IBM: This dinosaur truly deserves to go extinct

In October 2016 I applied for job #65867BR (senior designer) with this dinosaur company who probably should have gone extinct a long time ago. On November 9, I had a telephone "interview" with one of their internal recruiters who sounded half asleep during the call. In addition to having fully met all the standard design skills/experience requirements listed in the ad, I felt I was a perfect candidate due to two additional aspects of this job. Number one, it was remote, to which I am no stranger (and I am fully equipped to do so). Number two, the job required traveling 75% of the time; this seemed like a pretty astonishingly high number but I'm single with no kids (and, at age 49, that will never change) so I can easily perform that aspect of the job with no issues. I attempted to sell both of these points to her, but in her semi-catatonic state she didn't react or seem impressed. She also couldn't answer a single question I had about the finer details of the job, such as what versions (PC or Mac) of the required software is the team using. At the end of the brief call she said she'd pass along my information to the hiring manager and that I should hear something in about a month. Of course, I sent her the standard groveling "thank you" email, to which she did not reply.

The next few weeks went by with no further communication from her. In December I saw the job reappear on the job boards, this time with a different job number (#72177BR), so I logged in to my IBM profile which revealed that my application was “no longer under consideration.” 

I remember the day when recruiters and HR departments would give you feedback from the hiring manager and tell you why you weren't chosen for the job. This actually helps both the applicant as well as the hiring company. For example, I recall one HR rep telling me the team decided to go with another applicant because I came across as being "too serious" during the interview; so, okay, now I know that company only wants plastic people who smile all the time, and that's definitely not me, I'll avoid applying at that company again in the future and they won't have to worry about wasting their time with this non-plastic "too serious" applicant ever again. See? Both sides benefit from the feedback process.

I sent a brief and to-the-point email to the twat, saying, “It would have been nice to have received some sort of communication in follow-up to our phone call as to why I was deemed ‘unqualified’ for this role. I don't think I'll bother looking for employment with IBM again.” I received no reply. So, I sent off a letter to the CEO accusing them of age discrimination, which resulted in my getting a cold and, quite frankly, poorly written email from their "Lead for Talent Acquisition in North America." 

Your note to Ginni was forwarded to my attention in that I am the leader for Talent Acquisition for NA. I am sorry to hear about your experience as you should have received a communication to indicate our decision. I have addressed this matter with the individual as necessary. Please know that IBM makes hiring decisions without regard to age, sex, minority status or other inappropriate factors. I know this is not the response you are looking for, however, the fact of the matter is that IBM jobs are quite competitive -- many have large numbers of qualified candidates applying. As a result, many qualified candidates are turned away. I invite you to continue to apply for positions that match your qualifications and wish you the best in that endeavor.

What a piss-poor excuse for an apology. I particularly love how her excuse for my disqualification was to whine about how each job they advertise receives "large numbers of qualified candidates applying. As a result, many qualified candidates are turned away..." Well, gee, if that job for which I applied received sooooooooooo many applicants, why the need to re-advertise the same damned job month after month (this job was still being advertised in January 2017)? And, just what criteria are they using to disqualify so many candidates? Why was I even "qualified" for the telephone screening to begin with? Good grief.

[I'd like to point out that I did not write to IBM’s talent(less) acquisition department, I wrote to the CEO. How very sad that this CEO doesn’t think it’s her job to care about what’s going on in her own company. A sign of the times, I suppose.] 

I shared this experience in the comments section of this article on Wolfstreet.com about IBM in January 2017. Some of the replies I received were quite insightful…

This is straight out of the “How to game H-1B” playbook. You have a position or positions to fill but you are adamant about not hiring any over-priced Americans. What do you do? 1. Advertise the position(s) in the local paper of record. Describe the requirements in such arcane and wholly unrealistic terms in which no human being could possibly meet the criteria. 2. Maybe interview a few patsys just to keep up appearances. 3. After a couple of months with the advertised position still unfilled, you have a legitimate “resource problem”. Dagnabit! there are just no qualified Americans to fill the position. You are now free to look abroad. 4. Miracle of miracles, you have an application from an H-1B candidate which matches the job requirements to a T. Not only will the candidate work for 1/2 or 1/3 of an American, they are indentured to your company and cannot leave. 5. Profit! The reality of course is that the actual process occurs in reverse. You have a skills need so you contact WiPro or Infosys and identify a candidate. You go through the motions of attempting to hire locally, only to hire the H-1B as initially intended. 

But no, the system isn’t broken.

Here's confirmation of the fake jobs phenomenon:

I had an older friend from my last true employer who worked in the HR field of a large transnational. As he got older, he claims he was basically “put out to pasture” until he retired in 2014. He let it slip once that a number of job postings they advertise for don’t actually exist and essentially used to send a message to white collar employees that they are replaceable. The postings were sent internally and to recruitment websites simultaneously, which was actually against established company policy as postings are to go internal first.

Finally, there was this comment that should make us all grin like Cheshire cats:

Those HR ladies are on their way to getting outsourced as well, from what I’ve read. Many companies already do their HR in India. Now they’ll get to feel some of the pain they help cause.

Since then, I’ve come across numerous reports about massive layoffs at Big Blue BS, and today I see this gem: IBM to remote workers: Head back to the office or leave. Recall that this job was remote. If this job was real, then I can only imagine how pissed off the person they hired is right now after being promised a remote job…