Sure it does. You’ve already said your friend is looking for a woman.
I would disagree with you, Acid Lamp. A potential employee who has a self-built reputation as a party animal is much more likely to call in sick because they were out partying the night before, or to possibly go get wasted over their lunch hour (“I just met some friends and had a few drinks! What’s wrong with that!”) And if they aren’t bright enough to use a less stupid email address in their job search, they’re probably not bright enough to make good decisions on the job either.
No, not at all. He’s looking for someone who will do a good job.
Like I said, he’s interviewing 11 people in the first round and 2 of them are men - just under 20%. Of the 150 applicants about 8 were men - about 5%.
It makes no difference, and he and I actually discussed that if a man was selected as opposed to using the clothing allowance for clothing he may prefer to use it for an iPad, or gym membership or workout gear which would be fine (and a woman applicant might as well - he was going to frame it as ‘flexible spending’ money that was very flexible - I have a flexible spending account at my job and wouldn’t be able to use it for any of those things - boo. 
)
I know in the opening post the ‘ideal candidate’ was described as a woman, but that’s only because I knew the vast majority of applicants would be women - a man with similar qualifications (i.e. admin school or admin experience) would be just fine with everyone involved.
I understand but we are talking about a low level secretary here, not the person with their finger on the big red button. What could she possibly have to decide about that would be so critical? Answer the phone, file papers, and type up letters, apparently a little minor webpage editing; it isn’t rocket science. By what the OP posted any college, or even a bright high school kid is capable of performing the duties. If it’s anything more involved than that, then they ought to be hiring a real admin professional. I agree that the email addy is stupid though.
Hold up a minute. Clothing allowance..Ipads…What kind of job is this? I’ve never heard of any business offering such a thing. Alice, I’m not remiss in admitting when I’m wrong, and I may be so in this case. What does this business do?
I think I lot of people know they aren’t going to find a job but in this day and age if you’re out of work you’re expected to have applied for 500 jobs by the end of the first day. It’s a bit silly really, but I suppose a lot of people do fire off 500 apps just so they can say they’re not slacking.
Don’t knock it, not everyone is cut out to be an engineer. Not everyone can do what you apparently can. My sister-in-law went to school for this. She actually appears to have a leg up with regard to other admins. She’s currently working and making great money for what she does.
The certificate teaches a bit more then how to format a word document and it isn’t a huge some of money.
So what if it’s a low level secretary? He still want someone who will show up ready to work, not reeking like left over bar stank and needing to leave at noon because of a massive hangover.
This is a small business. The person being hired is the face of the business. If they show up at work hungover to the tits, it doesn’t look good on the company.
I’m glad to see that as a modern HR professional you’re not reinforcing any gender stereotypes here. Because that would be bad.
Admins can have access to their boss’s email. Sometimes they answer/respond/set up appointments/etc.
You generally want someone who is responsible, especially if the admin is for an executive or something like that.
No, you’re not…
It’s an accounting firm.
The ‘flexible spending account’ is a perk which we decided to include in the benefits package just to be nice.
Because it is an entry level job it was thought that the applicants probably haven’t had the opportunity to build up an appropriate office wardrobe so a small amount of money to be used for that might be helpful to them and something many people would like.
However, it’s flexible - if the person has appropriate clothing but would prefer a worky type gadget, that’s fine.
It’s not a huge amount of money - $500/year. Enough to get an iPad or a couple of outfits. It’s a small way to make employees feel valued without having to increase their salary over what the job is worth.
And apparently a vagina makes one better at secretarial work, right? Just like you said in your OP: A young gal or old lady would be the ideal.
Edit: Oh, and money for clothes shopping for the ladies and gym memberships for the fellas? Lol.
I revoke some of my snark. Certain types of businesses are run based upon image, and accounting / legal services are right up there in the top. A admin might also be dealing with sensitive financial information, so I get the need, (Though I still think it a bit old fashioned) for someone with sterling qualities.
Never mind.
Well, I assume this is sarcasm which is fair enough.
However, just to clear something up - I’m not an HR professional - I’m helping my friend hire an admin because I, personally have hired quite a few and generally they’ve worked out quite well.
Secondly, I think tailoring a compensation package for the candidates that you’re most likely to get for a job seems like a good idea to me, even if it does mean there’s a bit of stereotyping going on. Like I said - it’s a flexible spending account that’s VERY flexible. When I was starting out in the workforce a LONG, LONG time ago, I would have appreciated it and probably would have used it for clothing. I’m sure lots of guys in similar circumstances would too - just most of the guys I know would rather use it on techy things, as opposed to clothing.
I’m sure alice can defend herself, but is it really impossible for people on this Board to understand generalizations?? Not everything everyone types is to be taken completely literally – if it were, every post would read like a legal disclaimer.
I’m perfectly capable of parsing “young gal or old lady would be the ideal” into: “something like you would stereotypically expect of a young gal starting out or an older lady winding down her career, or anyone else who might meet those qualifications regardless of gender…”
Geez, people.
The suggestion to start with temps was a good one you should revisit, especially as you righteously find the process so aggravating.
Ask them to send their best and brightest. Test them out for a few days, see who is swift and a quick learner, who meshes well with the team etc.
It’s true that you pay a finders fee to the agency, but it will be worth it to get a great fit. You could drop the wage for the three month probationary period to make up the difference. In this economy I don’t think it would deter anyone who likes the job/office.
Have the agency send a new person every week until you find the one you fancy, (don’t tell them what you’re really doing!) and go from there. It’s a really great way to try out the employees, before committing, that many employers overlook.
Which they need. And can’t get unless they apply. Where the worst thing that can happen is that they hear “No”, something they’ve heard many times before. It hurts them not one bit to apply for the job, and who knows, they might get lucky. It’s just their bad fortune that someone actually troubled themselves to look at the resume this time.
It really is too bad that people who are desperate for work aren’t thinking about your feelings. It must be hard having a job and all.
I did say woman in my OP which was an error which I have now pointed out about 4 times, at least twice before this post of yours.
I also said that men could use the $$ for clothing or a woman could use it for a gym membership - it makes no difference at all.
However, carry on snarking away. God forbid that a company try to target a job description to the type of applicant they’re likely to get, or develop a compensation package that person might like.