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Computerworld - Even in this employers' job market, routine IT hiring processes often result in bad matches and high turnover. That's because the techniques for hiring and processing technical personnel in corporate America are a hodgepodge of unscientific and unprofessional rituals. As author and poet Paul Goodman once said, "Few great men could pass personnel."
As an independent IT consultant, I've sought and obtained many technical and leadership positions over the years. My experiences provide examples of the errors and failures inherent in IT hiring practices.
To begin with, the criteria used for screening candidates, while often inane, are rigidly enforced by corporate human resources gatekeepers. Here are three examples:

• "Resumes without salary history will not be considered." (That goes for you too, Peter Drucker!)


• "College degree required." In what? Do the duties of the job really require this, or is it merely a tool to reduce the candidate pool? (I don't care if your name is Bill Gates. No sheepskin, no job.)


• "Send cover letter and resume (ASCII text) to ... " Although I usually send a cover letter, I resent being ordered to do so. And I've worked long and hard developing my "on paper" presentation, which is lost in ASCII text. (If he won't dance to our tune, screen him out.)

The applicant's information is scrutinized by an HR specialist, an intern or an applicant tracking system (ATS), none of which has a real grasp of actual technical work. The HR person usually has little knowledge of the job to be performed but tries in vain to match resume information to a company-provided job description. I find it unsettling to have my future considered so haphazardly.
The ATS looks over the applicant's information, searching for buzzwords and other selection criteria. This may work if the person who sets up the scanning requirements knows the technical details of the position and can properly encode them into the scanner's program. But too often, the scanning criteria have nothing to do with skills.
For instance: Having three jobs in five years disqualifies a candidate. This screening metric is currently used by a large insurance organization (known, by the way, for laying off IT staffers at the drop of a hat). I was hired there as a high-level technical lead only after one of the executives overruled the scanner. He knew that some of the best IT talent changes jobs frequently. It comes with the territory.
The interview process can be degrading and infuriating. I've had interviewers arrive late without apologies. I've had them not show