Friday, July 30, 2010

Something Funny Happened on my Way to the Apple Store...


I opened my email this morning and had a funny email from Apple. It's a great example of how the right idea executed poorly can do more harm than good. In my case no harm has been done. I am sharing it as an example of the opportunity and responsibility HR professionals have to step up their game.

Two parts to the post:

1. The recruiting email from Apple
2. The email response I sent to their team

THE EMAIL

From: SFStaffing@apple.com
To: terrence@makingstories.net
Subject: You’re_Invited_-_Apple_Retail_Hiring_Seminar_-_San_Francisco_
Date: 07/30/2010
Time: 3:40 AM EDT


Dear Terrence Gargiulo,

Congratulations! You have been selected to participate in our invitation-only recruiting seminar for our San Francisco Bay Area Stores. We want you to explore starting a career with Apple Retail - we are currently seeking full-time and part-time Specialists, Experts, and Inventory Specialists.. We are also looking for candidates that desire training that will lead them to Genius, Creative and Management roles within Apple Retail. This will not be a typical
Seminar but rather an interactive experience. Please join us!

Date:
Monday, August 9th

Time: 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm

or

Date: Tuesday,
August 10th

Time: 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm

(please plan on being with us
for about 2 hours)

*Please include in your reply your top 2 preferred
dates and times to attend this event.

Place: Galleria Park Hotel
191 Sutter Street

San Francisco, CA 94104

(415) 781-3060
What to
wear: We are Apple! Business casual attire is perfectly fine, no suits
necessary.

What to bring: A copy of your updated resume

How: Please confirm your attendance by sending an email to SFStaffing@apple.com by
August 6th, 2010. Please don't forget to give us your 2 preferred days/times.

I look forward to hearing back from you soon!

To learn more about the positions we have to offer, please visit
http://jobs.apple.com and click Apple Store.

We look forward to meeting you.


MY RESPONSE

Please take this as constructive feedback...

I feel insulted. This is a recruiting by numbers strategy. I appreciate the need to ramp up your operations and to leverage the names of people who have applied to the company. However, it reveals (whether true or not) that little to no care or attention was put into who to send this opportunity to.

I'm not responding from a place of ego - I am responding from the care and attention HR and recruiting need to have for Apple's incredible brand - and from my passion for your company.

One glance at my resume - even a quick keyword search by meta tag cralwer would quickly indicate I should have never been sent this offer.

I'm disappointed. Its an example of how I feel the HR profession continues to lose opportunities to bring real value to companies.

Thank you for being open to my feedback - please share my note with the appropriate people. I am more than happy to share my perceptions - 415-948-8087.

Good luck with the recruiting event (the event and idea is an excellent one). And thank you for being an awesome company!

Warm regards,
Terrence
cell: 415-948-8087
http://www.makingstories.net



2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm very disappointed with Apple. They did not acknowledge or respond to my email. Instad I got this email today as part of their automated - do it yb the numbers - they are taking the time to answer adn scheudle people who respond to their emails indicating they are interested in the recruiting event - obviously they could not take the time, care or interest to respond to my email or at the very least figure out how to remove me from thier automated campaign - a victim of technology or sloppy pathetic recruiting practices. You decide...
    ---------------------------------
    Hello Terrence Gargiulo,

    This is a follow up email to let you know we
    do not have confirmed times for you for the Apple Retail San Francisco
    Hiring Seminar taking place the week of Aug 9.

    We still have the
    following times available:

    Tuesday 8/10

    10am- very limited
    availability
    1pm -very limited availability
    4pm
    7pm

    Again, we are
    looking for full-time and part-time Specialists, Experts, and Inventory
    Specialists.. We are also looking for candidates that desire training
    that will lead them to Genius, Creative and Management roles within Apple
    Retail. This will not be a typical Seminar but rather an interactive
    experience.

    Please RSVP, as soon as possible to guarantee a space if
    you are still interested.

    Please email SFStaffing@apple.com with your 2
    time preferences.

    Thank you
    Jen Rambur
    Retail Staffing 

    ReplyDelete

Thank You!
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