How it works
The process: Human resources specialists screen applications as they come in, looking to ensure that people meet basic employment requirements. Screeners e-mail each applicant to let the person know he or she will be receiving a phone call, then call each applicant.
If no one answers, screeners leave a message with a unique ID number applicants can use when they call back. If the applicant does answer, the screener discusses the job and runs through a list of questions.
Screeners then grade each applicant and pass the best several on to each store to conduct in-person interviews. The stores make final hiring decisions. From the time the store requests each job until it is filled, about 14 days elapse.
To apply: Visit careers.homedepot.com.
ATLANTA — When managers at Home Depot were interviewing potential hires, it took their time away from other work.
And sometimes, potential workers didn’t realize what working at Home Depot meant: nights or weekends, heavy lifting, how much they would be paid. So managers had to interview, and interview, and interview before they found the right associate to fit the mix.
But the Atlanta-based home improvement chain has found a way to make the process easier as it goes about hiring 60,000 associates this spring.
While many retailers have opportunities for potential workers to apply online for a job at their local store, Home Depot has streamlined the process further.
Potential store hires go through two reviews at the corporate level before they are even granted an in-person store interview.
“The process is designed to screen the best candidates,” said Tim Hourigan, Home Depot’s vice president of human resources. “It’s always hard to find the very best.”
The company has a human resources service center near its headquarters, and about 50 employees work on reviewing applications there, while an additional 170 conduct phone interviews with applicants.
In all, there are 400 employees working with the potential hires.
Hourigan said the system — which went live last April — has made the process more uniform from store to store.
If a location needs three cashiers, he said, the center will talk to a dozen people, then send its four or five best candidates to be interviewed in person, already knowing how they answer questions about why they want to work for the company and what makes them a successful candidate.
This saves the time and energy of managers, who might not have much hiring experience or know what to look for.
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