Re: Early bird

[lori m long <llong -at- UNM -dot- EDU>]

On Fri, 10 Mar 1995, Beverly Parks wrote:

> Just to add another viewpoint on this...

> In federal civil service, the hiring official has the option of
> interviewing all qualified applicants or interviewing no one. If
> 20 applicants were referred, the hiring official cannot
> interview until he/she finds the right person and then stop. All
> 20 must be interviewed. The hiring official does, however, have
> the option of conducting no interviews and making a selection
> based on job application, resume, and references.

> This may be based on equal employment opportunity guidelines,
> but I'm not sure.

> (This information is based on previous experience; regulations
> change. If this one has, then I may be wrong!)


As far as I know, it is based on EEO and Affirmative Action (AA) both.
In addition, they are required to keep a log of incoming applications
that includes race, whether or not the individual was interviewed, and
whether or not the individual was hired.  The only inaccuracy I see in
your statement is that "All 20 must be interviewed."  Only QUALIFIED
applicants must be interviewed -- many gov. agencies determine this when
resumes are screened in HR (they are given a list of requirements and
scan the resumes for "buzz" words).

In my experience, the most qualified candidate gets the job whether I
interviewed them first, last, or in the middle.  I take copious notes
during interviews and go to the second interview if the choice is
unclear. If I find a candidate I like, I do not stop interview just in
case there is someone that is even better out there (the eternal
optimist  . . . )

Lori