Re: Inappropriate interview....(Long but I'm venting so it's ok)

["S. Cottrell" <steph -at- SCOTTRELL -dot- COM>]

At 02:28 PM 7/23/97 EST, DWeber wrote:
>     I had a rather annoying interview last night, over the phone.
<snip horror story>
>     What do you all think?  Should a write a nasty letter to the company
>     describing the interview process?

Well, aside from the comments giving the "right" answers to the sans serif
and style guide questions, I have a little bit of experience to share (not
much, just a little).

On occassion, I use an on-line job search site to find new contract
opportunities.  I am not an employee-- I'm a contractor.  My resume is 2
pages long.  I found an opportunity that looked like a lot of work and, in
my opinion, a very short amount of time.  So I teamed up with a friend of
mine to offer our technical writing expertise in the matter.

The job listing offered the fax number and the contact name-- "Verne."  I
put together a 5-page fax; our resumes and a cover letter for introduction.
 Now, I understand that this is a long fax, but I felt that we were
offering a team to do the job in the time allowed, something that no
individual contractor would be able to offer.  In addition, the listing
specifically stated "Send Resume."

The first time I tried to fax, the pages got mungled up and I knew that
only the cover page had gone through.  So I tried a second time.
Halfway through the second try, I got a phone call:
Me: "Hello?"
Voice: "Are you faxing me?"
Me: "Why, yes.  I--"
Voice (very irritated): "Well, would you stop it?  I have ten copies of
your resume already!"
>Click<

I had no way to respond to this-- "Verne" had just listed a fax number, and
I wasn't about to fax him again to explain myself!  (I have to admit that I
thought of it, but professionalism won out over retribution).  I had also
never sent him (or my friend's resume) before in my life.

Since I couldn't rspond to Verne directly, I contacted the on-line job
service and told them that I was very dismayed about the unprofessional
attitude that I had received, especially since I had no way to communicate
with the contact person and solve the problem.  I made it clear that I felt
they should take more responsibility for screening their employers, since
they require a sign-in password for job seekers (which is given out by your
college office-- SOL for those who didn't go to college, I guess).
I wasn't afraid of making waves or being labeled a "troublemaker."  I was
disappointed that we lost the contract, and especially so because the guy
running the operation was very obviously not interested in even reading our
resumes.  I felt that Verne's unprofessionalism and rudeness reflected
poorly on their on-line system (I've found other companies that list them
tend to have questionable business practices as well).

I no longer use that on-line service.  Additionally, whenever I get a rude
call, I feel confident that I can use *69 in California to call them right
back and give them a piece of my mind!  (I only do this when I get pranked,
not when some rude potential client calls.)

Regards,
S. Cottrell

S. Cottrell
Technical and Business Writer
steph -at- scottrell -dot- com
http://www.scottrell.com

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