I used to work for a professional theater and per equity rules we were required to hold auditions in NYC for three days to cast a full time resident actor. About 200 people applied. Some flew in from CA, AZ and FL. Many others drove or took a four hour train ride in to audition. I was told to just go and enjoy the process because the position was already filled by someone who was regularly doing extra work for us. He didn’t even audition.
The bishop of a cathedral once told me how he was hiring a new music director and had over 50 resumes on his desk to peruse. An applicant knocked on his door saying he was interested in the job. The bishop looked at the applicant, looked at the pile, looked at the applicant and hired him on the spot. He was there for 50 years.
…and then lays off 10-20% of the workforce, followed by posting some more ghost openings to make the shareholders comfortable
Not sure about this situation but I know my company interviews for jobs in order to get redundancy picks. Interviewed someone for a position that had already been hired for, then three weeks before they job was supposed to start the guy phoned and said he wasn’t going to continue with the company for the position. The person that was interviewed late got a call back and hired.
We hire for a short term seasonal job and people screw us over all the time by accepting the job and then continuing to look for a better one and bailing at the last minute, so we have to interview a lot of people as backup options. Had three people bail last minute this year, one of which we didn’t have enough time to re-hire for and had no backups so now we have to try and cover it on top of our normal duties which is a big strain.
For those wondering, this literally happens in the corporate world where for whatever reason, there are either rules or laws that require other candidates be vetted even when you’re promoting from within. I’ve seen it first hand more than once.
Sometimes management already has someone in mind for a job but corporate policy is it must be posted. Hiring is always a risk and people will try and derisk by hiring a known quantity but for those who don’t know this already they are going through the already arduous task of applying for something they were never going to get.
As far as people I want to violate most, HR of Spectrum is top of the list. They fired me for using the bathroom of my preferred gender. Not technically. Technically, I used the “wrong” bathroom before being grilled for hours on end by HR and security to be let off on a technicality they forced in skillful manner. Y’know, they forced me to contradict myself on my interview when it was a bullshit question. Still got fired. I’ll molest HR til the end of days because of that, because I know they’re fucking people harder than me.
What’s worse is the reverse and it happens more often: Posting a job and then hiring from outside rather than promoting from within.
Because no manager wants to lose their low paid competent worker. So instead they hire the outside person for the senior position.
I worked at a shitty movie theatre for years and was promised an assistant general manager position - as in, showed my name tag with the position. Learned both front and back of house, worked literal 100 hour weeks (no OT, no benefits because “entertainment industry.”
Instead, they hired a random sociopathic woman who was lazy and did nothing at all. Not only verbally abusive, but also physically assaulted me. Absolutely tanked morale and they started hemorrhaging employees.
Not necessarily…a lot of places will only hire from within so they don’t actually have to pay market prices to attract outside talent.
I mean, technically they didn’t make anyone apply…
They didn’t make them apply.
They made them apply FOR A POSITION THAT WASNT ACTUALLY AVAILABLE.
yw
But it was available. Just internally.
