Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Roger Austin <raustin3 AT nc.rr.com>]

 I detect a large amount of frustration and angst.

Benjamin Brunk wrote:
> Referring to that previous recruiting e-mail, can anyone out there
> enlighten me as to why they would require you to have previous healthcare
> experience?  I mean, here I sit with a PhD, I know more about security and
> privacy than probably anyone in the healthcare field, and could do a great
> job as a sys. admin., software engineer, or whatever else they could
> possibly need, and yet I won't even get a look because of "no previous
> healthcare experience."  Whatever.

 No offense Bill but: <sarcasam> What you are telling us is that you 
have a PhD so you are special. You have a vast knowledge of several 
specialized areas, more than the specialists in the field. And, you are 
overqualified for most of the IT jobs in the healthcare area. This is 
probably not the best attitude to obtain that job.</sarcasam>

> The thing I'm really tired of is HR people who know nothing about IT
> and disqualify you because you don't how to use <fill in the blank>
> software package, as if it would be difficult for anyone with a decent
> background to figure out in about ten minutes.

 I have over 20 years of IT experience and I could have learned most of 
this in 10 minutes? Jeesh, I've been wasting all this time! It takes me 
10 minutes to find the manual on the CD they provide in the box. Heck, 
APL programming took me 10 minutes to figure out each symbol. Going from 
linear programming to OOP programming took at least that long. :)
 If you can figure out a package in 10 minutes, then a clerk at a third 
of an IT salary can do it quick enough for most businesses.

In a less sarcastic tone
 It is difficult to pick out the gems in the rockpile when trying to 
fill a position, especially in this job market when you have 200 people 
wanting the same job. It is great if you get a referral from someone who 
knows the person's work and can recommend them. References can be good, 
but many businesses require that the references go through the HR 
department for legal reasons so they really don't mean anything to me at 
that point since they have been sanitized.

 By setting higher requirements, you get fewer resumes to review. It 
doesn't mean that those who don't qualify couldn't do the job if given 
some time to learn the systems. You make a quick run through the 100 or 
so resumes and each one gets at most two minutes; thus, the pile goes 
from 200 to 20 (10 if you are lucky.) Then, you spend 10 minutes or so 
going back through the remaining 10 and reduce it to about 4-5. Those 
last resumes get a lot more time and the references and availability are 
checked. Interviews follow.
 Obviously, you want your resume to make it out of one pile into the 
next. Getting out of the first large pile into the next 20 is all about 
the skill set and experience. (Hopefully, HR will cull these out, but 
many times they aren't skilled enough to know if someone isn't 
qualified.) Getting from the pile of 20 into the next pile has more to 
do with added skills over those that are required.
 Getting into the last pile and into an interview involves the 
references and extras on your resume. It helps if someone in the company 
knows you (think networking.) Getting bumped can be due to missing data 
on the application and other little things. Don't make the manager's job 
harder, it will bite you. (Think about what will break a tie between you 
and the other people who are just as qualified.)

 Most employers would love to have the luxury of trying out a number of 
people to find the real gems, but almost no one has that luxury in this 
economy. You want to know (as much as possible) that the person coming 
in has exactly the skills you want. This is a "commodity" labor market 
for large businesses. You have to stand out in other ways since on paper 
there are 20 people who look exactly the same.

 I didn't start out to write this much. I need more coffee. Good luck 
on the job interviews. Roger