What’s wrong with this job?

[initforme]

Quit being an uninformed, entitled whiner. The US is 5th in the world for the highest median personal income. The world does not owe you a living. Get off of your ass and earn it.

Median Income by Country 2024

Nah. It feels better o point out the negatives of my nation of birth.

 

[Concerned American]

Nah. It feels better o point out the negatives of my nation of birth.

So why don't you go clean up in one of those nations that you feel is sooooo much better.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Nah. It feels better o point out the negatives of my nation of birth.

You couldn't find a fact if it was made of iron and you had a metal detector!

 

[Supposn]

My department at work has posted a new job opening and after three weeks hasn’t had a single response. It’s posted on all the major job boards and websites. I’m trying to figure out why we’re not getting any interest. We’ve never had trouble filling this position before. Here’s the abbreviated job description…



This position offers WFH and flexible schedule options after initial training. Benefits include: employer healthcare, 2 weeks paid vacation, sick time, 401K program, Pension, paid holidays, etc… It IS a Union position with progression and bidding rights.

Not sure why suddenly nobody seems to want the job when just a couple years ago we had an over abundance of candidates.

Anathema, regarding “We’ve never had trouble filling this position before?”:
When was the last time you filled this position, at what salary, how long Does your company retain “map & records Tech's before they're promoted or quit, what has happened to the last few hires or promotions to this job slot?
I wonder in recent years, how many qualified AAS people have graduated school in your area? Maybe they're not many and/or they're now all employed or seeking higher degrees?

Due to the pandemic, a critical factor for filling any job slots is requirement for tasks to be done on site. Can any portion of the work be accomplished remotely?
Respectfully, Supposn

 

[Anathema]

When was the last time you filled this position, at what salary, how long Does your company retain “map & records Tech's before they're promoted or quit, what has happened to the last few hires or promotions to this job slot?
I wonder in recent years, how many qualified AAS people have graduated school in your area? Maybe they're not many and/or they're now all employed or seeking higher degrees?

The last 2 new hires were in December of 2018. They will both promote from Maps & Records Technician A to Maps & Record Technician (3rd step/top progression position in the roster) by the end of the year. The progression is: Tech B, Tech A, Tech. The Senior Tech position is a bid position and not a part of the progression roster.

The department retains people quite well. We’ve had a couple people bid out to other departments. Our current Supervisor is a former Tech.

The degree is a relatively common/popular one throughout the country. Though it does seem most folks have one skill set OR the other (CAD/GIS).

Due to the pandemic, a critical factor for filling any job slots is requirement for tasks to be done on site. Can any portion of the work be accomplished remotely?

We worked completely remotely from 3/2020 until 6/2022. We are still working in a hybrid model with most employees working 2 days in the office and 3 days from home.

 

[Anathema]

We got word this morning that the Company has now received multiple qualified applicants. They’re going to wait out the rest of this week to see if anyone else shows interest then start setting up interviews.

So there’s hope we’ll have someone hired by early October.

 

[Supposn]

We got word this morning that the Company has now received multiple qualified applicants. They’re going to wait out the rest of this week to see if anyone else shows interest then start setting up interviews.

So there’s hope we’ll have someone hired by early October.

Anathema, that seems promising.
I suggest your interviewers prepare some questions that might lead to a clue as why it took so long to receive responses from recruiters or prospective employees.
Does your company use recruiters? If not, why not? Respectfully, Supposn

 

[initforme]

So why don't you go clean up in one of those nations that you feel is sooooo much better.

Where did I say other nations are better? It's my patriotic duty to keep up on the imperfections. Don't be such a drama queen.

 

[Concerned American]

Where did I say other nations are better? It's my patriotic duty to keep up on the imperfections. Don't be such a drama queen.

I just offered a solution to your assertion that the US median income was somehow insufficient. There are four other countries that you can go to that have higher medians. No drama--just fact. Don't take a position that you can't support.

 

[Anathema]

I suggest your interviewers prepare some questions that might lead to a clue as why it took so long to receive responses from recruiters or prospective employees.
Does your company use recruiters? If not, why not?

We do not utilize outside recruiters. We have a group that deals with hiring exclusively. I don’t believe they do active recruiting. There’s also a separate “Labor” group that deals with all Union issues, and is also involved in hiring for Union positions.

 

[Supposn]

We do not utilize outside recruiters. We have a group that deals with hiring exclusively. I don’t believe they do active recruiting. There’s also a separate “Labor” group that deals with all Union issues, and is also involved in hiring for Union positions.

