I’ve worked for several large companies that you’d recognize. While I’m focused on IT and automation, I’ve helped HR with hiring many times. I’d figure I’d weigh in on some of the things I’ve learned. Important note: I’m just reporting on what I've observed, I am not weighing in on how you think it SHOULD work. That is another conversation.
We can tell a great deal from your resume, but we cannot gain much about your personality and characteristics. In order to make sure you’re a good fit for a position, we look at things that go way beyond just ‘merit.’
Firstly, if there is no tailored cover letter, you are disregarded.
We then further inspect the resume and cover letter; they better not have any spelling or grammar errors. This usually eliminates half of the applicants.
Those who get this far are then asked to do a phone interview. I’ve listened in on many of these. We are looking for confident well-spoken people who can back up their resumes with details and examples. This is not a time to be shy. Stand out and sell yourself! Throw in some appropriate humor and banter, and just act normal. Be social! Be likeable!
If your education and skill-set lines up, and we like you, we’ll have you come in for an interview so we can see how you interact face-to-face. Nothing much to add here that isn’t already known. Show up in a suit, be polite but confident, speak well, be outspoken, and be relaxed. If you’re shy, nervous, and underwhelming, it doesn’t come off well. If you don’t look very good, and show up dishevelled and under-dressed, you won’t make a good first impression. You’ll likely not being hearing back.
This is now where we test you. We want to see both your technical skills and your personality. You’ll likely have to prove some tech skills by performing a task or troubleshooting some hypothetical problems. You’ll get some standard personality tests to see how confident, ambitious, outspoken, and communicative you are. Depending on the position, we usually look for extroverted social people who will work well together and show leadership qualities. It is also common to request a handwritten essay to prove a thesis. This allows us to see how well your writing skills are. If you cannot write a simple 1000-word essay on the spot, you’re not getting the job. We are talking high school/college writing levels here; nobody is ever expecting you to write a university dissertation on the spot. Bonus points for nice legible cursive, but this ultimately doesn’t matter these days.
Once you’ve done all that, we’ll comb over everything and decide on an individual. We might call you back for further questions if necessary. We then give you an offer and expect you to counter it. We know you're going to, so don’t be afraid to do it.
So, to all those on here who wonder why they don’t get the job offer, maybe this gives you some insight. We get 100 applicants and need to pick one. This is why there are so many tests and questions to weed out the weak applicants. Overall, just be professional, well spoken, and likeable. Look well and dress well, ace the interview, and you’ll be much closer to the top of the pile. Good luck out there!
Note: I don't get this sub anymore. I want to support this but I'm also coming from a completely different perspective than most people here. People seem to think that everyone who is 'antiwork' is also a minimum wage worker in the service sector. That's an erroneous claim for sure. There are many of us who recognize the inherent flaws in the system, even if we do live comparatively affluent lives. Just because we cannot personally relate, doesn't mean we do not understand the problems and want to improve the lives of all workers.