The last job that I applied for was the current position I hold as an Executive Assistant to the Chief Programming Officer at a DEI consulting company. The overall hiring process was very informal which was something that I have never experienced before. With this, I was unsure what to expect going into it and was under the assumption that if I did not get hired no big deal.
Reflecting on the process of applying, the company is a very small organization that has less than 30 employees. Making connections with those already in the company was very straightforward and easy to schedule meeting times. To add, the way that I found this open position was being referred by a long-time – family friend who works within the company already. As there was no public job posting or website to apply to. Rather, during the process of the job, there was not much to it other than I forwarded my resume, wrote a cover letter which was sent directly to the hiring manager, short phone call, and then video call about the position responsibilities. Then I was hired for the position.
The whole, the process was not formal as it was heavily relied on my connection, meeting with hiring managers, and then being informed on what would happen next via email without a clear timeline of the process. Overall, I was not stressed about this job because of my connection who helped to guide to make a good first impression and vouched for me.
Furthermore, during the job application process, I do think that because I had a connection already it helped make my impression of the company more positive. As well, I already understood what the company culture would look like, and my connection raved about the organization and the other workers which make me more interested in the position.
As well, my interactions with others who talked to me about the open position were very professional, friendly, and personable. As I felt that even though not a formal hiring process that each individual that I talked to took an interest and listened to what I had to say. Interacting and seeing how they were engaged with me it did make me want to work there because it showed me they value their employees and respect them.
2 replies on “Week 1: Job Application Experiences”
Cassidie, I had a very similar experience in getting my current job! I heard a statistic once (not sure if it was true or not) that said that 80% of hirings happen through some sort of prior connection. But I think your story gets to the staffing concept of company culture and maintaining it even after someone is hired. The biggest testimonials for a company will be the current employees so HR departments would do well to help company culture develop in healthy and attractive ways. In my own blog post, I comment on the mixed signals I got from a firm that I was interviewing for which ultimately meant that they were covering for a poor company culture and thus made me not want to work there.
Hi Cassidie!
I enjoyed reading your blog. I’ve had a similar experience to you in that I’ve gotten a job through a connection more than I have just applying on my own. I think you have a great point that your connection and having positive experiences helped you feel more positive about the role as well. I do think it really helps from an applicants position and even the employer to hire based on a connection with an employee. Not only can the employee in a sense vet their connection to see if they’ll be a good worker for the company, but it also allows the applicant to get a good understanding of the company and adjust quicker. I think this is interesting because an organization can’t necessarily force these interactions, but they can have a positive and open culture that would make employees feel more comfortable to ask their network when a job opens up.