I despise HR!

[the natural]

I know this is overly negative in tone but I have to get this off my chest, I hate HR and think it's a joke career. I think it's a scam and a waste of money for a company to employ HR.

I've been studying the process of "behavioral interviewing" which means the HR person will ask you questions that invite you to tell them a story, such as "Tell me about a time when a project was more challenging than it first appeared" or "Tell me about a time when you had to work with a difficult person" (endless variations are possible).

I had an interview with HR recently that was 100% behavioral interview questions. The thing is, I'm actually pretty good at answering these questions because I have lots of stories and can talk about myself all day. The infuriating thing was just when I tried to steer the interview toward my resume or work experience, the HR asks me yet another behavioral question that was totally random and had nothing to do with the direction of the conversation. I think she just memorized a bunch of behavioral questions and was reading off a list.

I had to suffer through a phone interview with this person before I got the in person interview, and it was the same. Same questions word for word, maybe.

This HR person was very nice but she asked every question in the same tone of voice (relaxed, calming, like a kindergarten teacher would speak). It's like she wasn't human. She was very mechanical and ungenuine. The fact that she refused to have a real conversation with me, preferring the list of questions to actual exchange of opinions and ideas, was insulting.

None of this is productive toward hiring the most qualified person. A better system would involve discussing the job itself and inviting me to talk about why I am qualified. Some behavioral interviewers grade you using a checklist along criteria like "eye contact." Now, if you were hiring for a very people skills intensive job like sales, I could understand; that was not the case in my interview (software).

Conclusion: HR is a scam; companies hire people with supposed "special HR training" which amounts to learning a bunch of behavioral questions they just repeat over and over, that are so vague as to have nothing to do with the job itself. They ask the questions, find some reason to eliminate people until they have the candidate, and recommend the candidate. It just seems like a bunch of new age Dr Phil pop psychology garbage.

Anyway I'm curious to learn what others think about HR, if you've had experiences with "behavioral interviewing" similar to mine, if you disagree and think HR people are actually talented and their methods are effective towards the goal of hiring the most qualified candidate.

[AgentofGaming]

This HR person was very nice but she asked every question in the same tone of voice (relaxed, calming, like a kindergarten teacher would speak). It's like she wasn't human. She was very mechanical and ungenuine. The fact that she refused to have a real conversation with me, preferring the list of questions to actual exchange of opinions and ideas, was insulting.
Maybe she's a living android.

Anyway I'm curious to learn what others think about HR, if you've had experiences with "behavioral interviewing" similar to mine, if you disagree and think HR people are actually talented and their methods are effective towards the goal of hiring the most qualified candidate.

Why can't they hire for competence in skilled occupation?
I'm not a person of great charisma, I'd just wish they gave me an exam or something instead of an interview. Well I do admit an interview is required to see team work and etiquette.
The interview should be to check if the person has the skill, the motivation and integrity;What is the point of checking if you're a 'good story teller'.

[Bossy Mom]

I worked at a company for 16 years, and it took 2 tries to get hired there. The first time I applied for a position there, I was quickly turned down by HR. Six months later I again tried for the same job (the previous person they hired couldn't take the pressure of the position), I was called directly by the hiring person and got the job.

I have always said, "Those who can, do; those who can't, work in HR."

[errrzarrr]

Must be important if companies spend lots of money on those people I suposse. But, is truth that they are overrated and they don't give much importance to meritocracy, as they should.

[anthrogirl]

From what I see HR is a load of tosh most of the time. I have no formal HR training yet can easily see where things have gone wrong, most of it is common sense, such is 'well, that person has no work ethic' or "that person is only interested in working their way up the ladder etc'. I know a company that spent thousands hiring a person to deal with their low productivity problem however to anyone with brains the answer was blindingly obvious, the creative director was a real bitch and everyone hated her because she treated the staff like garbage, hence the low productivity.

[Santana28]

i've been interviewing for positions as a dispatcher in law enforcement, and most of the interviews i have had have been behavioral questions for the most part. of course, they have other tests in order to judge skill and ability, so this makes more sense.

i also have a hard time with these questions. when the questions are so vague, i tend to interpret them more literally than the way the interviewer seems to intend them, and that gets me into trouble. for instance - one time i was asked what was the "best thing i have ever done" was and what was the "worst thing i have ever done" was. I froze. The first thing that pops into my head is "what would they consider to be good or bad? is this a personal question? is this a criminal record question? what criteria are they asking about? wtf???"

does anyone have any pointers for something that has seemed to work for you?

