Government Hiring Practices are a JOKE!

Recently a good friend of mine with years of experience and knowledge interviewed for a position and wasn't hired for the government position.

• Was he the most qualified of the three interviewed? YES!

• Did he possess the most knowledge of the three interviewed?  YES!

• Did he actually perform the same job being offered at another jurisdiction YES!

• Was an inferior candidate hired because he was already in the department? YES!

• Was the candidate hired even though he wasn't qualified? YES!

• Was the candidate hired even before the other two were interviewed?  MOST LIKELY!

So what happens in the government hiring process?  Well, it's a total joke.  HR Departments are a total joke.  If they actually post a job if what should be the qualifications for the position they end up not being able to hire their friends who do not possess the minimum qualifications for the position.  If they dummy down the qualifications then they are able to justify the hiring of their friend because the candidate met the minimum.

Okay so I'm telling you right now as I type this article insider preference is also a problem that is not very transparent to the uninitiated applicant.  I guarantee that the majority of the local government jobs are not truly for fair and open competition. A department head in the city can keep pulling applicants beyond the recommended qualified batch until they find the person they have pre-identified and written the job description for. (their preordained joice) This is called "dummying" down the required qualifications.This happens more often than you can shake a stick at. The city's HR department will often work with the department head to pre-bake a job announcement for specific individual that they want hired. Also the veterans preference is a major obstacle if a position is truly for open-compete, because it adds so many points to a candidate that makes it hard for the rest to compete.  Yeah and being a veteran, I know for a fact that the extra points are never tallied correctly. 

Yes, I'm saying that the hiring practices of local government and possibly even higher up are corrupt!  You can quote me on that.  It's the good ol' buddy system!

So, if you really want to work for your local city you better be a friend of the Mayor, a City Councilman, a Department Head or a friend in the HR Department.  

...just this Inspector's opinion on the corrupt state of hiring practices in government!