The job search: a rant

Michael Keizer — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:39:47 +0000

The regular logistics job postings on A Humourless Lot always draw a predictable amount of steady attention. Obviously, none of them gets as much attention as, say, the post on pandemic contingency planning, but if you add them all up, they are responsible for a large chunk of traffic on the site. I think it is safe to say that there are quite a number of people out there looking for a (new) job in logistics for health and aid.

I think it is also clear that there are quite a number of organisations that are desperately short of qualified, experienced staff. So why on earth do they make it so difficult for people to find their vacancies?

Some of the worst practices I have seen over the last couple of months:

Posting vacancies late (less than a week before closing). In one case I even saw a vacancy being posted on ReliefWeb after the closing date^[1] .
Posting incomplete vacancies: no submission details, no person to contact for further information, nothing about the further process, incomplete or missing requirements or even details of job content… the list is endless.
Spelling mistakes that make finding jobs a lot more difficult. One ‘interesting’ example was how Goal Ireland managed to consistently spell ‘logistics’ as ‘logisitics’ in the titles and descriptions of a whole slew of their vacancy postings – so if anybody had searched for ‘logistics’ vacancies on their site, they would never have found them.
Posting vacancies that are not really vacancies. We all know them: those job openings for which the ideal candidate is actually already selected, and are only posted for form’s (or internal regulations’) sake. Don’t do it: the word will go around, and your next opening will not get candidates from the people in the know, who will all have heard about your despicable behaviour, but from the poor newbies who haven’t heard – exactly the people who you want to apply for you high-level logistics management position, right?
Only posting on your own site. You think that everybody has the opportunity to go and make regular visits to every single site? Be smart: post your job openings on the main inter-agency sites.

So next time when you complain about the lack of qualified candidates for your logistics positions, just first look at your own job publication practices

Footnote

Back to post [1] That particular posting was later removed. A pity, I would have loved to name and shame.

Diversion/rant: T-shirts, child trafficking, and how to lose friends & alienate people

A Humourless Lot» Logistics for health and aid: A Humourless Lot. Tag page for Jobs

Latest job opportunities (2 June 2009)

The job search: a rant

Footnote