Bypassing HR and Personnel Departments in a Job Search

It isn't hard to apply for a job at a small company. Simply ask to speak to the manager or owner. This person will then either interview you or give you an application form to fill out.

However, applying for a job at larger companies that have a separate Personnel Department is more complicated. Often you are required to deal with the Personnel Department, which usually gives you an application form but rarely an interview, and which carefully screens individuals before referring any to the department head or supervisor.


However, it is the department head or supervisor who usually makes the final hiring decision; in fact, if this person recommends that a person be hired, the Personnel Department typically simply processes the application form and hires that person.

The supervisor has the final responsibility for the newly hired person's performance, and he or she knows best what type of person is required for the position. Yet the Personnel Department's screening function prevents the supervisor from evaluating those applicants who have not been referred by the Personnel Department.

In the Job-Club approach, hiring depends on personal and social factors as well as on skills. Yet the prescreening done by the Personnel Department prevents these factors from operating fully.

The solution? Try contacting the supervisor directly, before dealing with the Personnel Department.

Suppose you want a job at a specific large company—a job that you discovered via a want ad, a friend, the Yellow Pages, or that you desire because of the proximity of the job to your home. If you call or visit the company, you will routinely be sent to the Personnel Department.

This department probably has dozens of other applications on file. They may never even contact the supervisor about you, since they don't know that an employee is about to quit to return to school, or that someone with your special combination of skills might be valuable to the supervisor even if no position opening has been announced. Therefore, when you call the company, do not let yourself get routed to the Personnel Department. Instead, ask to speak to the head of the appropriate department.

If you want a job in sales, ask to speak to the sales manager. If you want a clerical or secretarial job, ask for the office manager. If you wish a job as a janitor, gardener, or repairperson, ask for the head of maintenance. It may not be possible under most situations, but where you can make direct contact with a reporting authority, it can help you a lot.

An assembly-line job would call for the head of production. A driving job would mean the transportation head. For a job as a lab technician at a university, ask for the head of the Physics, Chemistry, or Biology Department. After the department head has spoken to you, he or she — if interested in you—will probably suggest that you go to the Personnel Department and fill out an application form.

The department head will be pleased to recommend someone who is actively desired as an employee, rather than having to deal with people referred by the Personnel Department who lack many of the subskills not mentioned in the job description

By making this direct contact, you enable the supervisor to evaluate your unique combination of skills and interests. Of course, if the Personnel Department feels you are not qualified they may not follow the supervisor's recommendation. So you haven't bypassed them entirely, only put their responsibilities in a different time sequence.