Comment Re:HR will be HR (Score 1) 241
HR is always a bunch of ass-sucking sycophants. That is true in every industry. Never count on meeting an intelligent person is HR. And NEVER count on them as an ally -- they are there for the company, not you. They ONLY time they might take your side is (if they are capable of understanding you) when you explain to them their managers have fucked up so badly, they will likely lose a lawsuit.
Fuck HR. It is always a pink ghetto.
Too true, but you have to understand that the primary purpose of HR is not to hire the best talent available to fill the positions that make the company go. That is completely off the mark.
HR exists to minimize what is the largest expense for most companies: the employee payroll.
Like most divisions/departments in large companies, HR has other priorities but the number one priority is to reduce payroll expense.
Seriously.
That's why they dick with benefits every year and implement performance review processes that largely obscure the fact that total available budget for pay raises was set in a high level executive meeting prior to anyone's review and no one will get $$ recognition outside of preset boundaries.
They also like to screen out unstable personalities, hence the typical psych profile questions. Again, this is not about hiring good people; it's just that when an employee goes off the rails it tends to increase corporate expense drastically.
Typically, the only interviewer at the table with a vested interest in hiring the best fit for the job is the manager of the area with the open position. Usually this person is outnumbered by HR flaks.
So, you are absolutely correct: HR is not your friend. They are the fat trimmers and EVERYONE looks like greasy bacon to them.
It is not surprising that the person in the article was treated so badly. Just means that the particular HR dept has gone cannibalistic and has reduced itself to the point that they can no longer execute an efficient hiring process. Again though, this is not dysfunctional for HR. Making it hard for people to get hired works to make HR's stats look good.
Ooooops, there goes my cynicism again.