I can. As an HR Manager and former VP, you're setting yourself up for a lawsuit. Which, is unfortunate. Parents over the last 30 years have done a piss poor job of preparing their kids for the realities of life. No, you can't be whatever you want. Yes, you're going to fail often. Life can be a cruel, miserable ***** at times, learn to deal with it. Instead of parents teaching these lessons to their kids, they left that responsibility up to the school system, which also failed them. As did their university. When they finally make it to the corporate world, it is starkly different from what they expected and managers now have to spend time teaching these kids the life skills that should have been instilled years ago. There is a great video from Simon Sinek on this subject called
This is why you don't succeed - Millennial Generation. The purpose of the video is not putting blame on millennials, rather it is putting blame on the people that have failed the millennial generation.
It would be great to be able to give people honest, candid feedback about why they weren't selected. In 2018, that is not an option. Managers are afraid of being labeled and being sued and when those lawsuits happens, it costs jobs.
I will give you a perfect example. A colleague interviewed an extremely well qualified female candidate for a job. She was their top pick at the phone interview stage. This person was aware that the dress code at this company was more on the formal side and still shows up to the interview in a pair of dark jeans with a coat. If he tells her he didn't hire her because she couldn't follow directions and her lack of professional business attire, he is being sued for being sexist - 100% guaranteed. Maybe she just didn't have the wherewithal to realize that she was under dressed. He can't do that - opening up that can of worms put his job, his families sole source of income, and the jobs of others at the organization at risk.
This is the world we live in.
On a side note
@SnowblindNYR I've done tons of interview coaching. I would be happy to help you should you be interested in my feedback. Interviews are what get people jobs. Resumes just get you in the door. This is why people who have great resumes but need some interviewing polish have an easy time getting interviews but a hard time actually landing a job. Then after so many rejections, it becomes hard to remain positive as the candidate feels rejection is inevitable, almost to the point of it being a self-fulfilling prophecy.
One last thing, not just for snowblind but for anyone here, if you have questions about interviewing or resumes, please don't hesitate to reach out. Getting a completely unbiased opinion is usually a goo idea. Those who know me can vouch, I will tell you exactly like it is, good, bad, indifferent.
Obviously, I'll be disciplined if I'm too off the cuff, but for these reasons, I try to be as real with my students as I can be.
I think education can be a great thing, and I fancy myself an important factor in their lives, even if only for a few months, but I see where education has failed us. We've left young people with a lot of debt and a lot of skills that aren't taking them anywhere, with some missed lessons along the way. I do my best to impart things that will actually help them.
For example, we do presentations in my class, and every time, half the class tries to opt out because "I'm not comfortable with public speaking." No. We're doing it. In most workplaces, you're going to have to present. So we're doing it. And I'm not harsh on these. Most of them get good grades. But you're f***ing doing it. When we do written assignments (and I tell them this straight up) I don't care if it's not William Shakespeare. I care that you follow directions. I just graded a pretty bland paper today but the girl got an A because she followed the format 1000%. Another student gave me really deep, intelligent stuff, but he didn't get an A because he was too cavalier. If you wanna get introspective, come sit in my office and I'll make coffee, but on the paper, you better follow directions.
That's not to say I discourage creativity. There's something to be said about innovation in the workplace and I think it's also an important part of being a healthy human when you go home for the day. But you have to do it within the parameters you're given.
Another student of mine gave me something similar. Really intelligent, spectacular thoughts, but not what we asked for. But this student did something the other didn't - he sent me a draft. He got some work done early and asked for feedback. That's a relevant skill. That's applicable to jobs. And because he did that, we got his deep thoughts into a system that works, and he got a perfect score. That guy has a bright future.
The advantage I have is that, on an assignment, I absolutely can give honest, candid feedback. And again I'm not gonna kick your shit in for not being a wonderful writer, I'm gonna kick your shit in for being irresponsible and not following directions. I hope and I pray, since I can give honest feedback, that because I tore you a new one, an employer will never have to.
Of course, don't mistake this for me being some hardass. I'm a marshmallow. I put chocolate out in my office and stay late for students who want extra help. But if you don't follow directions and aren't willing to try things you don't wanna do, we're gonna have a bad time. Many students, unfortunately, say "oh well" to that and take their C. They're adults, I can't force them. But other students dramatically improve, and those are the people that get me up in morning.
When you finish my class, frankly, I couldn't care less if you remember facts about sociology. I want you to leave with self-confidence, the ability to follow directions, and the notion that you're able to present your findings, work with peers in a productive way, and work with supervisors in a productive way.
Your knowledge of Emile Durkhiem isn't going to make you money. Your ability to give your boss exactly what they asked for to your highest standards is going to make you money.
I do my humble best to get them working that way. If I can get 2 or 3 of them out of the 25 they put in front of me to get their shit together, I feel pretty good at the end of the day. I would love for it to be all 25, but I know them for four months. I can't parent them. And unfortunately, the school system they went to until they were 18 is more concerned with teaching them how to pass tests than teaching them how to work. I mean, sure, many jobs will test you on basic stuff, but it's hardly the most relevant skill. It's the only skill they get in public school.
