Resume Writer
Registered User
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2004
- Posts
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Hi Everyone,
As I discussed in an earlier thread, I went to the City of PHX Human Resource Office to get a "behind the scenes" look at how things are conducted in a governmental agency. While this may not be specific to aviation, if might be helpful in trying to figure out what some of the airlines are doing. Read on and you will see why I say this.
Now, let me first put the disclaimer that not all government agencies are run this way. For instance, the State of Arizona, which also runs the state university system does not use the same system as the City of PHX. I have no idea why they cannot use the same system to make it simple for everyone!
Let me tell you what I did find out. First, when an applicant applies for a position with the City of PHX, they have to fill out basic paperwork, either at their office or online. Once completed, that application, along with the resume, are turned in. They are then sent to an office that reviews ALL of the applications that have been received.**
**Just a side note. If there is an "end date" on the posting, all resumes must be received by that date and ALL resumes will not be reviewed until AFTER that closing date. If there is an "open till filled date," they will usually have about 3 dates set up to begin reviewing resumes, (usually one week after the opening of the position) about a week apart for 3 weeks. They are not required to review resumes that come in after the first week, but they usually review them up to 3 weeks, but usually not any more that come after that. I hope that makes sense!
When the resumes have been sent to be reviewed, the ONLY check that happens at that point is if the applicant meets ALL of the criteria on the posting. So, if they have 5 requirements on the posting and a person meets all 5 of the requirements, then they "pass" and are moved to the "qualified" pile. The ONLY thing that they are looking for at this point is the "job duties" you have performed. (Any accomplishments you have done at employers are NOT looked at when this initial screen is done, but does come into play later.)
If there are 5 requirements and you only meet 4 of them, then you will go in the "not qualified pile" and be sent a letter stating this. Another side note here. If you feel that you meet all 5 requirements, you have 30 days to "appeal" the decision. The interesting thing is, you can give them information, but nothing can be "added" to your application as that would be unfair to other candidates.
Now, once the "qualified" applicants have been selected, everyone starts out with a score of 80%. The only people who get additional points are veterans or persons with a known disability, defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act as something that substantially limits a major life activity. However, the disability that you have cannot be a problem on the job, i.e, you cannot be blind and drive a truck! Interestingly enough, each of those mentioned above only get an additional 5 points each and truly have no bearing in the final selection process.
Someone in the other thread I started made the comment about getting a job based upon being a minority, gay, disabled veteran, etc. When I specifically asked about minority or protected class status, the answer was interesting. They said that the only time that minority status comes into play is when they need to "mirror" the community where the position is located.
For instance, if they are looking for a park ranger in an area that is mainly composed of hispanic people, and the most qualified applicants are comprised of let's say 3 white people, 3 african american people and 3 hispanics (of which one that speaks spanish) then the individual that speaks spanish will most likely be interviewed first, because they mirror the community and speak the language.
Now, once the qualified applicants for the position have been put in the file, that file is then sent back down to main personnel and managers from the posted position department then make an "appointment" to come review resumes and applications. This is when you better have a really good resume that truly speaks to what you have accomplished. The managers are looking for content, accomplishments and a nice layout that is easy to read.
From here, the manager then selects the people that he/she wants to interview. Just because you are qualified does NOT mean you will be interviewed. However, you will stay in the "qualified" pool for up to one year before you need to apply again.
The first interview process is comprised of at least three people in a panel form. These people are not necessarily from the department you are applying for; they are comprised of people the hiring manager thinks are a good fit for what he/she is looking for.
If you pass that stage, then you go to another interview with others from the department. After that, the last interview is comprised of the hiring manager and a person that is higher up then the hiring manager, usually a director.
They said that most candidates were not qualified for positions because they do not meet the qualifications listed. All of the screening is done by a person, not a computer. They said that they do not like "functional resumes" as they cannot figure out if you truly have the qualifications they require.
Another interesting note - if you do not have a college degree, but say you have 90 credits toward a degree, then they said to put that directly on the resume, as sometimes a certain amount of college, coupled with work experience, may make you qualified.
For instance, if the posting says, Bachelors Degree and 5 years of work experience and you have 90 credits and 10 years of experience, they will merge the two, IF the posting says that they will consider some college and work experience in lieu of a degree. So, in this case, you would qualify because they will count 3 years of college, in addition to your work experience.
I hope this is helpful and I did not confuse anyone. This is all I can remember at this point, but if I remember more, I will certainly post the information.
If anyone has any specific questions, please post them here on the thread so that everyone benefits from the question and the answer I will try to provide. I will be more than happy to follow up with the woman we met with for any questions I cannot answer!
