How Employers Hire (Part II)

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Many jobseekers express frustration with the hiring process. They feel a loss of control. They sense that the employer holds all the cards and isn’t showing any of them.
Understanding just how employers hire can eliminate some of the frustration and help you plan a successful job search.

The Hiring Structure

Usually, larger employers and those that do extensive hiring will have a formal hiring structure. Smaller employers and those who hire less frequently will be less formal.

Larger employers may have several people involved in the process, while smaller employers may have one person handle the hiring.

There are also industry-specific hiring practices. Medicine, education and government are industries that have unique hiring processes. Union contracts also influence the process.
Not everyone involved in the hiring process has the authority to hire. Usually one person, most often the manager of the department where the person will work, makes the final decision.

If possible, it's worth finding out who will make the final decision. However, treat everyone as though they're the hiring authority. You never know who has influence on the hiring decision. At the very least, you may be working with that person if you're hired.

The human resources department usually does not make hiring decisions. It manages the hiring process. Exceptions may be when hiring for an entry-level position, when the employer has many positions open, or when the position is in the human resources department.

The human resources department usually recruits, screens, and schedules interviews. Although the department usually doesn't hire, it has a lot of influence on the hiring decision.

Here is an example of how the human resources department fits into the hiring process:

Tom needs to fill an opening in his department. He submits a written request to Human Resources. He includes the basic criteria for the job, how soon he needs the person and how many candidates he wants to see.

Human Resources checks the current pool of applicants and, if necessary, recruits additional candidates. They screen the pool and select the best candidates, which they send to Tom for consideration.

Once Tom chooses which candidates he wants to interview, the human resource office schedules the interviews and processes the necessary paperwork when the decision is made.

Today's Job Market

The hiring process is more structured than it was in the past. Employers are generally more selective. Many factors have influenced the process. Large numbers of candidates, employment legislation, new technologies, employer liability and organizational restructuring are a few of these influences. No longer do employers hire with the intent of lifetime employment. The assurance of retirement with a single employer is quickly becoming outdated.

The average person will have many jobs and will change careers several times during her/his lifetime. Job search is no longer a single or rare event in life-- it has become an ongoing career process. A successful job search campaign will consider these changes and will use all available resources.