I get where they are coming from. I was heavily involved in a big hiring spree shortly after the telecom implosion in Dallas. The sheer volume of resumes that we received was staggering. We'd have literally 100's of resumes within an hour of posting a job ad. Maybe 2% of those actually had anything resembling the qualifications we we're looking for (and had clearly spelled out in the ad). It really did seem like folks, out of desperation, where simply shotgunning resumes and hoping for the best.
We never considered simply tossing out the unemployed, but I get why they're doing it. Particularly at companies that aren't trying to hire absolute top-level talent.
It does absolutely suck for anyone looking for a job tho.
One issue is that lots of job ads are really poorly worded or have shoot-for-the-moon requirements that are not really requirements. There are plenty of cases where the most qualified person for the job may be someone that doesn't meet most of the requirements in the posting. Though this is more of a commentary on the state of affairs with respect to the composition of job postings.
Sure - employers pad out job openings a bit - but man, people will shotgun-apply for jobs that they are very clearly, to anyone reading the job description, by no stretch of the imagination qualified for. I'm not talking about ridiculous requirements like more years with a technology than the tech has existed, but when you say things like "SENIOR SYSTEMS MANAGER" and "MUST have at last 8 years professional experience" and "MUST have an expert level of knowledge of ProductX"
And the applicants come in, just out of university, never had a job, have never even heard of ProductX, and have no experience........ what are you to do?
I mean, if they put in a good cover letter explaining that they recognize that they don't seem to match the qualifications, but explaining why they want a shot at an interview, or something like that, fine.... but they don't.
They hit monster.com or whatever, look for "sysadmin" or "IT" anywhere in the text and then spam out resumes with complete disregard for the requirements.
It works the other way too. On a local portal, I get at least one php coder position offer a month, even though I don't do any web stuff (I'm a voip devops, let's say).
"And the applicants come in, just out of university, never had a job, have never even heard of ProductX, and have no experience........ what are you to do? I mean, if they put in a good cover letter explaining that they recognize that they don't seem to match the qualifications, but explaining why they want a shot at an interview, or something like that, fine.... but they don't."
How did they get an interview? You don't interview everyone who applies. And if they don't put in a good cover letter, and the resume doesn't look good, why bother?
If they have technical skills that need dealing with, there are other ways to go about testing those technical skills quickly and without an interview process.
Even though I upvoted you, one of HR's core competencies should be knowledge of employment laws. Since unemployment rates are much higher for blacks, I think if this hiring practice became widespread it could open up these companies to discrimination lawsuits.
We never considered simply tossing out the unemployed, but I get why they're doing it. Particularly at companies that aren't trying to hire absolute top-level talent.
It does absolutely suck for anyone looking for a job tho.