I have always prided myself as a bit of a ‘picker’ – give me any shortlist and I reckon I’ll pick the good ‘uns at 20 paces.
And the best part of all is picking new people for our own team.
Happily, we’ve had sign-off for a couple of new roles, and I’ve really been looking forward to beefing up the team with some fresh talent… or rather I was looking forward to it.
Okay, we’re only four weeks in to the recruitment process, but it’s turning into one of the most dispiriting selection exercises… ever.
After 10 interviews, I can honestly say that I’ve met some of the most lily-livered, limp-wristed, ineffectual, wishy-washy candidates it’s ever been my displeasure to waste my time with. But do you know what? Their CVs all looked fine – apparently good jobs with apparently good employers.
Now I’m not usually one to hark on about the good old days, but they don’t make HR people like they used to. You see, when I were a lad, you were brought up on industrial relations where you developed a hard edge – and ended up on News at Ten if you were lucky. But this lot? They’ve been brought up on all the namby-pamby, touchy-feely stuff, and wouldn’t know a hard edge if it hit them between the eyes.
But I’m not giving up – far from it. We’ve now dumped the recruitment consultants and started looking internally – but not in HR, of course.
