Human Resources Underpants - Special Comment - Part 3

Good Morning,

Sorry for the delay in posting!  It seems with age comes bifocals.  Ms. Underpants' eyes were under the influence of a vast right wing conspiracy yesterday - those "dilation drops" certainly made things appear fuzzy and out of focus for the better part of Thursday.  Must be how Ms. Bachmann goes through life, no?

Without further delay - please see jaundicejames.com for question #3 or to catch up on the unmasking of Corporate HR!

Answer #3

Some may have an ulterior motive, and “communication skills” could seem like a dog-whistle to those who perhaps do not read or write English well or who are not native speakers.  Case law tells us that unless it is a core-competency of the job, this type of discrimination will cost an employer big time.  

But, most ads are boilerplate; few companies put real time into writing them. Just once I would love to see, “No communication skills needed; you will never interact with anyone” in an ad.  Apparently this applies to many employees at The Heritage Foundation.   

In truth, and sadly, an explicit request for communication skill prowess is again common place because many job applicants and current employees “forget” they are not in Facebook, text and 140-character Twitter-land.  

You may see this notation more now because the fine art of written communication, and speaking without using “um, like, you know” is lost.  Please note, the one-word email response  of “whatever” to your boss regarding a deadline is not demonstrating ”Excellent Communication Skills.” 

Please also note: sending a text to a recruiter informing her that you will late to the interview today “ugh - traffic!” is poor communication and an unacceptable use of modern technology. As a former boss and HR wonk - both have happened to me.  If I’m lying I’m dying.