Yesterday I was back on Craigslist but this time I wasn't looking for packing peanuts - I was looking for a new employee. While during vacation I realized that I don't necessarily have the time right now - with the busiest time of the year right around the corner - to train someone new for the skilled position but I could hire a relatively unskilled person to help me with the product packaging.
So I posted an ad on Craigslist for $25 and could be up there for a month. Instead, I took it down after about 24 hours due to the overwhelming number of responses I got. And I realized that I really suck at this hiring thing. How do you choose between so many good and intelligent people for a part-time hourly job that really doesn't require too much in terms of expertise other than an attention-to-detail? There were some people who it was fairly obvious weren't a good fit but there were more then enough people who, at least on paper, look like they'd be a great fit. I'd love to hire them all but that's not possible so I'm now trying to winnow it down to a manageable number to interview.
In truth, also looking at the caliber of people responding to my ad - which again, is a part-time seasonal unskilled position - it is a little frightening that the job market is apparently that bleak that I'm getting those types of resumes (even one from a PHd candidate). It also makes me wonder, on a social level, how the true unskilled workers can compete in this environment. As an employer, if I have a choice between someone who has more experience/education for the same pay scale as someone who doesn't have that same experience/education I'm always going to go with the former. I don't think I'm the only one in that regard so how does the latter compete?
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For a position that depends on attention to detail but isn't that exciting, I wouldn't consider someone with PhD to be a much better candidate than someone with a HS degree.
I work in IT consulting and occasionally find situations where we have to staff a pretty senior person into a lower-level role in a pinch. Often they are bored out of their minds and don't necessarily do a better job than the person they are filling in for.
It is great if you can use your new PhD hire to add additional insight into your company (assuming their degree is in useful field), but if you are just looking for someone to make sure the packaging is tight, I wouldn't give a lot of weight to their educational level.
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