What You Should Know About Human Resources Today
Also: Taylor Swift breaks Spotify and a rant about LinkedIn writing "style"
THE LEDE
Job hunting in media can be frustrating and confusing. Computers are now screening resumes and recruiters are working overtime to fill jobs after “The Great Resignation.” This has led to a lot of misunderstanding.
Kristi Davin knows a lot about this topic. As the CEO of Livius Prep, a community-based tutoring and college preparation company, she’s done her share of recruiting and hiring. To find out about HR 101, we asked her some pressing questions.
IMAGE: Kristi Davin, courtesy Livius Prep.
The term “Human Resources” has come to mean different things to different people. How do you define it?
I’ve noticed that many companies are using terms like “people operations” now. There’s a clear intent on the part of the employer to emphasize their focus on their employees rather than their bottom line, as many companies — and entire industries for that matter — are understanding that the two things are completely intertwined. Richard Branson may have said it first, but everyone is saying it now.
(Except Elon.)
For me, it’s both the traditional “HR” that handles the entire employee life cycle from recruitment to termination and everything in between. However as a people-centric leader, the in-between part is more crucial than ever. In the olden times, employers sang songs of rainbows and unicorns to get people to sign on. Then, after onboarding the individual, HR practically ceased to exist until there was a problem. Now HR is charged with employee engagement, retention, satisfaction, training and development, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and a host of other minefields related to keeping people.
Applying for a job has changed considerably, because of computers and hiring software. Do you use these tools when you’re screening applicants?
YES! Anyone hiring more than a few people a year really needs the support. If you follow me on LinkedIn you’ll see a whole slew of posts about the Yankees vs. Red Sox vibe out there between hiring managers & recruiters and the candidates themselves. The platforms you mention help the former groups get organized, stay true to a hiring timeline, and make sure they’re fully compliant with the latest rules (which by the way have changed at least four times since I started writing this email).
However, these programs can drastically decrease the humanity of the process.
I use a platform that provides templates like “Please use the link below to choose a time on my calendar for us to meet!” It also integrates not only with Calendly but also with my Zoom account. This process saves a ton of time. I choose to spend that time in the interviews where it matters more.
The biggest problem (with the screening programs) is the people who abuse them or use them as a crutch or a firewall against personal interaction.
I try to add personalization to every communication, but we hiring managers have to be really careful what feedback we give. It’s another minefield, which is why most employers chose boilerplate email replies.
I had an experience where I applied for a job at a major media company, and was rejected in 23 minutes. What’s going on? Are we all now just dependent on keywords and software?
Bigger companies most assuredly have algorithms and “knock out” questions that defeat applicants before a live person ever knows they exist. I admit I have a few of them that will trigger an automated response. EG: If you don’t live in Massachusetts, I can’t hire you for a job that requires you to be in Massachusetts. But the difference is that I utilize the “kindness feature.” I schedule when the auto response is sent. I wait 48 hours. It’s an illusion of course, but I think it takes the edge off the rejection.
Should everyone have an ATS (Applicant Tracking System)-friendly resume now?
Yes. I’ve applied to dozens of jobs over the course of the last three or four years. I’ve never gotten an interview even though my resume reads very well. It just doesn’t play the game. It’s like SEO; you need to know what words to use and how to use them or even the best resumes will get rejected.
(ED NOTE: According to the folks at Resume Genius, “Applicant Tracking Systems eliminate over 70% of applicants before their resume even reaches a hiring manager.”)
What can an applicant do to stand out from the pack?
Be active on LinkedIn. Build a robust profile on LinkedIn. Work to build a following ON LINKEDIN. Find companies you want to work for, find out who the hiring managers are, see if you have any common connections and ask for an introduction. Spend a few bucks and have someone optimize the resume too. I also believe focused resumes are needed. I have an operations-focused resume, an HR resume, a teaching resume, etc.
Also, I’m hiring for an office manager. Here’s the posting.
What’s the biggest misconception about HR?
That we’re awful, terrible people. Did you watch “The Office”? Toby is a perfect example of what people think of as a stereotypical HR person. Compliance officers are horrible, terrible people. Think: “Don’t tell HR!” All of the rules and regulations take all the fun out of anything, right? I think that’s changing with the invention of the “People Ops” next generation. HR is now soooo 1990.
Many thanks to Ms. Davin for her insight. She is decidedly not an “awful, terrible person.” Thoughts? Leave a comment.
