Please save me from HR specialists...!

Years ago, there were lots of human resources, HR, in companies. They were interviewing job applicants, asking in depth questions on the applicants personality and background. Their mission in life was to prevent the wrong person from being employed. "No, that person doesn't have the right qualifications." "No, that person doesn't seem to have the right attitude and the right personality." "No, that person doesn't have the right background." "No, better not hire anyone from that company".

When the number of empty positions decreased and managers learned to hire people themselves or use recruitment firms, the HR departments were minimized. One of the qualifications needed then was for HR to know downsizing instead. To keep secret files of all individuals. Encouraging managers not to be soft, but to get rid of people they or someone else didn't like. Building organizations where certain people didn't have any roles, so they could become "redundant". Giving the redundant individuals the message that they would fit much better somewhere else. But in the end, they got the same message themselves.

Now the HR group have a golden market again. They now sell their services as coaching specialists. Their role is to coach people who lost their jobs to find new ones. Coaching specialists take a fat consultancy fee for their services. However, they are specialists on asking interview questions, like "what would your husband say about you if I asked him?" or "what education do your parents have?" or "are you planning to become pregnant?". They are not trained to be encouraging, but rather to see things from a negative perspective. Some of them even say: "if you don't fulfill the formal requirements for a job, don't apply for it", "you will never get that job", "people with your background are removed from the list of applicants by many of my HR colleagues", "the company you come from have a bad reputation". That's what they say while they sigh and make you understand what a hopeless case you are.