Linux recruiting, was Re: [Sussex] Ubuntu used in the fight against AIDS

[Nico Kadel-Garcia]

Stephen Williams wrote:
> On Sat, 2007-03-17 at 14:36 +0000, Geoffrey Teale wrote:
>> On Sat, 2007-03-17 at 08:09 +0000, Stephen Williams wrote:

>>> Well, they do say HR stands for Hopeless Recruiting.
>> :-)
>>
>> A nice line, but I counter, recruiting is hard.  I'd go so far as to
>> say it's both the most difficult and the most important part of my
>> job.
>
> But at least you're doing it, not some spotty HR noob who hasn't a
> clue. I was interviewed for the position of Fleet Administration
> Manager at Virgin not long after I fell off my medical. Interview was
> by the Chief Pilot who was completely disinterested - he'd already
> made up his mind on which of the 6 candidates he wanted - and some HR
> girl who asked questions straight out of the "HR Recruitment
> Interviews for Dummies" book. Very dispiriting. At least you know
> your stuff, so anyone who gets interviewd for CMed will be selected
> on a sound basis.
>
>> Cmed's HR staff have always been helpful and extremely competent
>> IMHO.
>>
>
> You're very fortunate

Amen. I have unfortunate stories about such HR departments who are not there 
to help the company fill its needs, but to enhance their own status and 
salary. Long stories that require a lot of Guinness in front of me to tell, 
to wash the bitter aftertaste fo the stories out of my mouth.

The relentless technical honesty of many Linux advocates can make us unloved 
as interviewers. I've actually ended an interview at a job I applied for 
with "it's clear you don't want me: but here's a job listings board I've 
recommended to the recruiter who brought me in, and here are some 
suggestions for your job description to avoid this problem again".