I work for a huge global company within the internal Service Desk where we only support internal workers (250k+ end users). Starting out, pay is crazy and max is 102k unless you apply for another position. Benefits are insane along with no call center vibes but we do of course have OKR’s. No micro managing as I hate that. No degree or certification required and we essentially have no exact rules to weed people out so as the hiring manager I get to choose who I think is the right fit based on what’s going on in the company. I could hire someone straight out of high school and they’d be making almost 100k right away.
We do bring on people through a vendor and if they show that they’d benefit the company we keep them on as contractors with hopes to offer them a job once we have openings. In reality if someone lasts until the vendor contract expires that to me means they are right for the job.
Anyway, at this moment we are in a hiring freeze, however, I got the OK to bring on one contractor to backfill a previous contractor who left for a natural career progression. It’s 99.9% guarantee if this new contractor does not work out and needs to be let go or just leaves, I won’t get anyone else until at least October causing a staffing issue for my team as time off becomes tighter along with work load. I being the manager need to prevent this from happening. I want the 8 hours my team works to be the best 8 hours of the day. That’s the goal at least.
Let’s get back to it. In the interview process it came down to two people. Both had risks. One was a fresh out of university kid who had a lot of projects of coding in his ‘portfolio’ while in uni. But, nothing more. Risk for me was he will probably be bored and leave fairly quickly. I usually ( and did ) ask where someone sees themselves in 2-3 years. He said being a full stack developer. Usually, If the answer does not exactly line up with what I think we could help them with in terms of personal or professional development I will be straight up with them. Based on what they say to that is how I help contemplate if not only are they right for the company, even as a contractor, but are we right for them. I never want to hold someone back.
The other person had more experience with customer service, has worked with our industry standard tool and fit like a glove. Not much of anything else in terms of risk of leaving soon. However, during the interview this person had a baby crying. Since Covid and remote work it’s pretty normal for people to be in meetings and a child/baby be present. I told her it’s definitely ok to bring the child into the interview. Later found out child is somewhere between 10mo. – 2yrs old. pre Covid my wife was in a very similar situation where she couldn’t find a job because of our own child needs and I couldn’t quit as I’m the bread winner. So, I felt for this person and understood it’s not easy being young, a new parent needing to provide. Hit me deep to be honest. Especially with all the stuff I hear and read regarding the world being hard on many these days. I understand I’m fortunate and want to help others.
The risk I had with the second applicant was the child and working from home. We can’t have a child crying or screaming when we are trying to have team meetings or answering phone calls from our end users. With a young child you can’t exactly control that. We do have tasks coworkers need to follow and could this person actually do them or would they step away often, leading to others in the team noticing causing more work for them which brings down the whole team moral.
I ended up picking this person with the child. Fast forward to her starting week and in training. She’s been late 30min at the start of one day. Strike one. She said she lost track of time. Again, baby and I understand. However, just prior to that she entered her time card and it showed a full 40hrs worked. Strike two. I’ve also heard from my trainers that she constantly has to stop the training to help feed or do something with the child. These trainers are part of my team so they’re seeing first hand how this person may continue or act once out of training. while remote working no one will have more of an eye view on how she’s working. She’s also stated in the beginning she had child care however it appears something fell through. It’s none of my business so I will not ask. But, expect it to be taken care of to the point of being able to show you can work.
I also can’t give contractors the same type of benefits I can actual employees. This is a policy of ours as in the past we’ve been sued after a contractor claimed they got employee benefits such as food for events, time to self develop, and written warnings. So, I can’t supervise her directly, I have to inform the vendor who then speaks with her.
I come here to give just a bit of insight into the position I put myself in taking a risk of helping someone. Now, it being the start of the second week I already feel taken advantage of. From her point of view, I could see her being upset and even coming here saying she was let go for being a mother. I just want people to understand there are good managers and hiring managers in the world and two sides to the story.
It’s late and I meant to write this earlier. I apologize for grammar mistakes or if it’s not neatly written .