Can HR reject hiring if Line Manager wants you?
 

Say the line manager wants you. Can HR reject your hiring?

I ask because I spoke to managers a few times and usually it was okay. Sometimes, they say they have to get HR approval first before making an offer.

and this is usually where the trouble begins. HR asks for a lot of stuff not related to the job. If I show them a bad testimonial or I have long gaps unemployed etc (which the manager does not mind as I can do the job well)...can they override the line manager's decision to hire me?:confused::confused:

Most HR are very weak admin ladies with little authority. What usually happens is the line managers do not want the candidate but don't want to be the one to tell the bad news, so they usually act like everything ok and claim need HR to approve. Behind the scenes they instruct the HR lady to reject.

Unfortunately, you have a wrong understanding of what HR wants.

HR needs to check your testimonials and call your referees to confirm that you actually did what you said in your resume.

They also need to confirm with your ex-companies if you worked as long as what you said. That way, they can prepare your salary accordingly.

They can and will override the line manager's decision to hire you, if all those checking revealed that you are totally ********ting in your resume and hence a fraud.

what if i have gaps in resume but did not hide it? or have lousy qualifications but stated it clearly? and the line manager is okay with it anyway because they dont affect my work performance.

will HR still get to disapprove of the hiring? assuming a lousy resume but no fraud/********ting.:confused::confused:

I once applied to an MNC through a recruiter. The hiring manager gave a positive feedback to the recruiter. However the final confirmation was pending from HR. I called up the hiring manager and he told me that he had given the go-ahead to hire, but HR had to check with their global team and follow their approval process.
He advised me to dump the recruiter since it was not an agency that the MNC usually uses. Finally nothing came out of it. I later applied for another position with another manager through an established recruiter and this time I got the position.

You have a misunderstanding of what HR does. They coordinate the interviews and recruitment and reference check, but otherwise they don't make the decision for hiring. I have work in many companies and most are like that.

For most organizations, line manager decides, but HR advises. Disagreements are seldom there, but if there is, it is usually past up the chain to the management.

Example:
U pass the interviews and line manager is green lights the hiring. But HR does the due diligence and your ref don't checkout/undeclared criminal records/fake experience. HR will update and advise the line manager to stop the hiring.

If line manager insist, HR has the option to bring this to the next level if they feel something fishy is going on (line manager in cahoots with candidate). That depends on organization. (HR is a corp function and in theory, they report to the COO in most orgs)

Can't say anything about the HR processes of private companies, and they are kept a secret too, so nobody really knows.

I do however know a thing or two about public service, HR in public service holds quite a lot of money, because they are the ones that ensure that it is a fair and meritocratic process. The public service wants to avoid the fact that people can just get a job simply through connections with the hiring manager. What the HR does is to screen candidates that matches the requirements set by the hiring department, and this process is kept confidential from the hiring department. Once the candidates have been shortlisted, the HR will pass all the shortlisted candidates' credentials to the hiring department and the hiring department and HR will further refine it. Most of the time, this refining process don't do much, and the candidates are shortlisted for the interview. The HR will rank the candidates according to perceived fit from the resumes based on credentials, and in the Public Sector, the better candidates are interviewed first most of the time followed by the weaker ones. If all goes well, the hiring manager, with input from the HR, will then decide which ones to be shortlisted for the final round of interview, where they meet the directors. This is usually for formality because the hiring manager already knows who he/she wants. Once the final interview is done, the hiring manager will choose who he/she wants and the candidate gets an offer. If this candidate rejects the offer, the second choice candidate will be called up. HR will then negotiate salary and incentives, which in the public service, are independent of the hiring department and manager. So if you choose not to reveal your salary to your immediate superior, he or she wouldn't know. That is the beauty of HR in public service. Of course there are pros and cons to such a detached form of involvement by the hiring manager and department.

HR in charge only for arranging interview and drawing up the contract T&C. My HR manager has no authority on who to hire though they take part in interview and ask a few wayang questions, at least where I am from (banking) the decision to use department budget to hire who is 100% decided by the budget holder.

Sounds more like you were not selected for the job. I dun think all the HR in these companies are purposely stopping you. My honest 2c.