Jackie’s Management 448 Blog

During the last 9 weeks I have learned so much on various different aspects of Recruiting and Selection. From learning about important legal laws surrounding recruitment, to learning about recruitment strategies, and everything in between, I have gained a lot of knowledge to take with me into the workplace. I would say one of the most important, or even the one topic I enjoyed learning more about was learning about the different recruitment goals and methodologies. I really enjoyed learning more about the different types of methodologies for recruitment and how to choose which one dependent upon your recruitment goals. I believe it is very important to understand how to align your goals with specific action, such as the different recruitment methods, to be able to attract the right talent that you are looking for.

For example, the point of purchase method is used in instances where you are looking to target your specific customers for hiring, and are looking for an inexpensive hiring method. The point of purchase method is inexpensive because you don’t have to pay for someone else to post the position for you, rather it is usually posted within your own stores, or cash registers. The disadvantage to using this method is that only a limited amount of people will see your posting.

Overall, it is really important to be able to identify your specific recruitment goals and then be able to identify which recruitment method aligns with your goals in order to be able to attract the right talent. I really enjoyed learning about this topic because I believe it will be very applicable and transferable into the career that I am hoping to go into, which is recruiting and/or HR. I have learned so much from this class and I am excited to take this information and knowledge with me into the workforce!

1. What am I good at?

I am good at managing my time, staying organized and following through on my commitments. I am driven and determined to achieve my goals and succeed in whatever it may be that I put my mind to.

2. What do I value?

I value having a work life balance to have time with friends and family where I can re-charge from a busy week. I also value taking time to exercise, and do other self care activities such as reading a book, taking baths, or watching movies.

3. How did I get here?

I have been putting in so much work over the last 4 years for achieving my bachelors degree, and find a post graduation job. I have spent countless hours doing homework, studying for tests and involving myself in clubs/volunteer work.

4. Where am I going?

At this point in time I am not exactly sure where I am going, which is really hard to cope with. I have had my entire life planned out until this point and time, and now the opportunities are endless. Which can seem like a very amazing thing, but also very daunting at the same time. What I do know, is that wherever I end up I want to be fulfilled with the work I am doing, and the people that I surround myself with.

After taking the IPIP test I wasn’t too surprised by my results. Personally, I really enjoy personality tests such as the StrengthsFinder, Enneagram, Myers Briggs, etc. so I have taken these all many times before. I really find it fascinating to learn more about how you function fundamentally and how to work well with others. My results were pretty similar to my results of other personality tests as well.

For the extraversion category it stated “Extraversion is high, indicating you are sociable, outgoing, energetic, and lively. You prefer to be around people much of the time.” For the Agreeableness category it stated “Agreeableness is average, indicating some concern with others’ Needs, but, generally, unwillingness to sacrifice yourself for others.” For the Contentiousness it stated “Conscientiousness is high. This means you set clear goals and pursue them with determination. People regard you as reliable and hard-working.” For the Neuroticism category it stated “Neuroticism is low, indicating that you are exceptionally calm, composed and unflappable. You do not react with intense emotions, even to situations that most people would describe as stressful.” Lastly for the Openness category it stated ” Openness to Experience is average, indicating you enjoy tradition but are willing to try new things. Your thinking is neither simple nor complex. To others you appear to be a well-educated person but not an intellectual.”

After looking at these results I could see how an employer or future employer would be able to identify some potential strengths and weaknesses. For example, for the category of Extraversion, an employer might be able to use this information to determine how outgoing, and energetic a potential might be in a role. This specifically could be helpful for an outward facing role where an employer is looking for someone to be a friendly, welcoming and outgoing person interacting with customers. Another example of how an employer might interpret this information could be seen in the Openness category. Being open to learning and trying new things is essential for new employees to learn and take in information from coworkers and supervisors. Employers likely will want someone who has a strength of being able to be flexible and open to learning new things. If the results of this category were different and showed that an individual wasn’t as open, and maybe was more reserved and stuck in their ways, it would most likely make an employer concerned and consider it a weakness. Overall these different categories can give an employer a lot of insight into how an individual operates and functions in the workplace.

If I were to be making the decision on which candidate to hire I would most definitely hire Jaime. But I also believe you might need more information regarding the type of work, or the culture of the team, to make a more informed decision on who is most fit for the position.Based on the information provided, I would want an employee who is consistent in the work that they provide, and is reliable. Avery sounds like an outstanding candidate, but I would not be happy to have an employee who is not producing quality work, and who is performing at a below average level. In a situation where I would need a clutch decision, I would just ensure that Jamie has great support from her manager, or coworkers to ensure that she is able to follow through with a job well done.

A job where it would be better to hire someone who has high potential, but poor consistency for example would possibly be a Sales job. These types of employees can perform at their highest level only in short spurts rather than over a long period of time. In a sales job, you are often interacting with customers, and potential customers for a short sustained amount of time. In this time, these type of employees like Avery, will be able to provide 100% of their effort in short amounts of time, and then recharge.

A job where it would be better to hire someone with low potential, and high consistency for example is a customer service job. In these types of jobs, it is important for the employee to be consistently providing the same experience to each customer that they have an encounter with. Although their performance celling is not as high as the other candidate, it is important for them to be consistent throughout their job.

