Of course when I say the word “Nurse” the first image that most likely comes to most people’s mind is that of a woman because nursing is generally a female dominated field although there are plenty of male nurses. Our Mars Rover example above was used because the engineering field is greatly made up of men as is the rank of CEO. I’m sure this will be changing in the future as more walls come down or as more and more women find more interest in the engineering field.

Have you seen this article about Bill Gates’ challenge to the world for people to come up with a better toilet? Here are the 7 toilets and pictures of a few of the teams that created these remarkable new “green devices”. Twenty of them are men and only four are women. http://www.businessinsider.com/7-toilets-that-could-change-the-world-2012-8#heres-the-stanford-team-with-their-prototype-5

Maybe the numbers in the engineering field are more even than that but that is not what people generally see.

Cheers,

Keith

My three favorites are in here, relating to the lack of managers selling the company and the job (the “you should be lucky to come work here so we can disrespect you all we want” attitude that I’ve seen way too many tech companies display (i.e., a giant online retailer whose name is that of a South American river); the disrespect shown to candidates by some managers in how they deprioritize turnaround time in the hiring process (dude, I can fill a job in 3 weeks if teams make hiring a priority!); and DIVERSITY! In tech, so many want to just hire people who look/act/talk like them – anyone different is considered lesser or (I love this term) “disruptive” rather than challenging them to be more, think more, do more. Older candidates lose consideration for being overqualified yet younger candidates, if they have a hipster geek persona, will often be seen as “trainable”.

Again, thank you and keep bringin’ in the good words!

@Donita: Sorry to hear about your troubles. Employers often overlook the candidate experience and how a good experience reflects positively on the company.

@Sharon: You hit the nail on the head!

Something we as candidates should know:
How we wish to be treated and how we wish to treat others is irrelevant in this job market. For most companies/positions, if you don’t have a highly-in-demand skill or are a member of “the Fabulous 5%”, or for employers of excellence, if you don’t have a highly-in-demand skill or are an internally well-connected member of “the Fabulous 5%,” you don’t matter.

Keith “Wish It Weren’t True” Halperin

I am looking for my next career opportunity right now, therefore I have been interviewing with a few companies lately. The process seems to be a little bit too long, I agree, but for the most part it has been a very pleasant experience – with one exception. A few days ago I had an interview scheduled (the second one with this company) and I had to wait in the lobby for one hour. No person around, no magazines, nothing. I had no idea if they even remember I was there or for how much longer I had to still wait. Is this kind of behavior normal or acceptable? What would you do in this type of situations?

I think half of the battle is convincing hiring managers of the importance of a solid recruitment process and its return on revenue and profit

In a recent BCG and WFPMA report that included analysis of company results and a survey of more than 4,000 senior leaders, the results highlights that those companies that achieve excellence in recruitment, onboarding and managing talent have substantially higher revenue growth and profit margins. Ensuring hiring managers understand this will help in raising its importance. More at http://bit.ly/O7XsJK