The 21st Century Hiring Process

This column is dedicated to those of us old enough to remember when a company’s Human Resources department was simply called “Personnel.”

The job-seeking process was relatively simple back then. You nervously walked into personnel, filled out the requisite job application form that was handed to you by some dour receptionist and then anxiously awaited by the phone in hopes someone would call you.

That by and large encompassed my initial job experience right out of college as I’m sure it did fort countless others, where I was grateful to come aboard somewhere for the eye-opening salary of $11,000 a year.

But that was then and this is now.

Contrast that to the recent experience of my eldest daughter, a graduate, class of 2014, and who has been in a temporary position for the past six months, albeit at one with rather decent compensation.

Last month she had applied online for a sales and marketing post at one of the major airline carriers and much to her surprise they contacted her. (I don’t think the word “online” existed when I graduated school.)

First she had to undergo a phone interview – that was the screen test to see if she warranted an in-person visit. I’m proud to say she passed that one.

The second step was an online test – sort of a basic knowledge quiz with some elements of critical thinking incorporated.

Once again she made cut and was finally granted an interview at their corporate headquarters in New York City.

Surprisingly, she first met with her direct report who reviewed her test scores and after some basic questions, conducted a role-playing session, where he stepped in character as an irate customer fresh off a horrible experience on their airline and she was the calm and collected representative who had to soothe his anger and convince him to give them another try.

Afterwards she told me she felt she did well, but like any sector of the job market, the competition is torrid and she indicated that at least 12 candidates were vying for the position.

I then wondered if CPA firms have embraced this progressive sort of hiring. I mean they have come aboard such advances as cloud applications and mobile devices, could role playing really be that far away?

I figure any job candidate worth his or her salt should be able to overcome any problems of a steaming mad 1040 client.