Anathema, if filling this particular job slot became a bottleneck within your company, or they don't understanding why they lack responses for different open slots, I'm surprised your company didn't give one or more recruiters a shot at at least one job slot. They don't get paid, if you don't hire. After my first professional job, all others were obtained through a recruiter. Respectfully, Supposn

 

[Anathema]

Anathema, if filling this particular job slot became a bottleneck within your company, or they don't understanding why they lack responses for different open slots, I'm surprised your company didn't give one or more recruiters a shot at at least one job slot. They don't get paid, if you don't hire. After my first professional job, all others were obtained through a recruiter

They have their own process. The fact that this is a Union position with testing requirements (drug and proficiency) and a required background/CORI check seems to make them prefer not to actively seek applicants. Apparently they believe the listed requirements will cause people to self-screen.

 

[Supposn]

They have their own process. The fact that this is a Union position with testing requirements (drug and proficiency) and a required background/CORI check seems to make them prefer not to actively seek applicants. Apparently they believe the listed requirements will cause people to self-screen.

Anathema, recruiter screen on their own, rather on their client's behalf.

The company's the paying client and the recruiter's reputation and income's dependent upon introducing only viable “hires” to the client. Recruiters are approached by those seeking employment, but they also use their contacts to find qualified employed people who may not have been considering any change of employment. Recruiters cast a larger fishing net for finding QUALIFIED prospective employees.

Recruiter's fees aren't cheap and companys don't use them for every open job or job description, and they don't user them to reduce their screening expenses.
I suppose ever company that hired me, again screened me. Respectfully, Supposn

 

[Anathema]

Anathema, recruiter screen on their own, rather on their client's behalf.

Because of some of our access, NEEC and FERC require us to do full background and CORI checks at least every 7 years as well as drug and alcohol screening prior to being hired. We require an aptitude test, which is overseen by the Union and the Company. That’s probably why they don’t use a recruiter… not sure the recruiter could do all of that.

Supposedly they now have multiple candidates, so we’ll see what happens in the next month or so.

 

[Supposn]

Supposn posted: … Recruiter's fees aren't cheap and company's don't use them for every open job or job description, and they don't user them to reduce their screening expenses.
I suppose ever company that hired me, again screened me. Recruiters cast a larger fishing net for finding QUALIFIED prospective employees. Respectfully, Supposn
//////////
Anathema, you missed the entire point of my previous response. Respectfully, Supposn

 

[Anathema]

Recruiter's fees aren't cheap and company's don't use them for every open job or job description, and they don't user them to reduce their screening expenses.
I suppose ever company that hired me, again screened me. Recruiters cast a larger fishing net for finding QUALIFIED prospective employees

My apologies for missing the point…

I’m not so sure this company wants THST large of a fishing net. Company postings do go up on Monster but generally they prefer someone local so they can start the vetting process to get a new hire in the office ASAP.

The only times I’ve seen them hire someone non-local has been when those individuals were actively seeking to relocate to Massachusetts for utility industry jobs, and already had local lodging set up.

 

[Supposn]

Anathema, of course it depends upon a the extents of the company's need for more or for less qualified applicants and how long they're willing to wait until they find and hire someone to fill the job slot.
A broader net could be local or nation-wide. I've been provided airline tickets for some interviews, but I suppose now that's done using Zoom.
What hasn't changed is better recruiter's are able to contact people currently employed and not actively trying to change jobs. Respectfully, Supposn

 

[Anathema]

What hasn't changed is better recruiter's are able to contact people currently employed and not actively trying to change jobs

I don’t know what to tell you. This has been their way of doing things for the past 20+ years, so it must work for them.

We now apparently have multiple qualified candidates. They’re waiting until the end of the week and will start contacting them to set up interviews next week. That means we could hopefully have someone in a chair by Halloween (if we’re lucky).

 

[Anathema]

!!!!UPDATE!!!!​

October 20, 2022…

The Company has officially issued an offer to a candidate. They are hoping to have the individual onboarded by mid-November.

They interviewed three internal candidates last week. One immediately disqualified themself by contradicting their own resume. One didn’t meet the educational requirement. They’re not 100% thrilled with the final candidate but they meet the qualifications so they’ve made the offer.

It turns out that HR turned away somewhere between twenty and forty external candidates because of misunderstandings about the degree requirements or a failure of the candidate to complete the online testing requirement.

 

[Supposn]

!!!!UPDATE!!!!​

October 20, 2022…

The Company has officially issued an offer to a candidate. They are hoping to have the individual onboarded by mid-November.

They interviewed three internal candidates last week. One immediately disqualified themself by contradicting their own resume. One didn’t meet the educational requirement. They’re not 100% thrilled with the final candidate but they meet the qualifications so they’ve made the offer.

It turns out that HR turned away somewhere between twenty and forty external candidates because of misunderstandings about the degree requirements or a failure of the candidate to complete the online testing requirement.

Anathema, thanks for the update. I hope it all works well for you guys. Respectfully, Supposn