[1OFMANY]

No shit ...I got asked this at an interview for a fire dept. during the late 90s "im scared of being called a racist" phase:

You are in an elevator with a black man, a white man, and a latino man, which one are you afraid of the most?

[rwyatt365]

No shit ...I got asked this at an interview for a fire dept. during the late 90s "im scared of being called a racist" phase:

You are in an elevator with a black man, a white man, and a latino man, which one are you afraid of the most?
The one with the chainsaw and hockey mask!

(did that help?)

[1OFMANY]

I asked why they weren't afraid of me. I didn't get the job lol.

[Santana28]

I asked why they weren't afraid of me. I didn't get the job lol.

LOL. i would have said "the one holding the gun" - but your answer was even better.

Wow, i would have hired you in a minute. I wonder what the heck the "correct" answer was?

[rwyatt365]

LOL. i would have said "the one holding the gun" - but your answer was even better.

Wow, i would have hired you in a minute. I wonder what the heck the "correct" answer was?
Some PC bullsh**, I'm sure.
"I would not be afraid of any of them, all men are created equal. That's what the constitution says." *Miss America wave*

[interjerator]

It seems we have discovered the flaw in HR. It is a totally unnecessary function of a corporation.

[AgentofGaming]

It seems we have discovered the flaw in HR. It is a totally unnecessary function of a corporation.
Maybe it's not HR alone...
If you watch Dilbert, the marketing and sales departments and even management are ... well disastrous.

[1OFMANY]

Oh good heavens...the marketing department at Intel needs to be boiled in linseed oil lol.

Someone tell me what a Centrino processor is !! LOL

[interjerator]

In addition to the negative attitude towards HR, it seems like corporations are not well thought of on this forum.

[DeadSpace]

Heh, always thought HR was the best scam ever...get paid for having an opinion. Concept quite possibly was...if one or more similiar people (or decisions based on similiar criteria) do all the hiring, then those they hire will have like minds and work well together. Reality, different mindsets are required for different tasks. You still end up with a mish~mash of disimiliar personalities in the work place. Cliques formed. inefficiency from HR hiring wrong person because their mindset matched the standard...Not to mention...people who can 'be' anyone. Their (HR) questions are a joke.

[Siegfried]

I agree, HR is a scam...

One of my minor responsibilities is doing HR for our small company and I must say I now understand why most HR people are just as you described them in the posts above - here is my take on the situation:

1. HR is not a difficult thing to do, anyone who has seen enough bad/good candidates can do it
2. However it is extremely time consuming thing to do, our normal success rate is 1 hire out of 3 interviews from 10 applications. If you are hiring for several positions, your work-week is interrupted by arranging times internally/externally, going through CVs, pretending to be excited about the interview etc...
3. Therefore most people figured that they would outsource this screening process to HR - they would just get someone of average intelligence who could do the boring work for them.
4. HR emloyees realized that the only way to make themselves more important within the company (i.e. get paid more) for this boring work would be to make it look like they are doing something very serious. They started to organize themselves, exerting control over information they share internally/externally, using "sophisticated" methods and techniques to reveal suitable candidates for jobs with requirements they have NO idea about.
5. HR ended up being a scam :-)

[kevbo24]

"Those who can...do, those who can't, work in HR"

[daisy53]

As a manager, I've had to hire numerous people and it is probably the thing I like least - except for firing. Our company requires that particular questions be asked and the same questions must be asked of each applicant - to make the playing field level. Usually I can tell withing the first few minutes of talking with someone whether they will "fit" in the company and whether they will be good for the position. I can't imagine being an HR person full time. Unfortunately, with all the labor laws and EEOC rules, someone's got to it.

[ElstonGunn]

There are a lot of laws and things like that that HR people are supposed to know. I guess it might help to have someone on staff who knows what you can and can't get sued for. But apparently, multi-million-dollar lawsuits are less important than things like "vision statements" and questions that are unanswerable for everybody except the worst candidates (People who know the 'right' answer to a stupid question are dangerous).