should pet peeves influence hiring decisions? by Alison Green on July 16, 2020 A reader writes: I am hiring for a position that I will manage. Our office is small and this individual and I will work together very closely. I know selecting interviewees and employees is not truly “fair,” but how much should my pet peeves impact the decision to interview someone? For instance, someone sent me […] Read the full article →
how to handle a pushy job candidate by Alison Green on July 1, 2020 A reader writes: I am in the process of scheduling interviews for a new opening on our team. I called a batch of candidates this morning and left messages for a few of them. I was then in a meeting, and when I returned I had four phone calls from one candidate, who apparently was […] Read the full article →
a rejected candidate keeps demanding to know why we didn’t hire him by Alison Green on May 27, 2020 A reader writes: Last fall, I left a beloved job with a nonprofit and assisted them in hiring a new “me” — or, rather, two people to take my place with two different aspects of the job. One was an internal hire, the other required an outside interview process. We received over 50 applications, narrowed […] Read the full article →
am I asking too much of job applicants? by Alison Green on May 27, 2020 A reader writes: Is it unreasonable to expect applicants to submit a resume, cover letter, and application for a part-time job, even if all three are asked for in the job posting? I recently posted a part-time position, and at the end of the post, I state, “To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, […] Read the full article →
how quickly should you send job rejections? by Alison Green on May 11, 2020 A reader writes: I’m a firm believer in following up with every single applicant, interviewed or not. When would you say is ideal time to send out a rejection letter? I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes […] Read the full article →
our new hires keep dropping out before they start by Alison Green on May 4, 2020 A reader writes: I work for a contractor; our primary industry is providing professional staff at locations around the globe. One of the locations where we have staff is far away and has an incredibly strong reputation as a place where you don’t want to get sent. Surprisingly, we don’t have a ton of trouble […] Read the full article →
should I refuse to hire coworkers’ kids? by Alison Green on March 16, 2020 A reader writes: I’m hiring students to work on my team as paid interns. I’ve decided to not hire any children of any coworkers in the office. My reasons are to avoid any conflict of interests – I don’t want to risk interns asking their parents to interfere if they don’t like an assignment or […] Read the full article →
should interviewers give job candidates a way to contact them? by Alison Green on March 2, 2020 A reader writes: My fellow managers and I have a question on interview etiquette from the interviewer side that we can’t agree on. If you give someone an interview, should you give them a way to contact you? My thinking is, yes, if you interview a potential job candidate, you should give them either your […] Read the full article →
what to do when candidates don’t respond to interview invitations by Alison Green on February 26, 2020 A reader writes: When I’m hiring, I email the applicants I’m interested in with an invitation to set up a phone interview. That usually works fine, but some applicants simply never respond to the request. After what I think is a reasonable amount of time (at least one week), I have been sending an email […] Read the full article →
I ask candidates their salary expectations and don’t feel bad about it by Alison Green on February 19, 2020 A reader writes: You regularly talk about how inappropriate it is for employers to ask candidates about their salary expectations without giving any salary information out themselves. Well, I am a medical professional, and, along with my partners, employ two staff in our small office. I became a small business owner/employer having received no training […] Read the full article →