Kathy
As I discussed in an earlier thread, I went to the City of PHX Human Resource Office to get a "behind the scenes" look at how things are conducted in a governmental agency. While this may not be specific to aviation, if might be helpful in trying to figure out what some of the airlines are doing. Read on and you will see why I say this.
Now, let me first put the disclaimer that not all government agencies are run this way. For instance, the State of Arizona, which also runs the state university system does not use the same system as the City of PHX. I have no idea why they cannot use the same system to make it simple for everyone!
Let me tell you what I did find out. First, when an applicant applies for a position with the City of PHX, they have to fill out basic paperwork, either at their office or online. Once completed, that application, along with the resume, are turned in. They are then sent to an office that reviews ALL of the applications that have been received.**
**Just a side note. If there is an "end date" on the posting, all resumes must be received by that date and ALL resumes will not be reviewed until AFTER that closing date. If there is an "open till filled date," they will usually have about 3 dates set up to begin reviewing resumes, (usually one week after the opening of the position) about a week apart for 3 weeks. They are not required to review resumes that come in after the first week, but they usually review them up to 3 weeks, but usually not any more that come after that. I hope that makes sense!
When the resumes have been sent to be reviewed, the ONLY check that happens at that point is if the applicant meets ALL of the criteria on the posting. So, if they have 5 requirements on the posting and a person meets all 5 of the requirements, then they "pass" and are moved to the "qualified" pile. The ONLY thing that they are looking for at this point is the "job duties" you have performed. (Any accomplishments you have done at employers are NOT looked at when this initial screen is done, but does come into play later.)
If there are 5 requirements and you only meet 4 of them, then you will go in the "not qualified pile" and be sent a letter stating this. Another side note here. If you feel that you meet all 5 requirements, you have 30 days to "appeal" the decision. The interesting thing is, you can give them information, but nothing can be "added" to your application as that would be unfair to other candidates.
Now, once the "qualified" applicants have been selected, everyone starts out with a score of 80%. The only people who get additional points are veterans or persons with a known disability, defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act as something that substantially limits a major life activity. However, the disability that you have cannot be a problem on the job, i.e, you cannot be blind and drive a truck!
Interestingly enough, each of those mentioned above only get an additional 5 points each and truly have no bearing in the final selection process.Someone in the other thread I started made the comment about getting a job based upon being a minority, gay, disabled veteran, etc. When I specifically asked about minority or protected class status, the answer was interesting. They said that the only time that minority status comes into play is when they need to "mirror" the community where the position is located.
For instance, if they are looking for a park ranger in an area that is mainly composed of hispanic people, and the most qualified applicants are comprised of let's say 3 white people, 3 african american people and 3 hispanics (of which one that speaks spanish) then the individual that speaks spanish will most likely be interviewed first, because they mirror the community and speak the language.
Now, once the qualified applicants for the position have been put in the file, that file is then sent back down to main personnel and managers from the posted position department then make an "appointment" to come review resumes and applications. This is when you better have a really good resume that truly speaks to what you have accomplished. The managers are looking for content, accomplishments and a nice layout that is easy to read.
From here, the manager then selects the people that he/she wants to interview. Just because you are qualified does NOT mean you will be interviewed. However, you will stay in the "qualified" pool for up to one year before you need to apply again.
The first interview process is comprised of at least three people in a panel form. These people are not necessarily from the department you are applying for; they are comprised of people the hiring manager thinks are a good fit for what he/she is looking for.
If you pass that stage, then you go to another interview with others from the department. After that, the last interview is comprised of the hiring manager and a person that is higher up then the hiring manager, usually a director.
They said that most candidates were not qualified for positions because they do not meet the qualifications listed. All of the screening is done by a person, not a computer. They said that they do not like "functional resumes" as they cannot figure out if you truly have the qualifications they require.
Another interesting note - if you do not have a college degree, but say you have 90 credits toward a degree, then they said to put that directly on the resume, as sometimes a certain amount of college, coupled with work experience, may make you qualified.
For instance, if the posting says, Bachelors Degree and 5 years of work experience and you have 90 credits and 10 years of experience, they will merge the two, IF the posting says that they will consider some college and work experience in lieu of a degree. So, in this case, you would qualify because they will count 3 years of college, in addition to your work experience.
I hope this is helpful and I did not confuse anyone. This is all I can remember at this point, but if I remember more, I will certainly post the information.
If anyone has any specific questions, please post them here on the thread so that everyone benefits from the question and the answer I will try to provide. I will be more than happy to follow up with the woman we met with for any questions I cannot answer!
Kathy
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