The brand I want to portray to a potential employer is an individual who is hardworking, motivated, and determined employee. I love to always be challenging myself, pushing myself, and working to learn new things. With this, I am not afraid to ask questions when needed, but also spend the time to learn how to do things on my own when need be. I believe these are a few of my strengths that make me a desirable candidate. On the other hand, I believe one of my weaknesses is the need to always please others. I work tirelessly to always be impressing others, and showing my worth but sometimes that I leads to me having too much on my plate at once. I am constantly working on delegating, learning to say no when appropriate, and dedicating my time to my priorities. I believe I am unique because of the experience I bring to the table. I have 2 years of internship experience in HR, but on top of that I have dedicated myself to being involved in my sorority, on campus, and as a volunteer in our community. I had the privilege to serve for 2 years as Membership Experience in my chapter, and spent the last year serving as Chapter President. The experience and knowledge I have gained is invaluable and has shaped me into who I am today!

I believe one of the ways that this information can be communicated to organizations would be a unique resume, and LinkedIn/Handshake profile. For starters, having a unique resume/cover letter is important for portraying your experience, skills and knowledge in an interesting and appealing way. This is often the first impression that an employer has of you so it is important for you to ensure that it draws in the attention of the employer. I would ensure that my resume stood out by not using a generic template, and creating a colorful, and creative format that draws in the attention of the employer. I also would make sure that the information regarding my experience, and skills is easy to read, and simple. To ensure that this was visible for prospective organizations, I would upload it to my LinkedIn.

The last job I had was my Human Resources internship for East West Tea Company (Yogi Tea) in Eugene, Oregon. I applied to this position back in the Spring of 2019, and worked there the summer of 2019, and winter break 2019 and the summer of 2020. My only job description I had was from when I first applied back in the spring of 2019. When looking at the job description, I was influenced to apply for the position because I was intrigued with the type of work and projects I would be doing. Ultimately I applied because I felt the job description provided a wide variety of experience that I would be gaining throughout my internship experience.

While my job did match the job description for my original summer that I interned there, the other times it did not. When I came back for a month during winter break, my job description was not updated to reflect the work I was doing. Additionally when I returned the following summer, I did not receive an updated job description either. The main difference was that I was working on different projects than I was the summer before. Although there were some basic similarities between the original job description and the actual work I was doing, the majority was different.

I unfortunately could not find a copy of my job description, but I thought one thing that was very interesting during my experience as an intern was seeing them shift to a new style of JD’s. I enjoyed seeing their strategy behind their new process and the new format.

If I were to come across a new article reporting that my favorite company was faced with a public lawsuit in which they were accused of widespread discrimination against individuals from an ethnicity, culture, or belief system I associate with, I would be very disappointed. This would be very difficult to hear, and would be very disappointing on many different levels. Even if the discrimination wasn’t towards an ethnicity, culture, or belief system that I specifically associated with, I would still be very upset to hear that there was any sort of discrimination in the first place. Hearing such news, would make it hard to feel as though you could support the business anymore.

I do believe this would influence my decisions to further support that company. Personally, I want to support companies that are doing great things, and helping our community and world become a better place. In hearing news like this, I would chose to find a different business to support that offered the same things. In the future, I most likely would not be inclined to apply for a company that was discriminatory. On the other hand, I believe that everyone makes mistakes, and that it is apart of life to learn from them and become better. If the company had shown steps towards learning and making right of the situation, I would consider applying and showing them support.

An Organization might decide to allocate more resources towards marketing or product design rather than allocating more into employee recruitment and selection because they simply do not see the value in it. Companies might view recruitment and selection as something that isn’t a priority towards their strategies and goals, and therefore do not invest enough money or resources into the critical function of the business. Some organizations do not see the negative effects from not investing into their recruitment and selection. As we learned this week there are many effects including lost business, lost hiring expenses, lost time in correcting mistakes of the wrong employee, etc. It is crucial for companies to invest in hiring and selecting the right people, as it contributes to productivity, culture and much more.

The potential strengths to an organization that does not prioritize recruitment are very few. These organizations are able to focus on other functions of the business including product development, marketing, production, and finance. While these functions might benefit from this, it still creates a lot of weaknesses for the hiring department. As I mentioned above, when a company does not invest in their hiring and selection it can lead to lost business, lost hiring expenses, lost time in correcting the mistake of employees, disengaged and dissatisfied employees. If the wrong individual is hired for the job, this could lead to having to start the hiring process all over again and expending more time and money into the hiring, training and onboarding process for the company.

One of the last jobs I applied to was for a Sales Development Program for E & J Gallo. The overall experience was really great, and I actually enjoyed the process. It was quite long, and extensive but the conversations were very natural and easy going.

The first initial conversation was a coffee chat with two OSU grads, one of which was in the same sorority as me. Having this connection with her, allowed me to feel very comfortable and the interview felt more like a conversation which was great. During this chat, I was able to ask them both questions regarding their experience in the program. After the chat, I felt super confident in the company culture, and the program as well.

For my second interview, I met with their hiring manager, and one of the same OSU grads from before. This interview was more behavioral based questions, but still felt very natural and comfortable. During this interview it was disclosed that the only opening they had for the position now were in Southern California. I had been open with them and let them know that I was only looking to stay in Oregon and they said there was no guarantees that an opening would be available. After this interview, I felt a little hesitant on continuing in the process because I knew I wanted to stay in Oregon. I fortunately was invited back to the third round of interviews with their District Manager, and Sales Manager. After this interview there was a virtual conference in which you gave a 10 minute presentation, and met with other employees and grads for interviews as well.

After thinking it over and talking with someone I knew personally who went through the program, I decided to withdraw from the process before the conference. I knew that I wanted to stay in Oregon, and if that wasn’t a possibility I wasn’t interested in moving to Southern California. Although the overall interview process was great, it would have been nice for them to be more upfront about the location prior to starting the process or in my initial conversation with them.

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