NEWS AND NOTES
TAYLOR SWIFT BREAKS SPOTIFY: Taylor Swift released her new album “Midnights” last Thursday, and her fans crashed Spotify. The album dropped, appropriately, at midnight, but Swifties were awake and they hit Spotify - hard. So many people wanted to hear “Midnights” that Spotify went down.
To its credit, Spotify fixed the outage quickly. and the album is now streaming without issue. As of this writing, songs off “Midnight” had as many as 30 million listens on Spotify alone.
BONO APOLOGIZES FOR ALBUM GIVEAWAY: Back in 2014, U2 and Apple teamed up to give all iTunes users a free download of the band’s new album. It was a disaster. Apple “pushed” the album to users, leaving lots of people angry they didn’t have a choice in the matter. In his new memoir, Bono, is taking full responsibility for the idea. From Variety’s excerpt, here’s what Bono writes about the incident:
“At first I thought this was just an internet squall, but quickly realised we’d bumped into a serious discussion about big tech,” Bono wrote. “I take full responsibility. Not Guy O, not Edge, not Adam, not Larry, not Tim Cook, not Eddy Cue. I’d thought if we could just put our music within reach of people, they might choose to reach out toward it. Not quite.”
My favorite meme that came out of the incident?
Bono’s memoir, “Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story” will be published on November 1st.
HOW THE AUDIENCE PERCEIVES THE NEWS MEDIA: This is interesting. The Gallup/Knight Foundation is out with a report on how Americans perceive and get their news. Here are some of the big takeaways:
More than 75% of U,S. adults think news organizations prioritize business and financial goals over public service.
26% have paid for news. This includes newspaper and magazine subscriptions.
When encountering a paywall, almost half say they look for the information where they can find it for free
More than half say a news orgs’ largest source of funding should be advertising
Gen Z-ers and Millenials are open to paying for special services. About half say it’s reasonable for news outlets to charge for events.
There’s a lot of great data in this report. I strongly recommend you check it out.
LINKS AND LIKES
COMPANIES DEVELOPING SOUNDS FOR TIKTOK: TikTok can be a tough place for marketing. The Gen Y audience doesn’t want ads. They don’t want to feel “sold to.” So brands are trying to come up with original content that will connect with the young audience. So some companies are creating original soundtracks that TikTokkers can use without a license. Often, a soundbite will go viral when a bunch of TikTok users set their video to it. Since you can’t use just any music on your TikTok (due to copyright, which is a whole other kettle of fish, see RANT below), companies are hoping you’ll set your video to their music or soundbites.
WHILE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT MUSIC COPYRIGHTS: While I understand the desire of musicians to control their copyrights, the use of music online needs to be rethought. Were I a musician, I would want people to play with my songs. Let them remix, repost, set to video, analyze in a podcast - all of it. Heavily enforced music copyrights stifle creativity. Try using even a little music in a YouTube video, and you’ll get all sorts of warnings. It’s time for the music industry to embrace the Creative Commons marks, which have different rules but often allow the song’s reuse and remixing.
IMAGE: Creative Commons “mark.” Courtesy WikiMedia.
Sharing a video of your own pictures set to a song shouldn’t be illegal; it’s beneficial to the artist, because it allows their biggest fans to share their work.
READING: RN pal Dan Patterson has a great - if frightening - piece in his latest newsletter. “Violence For Hire: Trend Emerging on the Dark Web” reports on how people are hiring “hitmen” online to attack people in real life. Patterson talks with NewsNation about the ease of finding hired goons using apps such as Discord and Telegram:
A search for someone willing to throw bricks into homes delivered near-instantaneous results … Payment amounts vary but in some cases can go as high as $3,000 to $5,000.
“If you’re targeted,” said Patterson, “it’s pretty hard to hide.”
BEYOND THE REMOTE
STOP LINKEDIN WRITING “STYLE”: It has become commonplace for people to write in short, choppy sentences on LinkedIn. I’ve seen this style on other social media platforms, but it’s especially prevalent on LinkedIn. I wrote a post - in that style - about how it doesn’t work:
The responses were insightful. Many agreed that this style is distracting and ineffective. But one commenter wrote an interesting rebuttal:
“I have tested both formats and the standard article format gets zero attention vs. LinkedIn ‘style.’ One’s personal preference does not mean it’s the audience’s. Old, hard lesson from marketing.”
He’s right to point that out. I’ve said it before: Beware the Focus Group of One. So I’ve given my opinion. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.
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REMOTE NOTES
Newsletter #27
Special thanks to John Cockrell for his editorial prowess.
Copyright 2022
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