After having spent the past several months subsumed by the job search, I thought I would share some thoughts on the matter.
We already all know there is a complete breakdown of general civility in American society these days and it certainly extends into the realm of the job search. If you are looking for a job now, don't expect to receive acknowledgment of resumes submitted or received. But what I thought was more egregious was to actually go out on an interview, one that might even involve travel to another city, spend hours with various people in a company, and still receive nothing upon my return. No "thanks for your time" or even a "you aren't what we were looking for; good luck." I even had professionals look me in the eye and tell me, "we'll get back to you next week" only to never hear from them or their company again. I've heard some radio news reports suggesting this is a widespread phenomenon now so I don't think it is due to my general prickliness.
But is it only complete and utter rudeness behind this failure to observe minimal etiquette? Being the cynic that I am, sure, I do believe that most of this behavior is the result of poor breeding and a lack of understanding of basic rules of communication. But there are probably also two other factors at work. First, in this current economic climate, every job opening, even for skilled professionals, has many dozens if not hundreds of applicants. Hiring managers are overwhelmed with applications. That doesn't excuse their behavior but I think we can agree that their company's system for handling that many applications doesn't work very well and needs to be fixed. Second, and this is the big one, I think the lack of interview followup in particular speaks directly to the company itself. If they don't treat candidates whom they have chosen to woo any better than that, how do you think they are treating their current employees? Red flags go up.
Interviews themselves are tricky things. If the people interviewing you can't articulate what they are looking for at the beginning of the interview, chances are you are not going to get the job. Of course, the opposite is true, too. Sometimes it's clear they have an ideal vision of what they are looking for--and you are not that ideal. I went on one interview where I delicately inquired about the person who had previously filled the post. I wasn't looking for dirt but trying to understand what their expectations and urgency might be. Turns out he moved higher in the organization and was still present as an advisor. The entire committee began to gush and glow, one person even saying, "oh, he is a saint!" I knew right then, 10 minutes into an hour-long interview for which I drove 2 1/2 hours one way, that I was not going to get the job. They were not trying to fill the position, they were trying to find a clone of their saint.
On another interview that I set up via email, I was told by the hiring manager that there would be a "group interview" on such a date at such a time. I thought she meant that I would be interviewing with all of the principals of the company at one time. Bad on me for not asking for clarification. I showed up for this interview only to see more than 20 people, men and women, all more or less my age and frankly, looking a lot like me, crowded into the front office. It was lke some bad zombie movie only with better skin and clothes. I was appalled. If that hiring manager couldn't winnow down the applications she received any better than that, then she'd very likely be a terrible boss, indecisive and prone to frequently changing her mind, unsure of her own decisions. Besides that, I'm at a point in my career where I won't participate in cattle calls.
My last example is the best of the worst. The company flew me to Houston, put me up in an expensive hotel the night before, hired a town car and driver to shuttle me around. Not a huge expense considering their operating budget but not inconsequential either. You'd have thought they were actually interested in me. I spent almost 8 hours in their offices, meeting one on one with principals, giving an hour-long technical presentation, examining and discussing technical data. It took several hours before I realized that even though support staff were crammed into cubicles in large work areas and people were moving around all over the place carrying maps and photos and such, I never once heard any one laugh, I never once saw any one smile. I never heard "water cooler" gossip or cheery greetings or discussions about the kids' weekend soccer match. My mother described it as "positively Dickensian"--by which she mean late 19th century, early industrial London, grey, grim, dirty, people walking around hunched over, jaws clenched, hungry, cold, wet. Captured it perfectly. I wouldn't have taken a job with that company even if they had offered, which they did not. No, not sour grapes. That is simply the truth.
While I'm not going to turn into Miss Manners, this experience has reminded me of the importance of civility and respect when dealing with other people. I've been making an effort to do a better job. I don't expect reciprocation. Only my own behavior reflects on me.
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