time
and joined. As the time passed, he turned out to be one of the best performers
of the team and an asset for the organization.
The same Tech Manager is all
praise for him.
Real Case Scenario
2
Once when I was Heading HR for a media firm, I used to come
across lot of candidates who want to join media industry and approach me. I
used to take interviews or ask my subordinates to take care of those
candidates.
Then one busy afternoon, a technically educated fresher guy
came to my office. Due to my busy schedules that day, he had to wait for a long
time and my subordinates keep asking me if I can meet him. After a long time my
executive came and told me that boy was in tears and hungry too. Actually I
came to understand that he is a very needy guy in search of a career in media
sector. I didn’t had any positions vacant for him, but then my conscience told
me to meet the boy.
I called him up and upon meeting him, I got to know about
his technical qualifications and his keenness in media as he has earlier done
entertainment stage programs. I found that hint which is required in a
candidate the eagerness and enthusiasm. I told him to wait outside and consulted
with our Head of Programming and hired him as an intern with little stipend.
After couple of months he turned out to be one of the best
team player with all round activity that is required in the production set of
various entertainment programs. He thanked me for giving him the required
career.
At present he is employed in a reputed media house abroad
and sometimes when I think about him, I feel good in shaping up career of a
needy person.
Now, both the real case scenarios are of part of many such
situations that happened in my career as a HR professional. Sometimes we just
reject the candidates out of blue or let the candidates wait for long just to
have an interview. And most Recruiters will agree that in lot of cases, the
candidates themselves opt out even if they get selected to join to the utter
dismay of the recruiter.
You can’t help it… This is life and you have to get on with
it…
Surprisingly, my talent acquisition experience tells me, don’t
always look for that perfect resume to select or perfect employee to retain.
There are always a human touch to everything… one has to also look for the
enthusiasm and value addition a surprise candidate may bring even if he/she has
an average resume on display.
A best “would be” employee might not show up all professionally
attired or that confident during interview.
What do you say my HR folks??? AM I WRONG?? OR you agree
with me??
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