Want a job? Don't reach out to the folks at HR!

http://goo.gl/oGyhN8

Now that doesn't sound like good advice, does it? (And it also sounds like I'm being rude to the HR fraternity!)

Wouldn't the folks at HR know if the company is hiring? And wouldn't the HR Department be the best place to start?

Well, you're right, but only partially!

Most organistions manage their recruitment through the HR department or through a Talent Acquisition/ Hiring team, usually within HR.

But what most people do not realise is that the hiring requirements are not defined by the HR department. While the HR department usually gets involved in the hiring plan across all levels of the organsiation, the actual hiring requirement and rationale is driven by the business or specific support functions (which also in turn are driven by business).

Leadership hiring requirements are mostly necessitated by strategic decisions made by the boards or business leaders. Very often, some of these hiring decisions do not get articulated to the rest of the organisation, including the HR department.

And if you happen to contact the HR department expressing interest in a job in that company, you will most likely be told that they are not hiring at this point in time, even while some of the business leaders are contemplating hiring at that level.

So what do you do in such a situation? Do you ignore HR completely? Do you send your resume to the CEO/MD of the organisation directly?

Here are a couple of thoughts :

• If this is a company you are keen on, it is always useful to connect with the relevant folks in HR. It could be one of those organisations where the leadership hiring requirement is being managed by HR. And there are some progressive HR/ hiring teams which welcome interactions with interesting leadership talent in the market for potential future needs.
• But what you most definitely need to do, is to research the company, understand what they are doing in your area of interest, and who are the relevant leaders and business heads.
• Find out the people you might be connected with in this company (friends, relatives, batch-mates, ex-colleagues, etc.) and speak/ meet with them to understand the company better.
• Find out ways of getting introduced to the relevant business leader and push for a meeting or at least a call with this person.

But do not send out your resume to this person from the cold, because it is most likely going to get ignored or, worse still, get sent to the HR department who will send you a boiler-plate response that they are currently not hiring. And that's what we were trying to avoid in the first place!