Column | Don't be the boss who throws half the job applications in the trash.

One At the team meeting, the boss presented a thick pile of incoming job applications. The company had a popular spot open. Now you should waste time reading applications.

The boss had a solution. He dropped half the papers into the trash can and joked:

“I don't want to work with unlucky people.”

About the story there are variations, so it must be an urban legend. But there is a reflection of the truth. Many team leaders get really anxious if they are presented with too many applications that they still have to go through themselves.

It is especially painful if the applications are for a job low in the hierarchy, such as a summer employee or intern. Do you have to spend hours on that?

For example, I remember from my years as a journalist how different bosses reacted to summer editor applications in different ways. Some spent days going through resumes and story samples to find the best, as yet unknown, summer editors. Others were worried about hundreds of applications. They often ended up with a selection of otherwise familiar names from pink to interview.

This is almost as reasonable as throwing half the applications in the trash. First, it is not fair to the applicants. Second, it is disastrous for the future of the company.

For many it happens in our working life that a summer job or internship ends up serving as a stepping stone to a career that lasts for years. When we get a job even for three months, it is simply the most effortless to continue on the same path. Especially if you like it. Applying to a foreign company or a foreign industry is tedious. You can also get rejected there.

A summer job can therefore end up defining the rest of your life.

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If we don't identify the most suitable candidate, he goes to a competitor.

The other side of the phenomenon can be seen in companies. Summer employees and interns often become permanent employees. Over time, they become the people who decide the future of the company. My summer journalist colleagues during my internship are now frontmen and editors at Hesar and Ilta-Sanomi.

Modern the success of a company is determined almost exclusively by who the company hires. Other things make it hard to stand out.

Almost all companies can offer their people the same laptops, Google cloud services and Chat GPT. Differences in the ability to grow and develop do not arise from the tools, but from the people who use the tools.

This is also the reason why, for example Elon Musk has been able to succeed in so many fields. Musk had a reputation as an exceptional engineering genius in Silicon Valley for twenty years. As it spread, more and more people wanted to work for Musk. When Musk started companies in different industries, he managed to attract the best experts in that field. That's how the companies developed into the world's best in their fields.

The same should be pursued in Finland as well. The most suitable person for each role is the single most important thing for the company's success. And the people we hire today will determine where the company will be 3 to 10 years from now. Those making recruitment decisions should keep these in mind now that we are filling summer internships.

In addition: Others recruit from the same group. If we don't identify the most suitable candidate, he goes to a competitor.

Yet a couple of tips for you who are now applying for an internship.

The recruitment decision is made by a person. He wants to find another person who is best suited for the job. Still, despite the above, he wants to get off easy. If you're sure you'd be good for a role, show it in action.

Call the HR department and find out who will make the decision about your position. At least send him a personal message, but consider even calling him. Tell me who you are. Ask about the job requirements and the real needs of the team. They usually have not been able to tell honestly in the announcement. Mirroring the answers, describe why you should at least be interviewed.

If you do this, at least you won't make your chances worse. You will most likely speed up mutual decision-making and make sure that you have been noticed.

But wouldn't boss lines get congested if everyone was this active?

That's it. Not everyone is.

The author is one of the founders of the technology company Wolt.