Bypassing HR in the job process-some perspective

HR Bartender is a solid blog that I would encourage you to read on a regular basis.  A post last fall talked about the positives and pitfalls of bypassing HR in the job process and another post today talks about the comments and follow-up thoughts involving this process.

While many HR professionals will “get their panties in a wad” when you bypass them, they also need to realize why this kind of thing happens.  HR needs to become more like WD 40 and less like a high hurdle.  If that doesn’t make sense to you then I cannot help you much more.

HR needs to understand the business in order to become a better aid to the talent acquisition process.  I once sat in the top HR seat, so I am also pointing the finger at myself, at least in the past tense.

What do you think?  How and why do you bypass HR?  Has it been successful or has it come back to “bite you?”