What to wear when the interviewer is a program?
Résumé screening applications make it hard for IT pros to argue their case, even as companies complain about skill shortages
By
Denise Dubie
,
Network World
, 04/10/2008
- Share/Email
- Tweet This
- Print
Terri Morgan could sell her talents to anyone that would listen, but software programs used to screen IT job applicants don’t
hear so well.
Morgan has dealt with more résumé screening programs than human beings in her quest to gain a live interview at companies
such as IBM, KPMG and Disney (see related story). These talent management applications look for key words and patterns but can’t, after all, recognize human potential (see
related story).
"I have the skills these companies say they want, but my résumé doesn’t come out when they apply their sorting algorithms
or random lotteries," Morgan says. "They are using software to look for A, B or C, so they are missing the rest of the alphabet
in terms of technical skills."
Read Morgan's first-person account of the hiring process.
Find out about the the ins and outs of recruitment software.
Morgan’s experience is at the heart of the industry’s so-called labor crisis, with companies shouting about the shortage of
skilled workers and out-of-work IT professionals saying shortage claims are contrived by employers who are looking to offer
less in compensation, force out experienced workers and hire young or foreign staff in their place.
"Hiring managers are being told by recruiters there aren’t any people to hire, and then everyone wants to look to H-1B and
other foreign worker programs when there is a whole host of us in this country that have really good skills and can easily
learn others," Morgan says.
Stories abound about the IT talent pool drying up as baby boomers retire and college students avoiding high-tech studies, and skilled IT workers say they are being overlooked for these open positions.
"You read all these articles and you want to scream, ‘I’m right here!’" says David Currier, a member of the infrastructure
team for Perot Systems/Owen & Minor Medical in Richmond, Va. Currier is working on contract thousands of miles from his Seattle
home and continues to look for a position that better suits his life.
"You start to feel invisible,” Currier says, “but then you realize companies are looking for an exact fit in terms of skills,
experience and salary, and that might not synch up with what you have to offer. I am not at the point yet where I’d lie to
get a job."
Experts say the crux of the job disconnect involves three key areas: companies either don’t have the time or money to invest
in training or don’t make it a priority, so employees get out of synch; advances in business and technology outpace the ability
of IT professionals to keep up; and salary expectations established during the tech boom of the 1990s can today be considered
exorbitant.
Training drought
Companies feeling the pressure to fill positions may have created their own problem by not allocating enough time, money and
resources to training programs, experts say.
"Training is an opportunity to prepare your workforce for the changes in technology and business needs," says Neill Hopkins,
vice president of skills development at the Computer Technology Industry Association, or CompTIA. "Still, in many organizations,
as soon as times get tough, training is the first budget to get cut -- which will hurt in the long run as systems get more
complex and technology changes come faster and faster."
Partner Content
www.bmc.com
Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling
Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.
Download whitepaper
Dell's SMART Approach to Workload Automation
Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.
Download whitepaper
Workload Automation Cost Savings 2 Minute Video
A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member. See how in this 2-minute video overview.
Go to video
Comments (8)
Open jobs, unemployed IT pros -- what's the problem?By Anonymous on April 11, 2008, 11:24 amCountless stories about an imminent skills crisis don't add up when you hear from IT pros looking for work. Open jobs, unemployed skilled workers -- why can't the...
Reply | Read entire comment
What to wear when the interviewer is a program?By Anonymous on April 13, 2008, 3:43 pma rambling and useless story. The one thing the story made no effort to cover was... "What to wear when the interviewer is a program?"
Reply | Read entire comment
Agreed. Pointless story.By Anonymous on April 14, 2008, 1:34 pm The other thing overlooked is why my company still employs a VB 6 programmer... because THEY STILL USE THE SOFTWARE that was produced 10+ years ago. Companies...
Reply | Read entire comment
to "rambling" -- guess youBy Anonymous on April 23, 2008, 7:40 pmto "rambling" -- guess you are not looking for work, have never been discriminated against, and have the most perfect situation anyone might want. Good for you....
Reply | Read entire comment
you just don't get it, do you?By Anonymous on April 23, 2008, 7:43 pmto "rambling" -- guess you are not looking for work, have never been discriminated against, and have the most perfect situation anyone might want. Good for you....
Reply | Read entire comment
Together, a small problemBy tuomoks on April 23, 2008, 10:09 pmI don't believe a second there is a common shortage of skills. That's why I don't agree with skill shift! I come from time when everyone in IT had to take a month...
Reply | Read entire comment
View all comments