Saturday, August 04, 2007

District jobs without interviews

While the vast majority of District staff arrived in their positions through application, interviews and sometimes public forums, there are several who have not.

On the one hand, the District required a long-standing employee to re-apply for a position she had been performing exceptionally well for a number of years. There was no change in classification and no change in the job description - aside from the District making the position Exempt. There was a concern that this specific employee was making too much money in overtime because she worked long hours and was always solving District emergencies. Quite frankly, it was absolutely shocking the number of hours she would work every week - and it wasn't for a love of money but rather a love for the District.

On the other hand, there are a number of employees that slipped into their positions without jobs being posted, without any transparency and seemingly under cover of darkness. In one extreme case, a member of staff was moved from Human Resources into a leadership position without a job posting, application process, candidate review or even a public forum. I am told the individual in question has only a bachelor's degree in theater or performing arts and yet somehow qualified for this newly-created position.

During the obvious coronation, an underling was also carried to a new and dizzy height in administration without a job posting, application, candidate review or public forum. Overnight, another young protege was whisked into management without so much as a competitive process. It doesn't sound like the bending of rules but rather a blatant disregard for employment processes. How are the rest of staff supposed to feel about the manner in which they became employees of the District?

While many may think it's Business as Usual in the District, to me it smells like the common theme of gifting public funds and nepotism. If you came into your position through questionable practices why would your work be anything other than questionable? The age-old adage seems appropriate here: It's not what you know but who you know.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mark I read this with much interested because in our Food service Dept. our field Supervisor was slipped into a manager position without posting the job. When I asked how that can happen I was told that HR said this employee had been doing the work so the job did not ahve to be posted. So we now have a Operations Manager and hired a new Field Supervisor. The Field position was posted. In this instance it was who she new and not that the employee knows the work, she is a poor poor communicator and ask for suggestions and then takes credit for the answer. I quit giving her answers and have told her she gets paid to know the answer. We are pissed off in Food Service.

Anonymous said...

At the time these positions became filled in this notorious manner, with higher salaried ones "created" for those who failed to qualify for lower classified openings (after following the hiring procedure), the Director of Human Resources was approached on this and declared that violations of Fair Hiring Practices had indeed occurred - but continue to remain completely unchallenged!

Anonymous said...

All you have to say is "FOOD SERVICE" & we all know what happens in that Dept.

Anonymous said...

Let's say the leader of food service $90,000 hired a new field STupid visor $45,000 thats 3 STupid visors & bought a new truck for the WHSE $50,000 & laid off a man in the WHSE. THATS PRICELESS.

Anonymous said...

To the blog of 8/7 9:41 p.m.

I think we're talking about the same person. He failed miserably in the interview for the posted position, so the business office made him a manager in charge of the posted position at approximately double the salary!

It's a well known fact the individual is incompetent and destroyed all kinds of morale. His "sponsor" keeps him on for who-knows-what-reason. Maybe it will make her look bad?

Anonymous said...

I just found about this web-site and must congratulate the founder! The Edmonds School District "shuffled" me out of a job after 28 years of service for reasons I will address in another comment. I read with interest, the comments about Food Service and the Warehouse, and the hiring of employees without going through the "hiring process", which is required by law. I understand that the replacement for Stuart at the Warehouse, was caught with poronography on his computer and nothing was done about this; it was "swept under the rug", just as many incidents are handled. This is another case of WHO you know and not WHAT you know. When will these practices be addressed and the person responsible be disciplined or terminated?

Anonymous said...

I just found about this web-site and must congratulate the founder! The Edmonds School District "shuffled" me out of a job after 28 years of service for reasons I will address in another comment. I read with interest, the comments about Food Service and the Warehouse, and the hiring of employees without the going through the "process" which is required by law. I understand that the replacement for Stuart at the Warehouse, was caught with poronography on his computer and nothing was done about this; it was "swept under the rug", just as many incidents are handled. This is another case of WHO you know and not WHAT you know. When will these practices be addressed and the person responsible be disciplined or terminated?

Anonymous said...

Let me see.... Would it be in the best interest of the public, to allow an employee of the district to take home a stack of resumes/ job aps for review, over a three day weekend? Hmmm.....Better yet, the take home employee and his " HR sister" were friends with the eventual Middle management winner, and HIS HR wife. Yup, that same ole gal. Before I forget, the employee that disappeared with the stack of aps, was a current employee, for the department of which the Sixtygrander was hired. That is as ugly and dishonest as it gets. Just for a laugh, the new hire thought it would be alright to tell others that he just responded to an ad in the paper. Yeah, thats it. Thats how I got the job.

Anonymous said...

sounds like the warehouse is a great place to work. I have been in the warehouse,The supervisor was very hard to work with. I just wanted a round table.

Anonymous said...

Did he know his shapes? If not, I can help you.