There was white smoke in Vatican City yesterday. After locking themselves into conclave, one guy was chosen from amongst all of the popefuls.
I, for one, am kind of glad that the industries I work with don’t use the conclave method for hiring here in Canada. For one thing, we post most jobs so that we get to consider a wider variety of people for a role. Sometimes being on the inner circle helps, but there are no guarantees, especially when there is a need for a significant turnaround or realignment.
People here actually go through interviews designed to reveal their experiences, skills and attitudes. They also have the chance to ask questions about the role and the objectives.
It would be weird to go for a job where the hiring criteria includes being male, catholic and having a love of red Prada loafers.
It would be weird to go for a job where the hiring criteria includes being male, catholic and having a love of red Prada loafers.
Call me a traditionalist, but I’d prefer a phone call or an email to tell me that I got the job. This whole, top secret, burn-the-ballot thing is a little much for me. Also, I’d like to call my Mom to let her know that the role is mine rather than have smoke belching the message to thousands of assembled masses. If I really wanted to get carried away, I would put an announcement in the Globe and Mail. I really think that would suffice.
So, I guess for now, I’ll keep the white smoke confined to my barbecue and out of my recruiting.