 |
|
|||||
Job search sometimes gives rise to grousing
Job search sometimes gives rise to grousing
By now we've all learned that complaining seldom gets you anywhere. Hot weather? It's not going cool off just because you're hollering about it. Bad service? You might get a coupon for a future visit, but don't count on the staff's being retrained.
And yet we persist in stating our displeasure about things that aren't the way they should be. On the theory that the complaint itself can be cathartic, I now will give voice to the many readers of this column who have complained about the job-search process. Here, in descending order, are the top five complaints of the last year.
5. Reappearing job postings
Several readers have noted this phenomenon. You read an ad on one of the major job boards, in the newspaper or on a company's Web site. Thinking that you fit the criteria pretty well, you forward your materials. Then one of two things happens: Either the posting is pulled after the application deadline and you hear nothing more or you are called in for an interview but are not offered the job.
In both cases, the applicant assumes the job has been filled by someone else. But wait -- what's this? There's the job posting again, appearing only a few weeks after the first go-round. What's up with that?
I wish I had a good answer, but mostly I get vague responses when I ask around. My advice is to swallow your pride and try again. After all, how much worse could a second rejection feel?
4. Bad interviewers
I've heard about a manager who interviewed from the wrong person's resume -- and wouldn't admit it when corrected; about an interviewer who whistled throughout the meeting; and, of course, about interviewers who couldn't be separated from their clipboard list of questions at any cost.
There's only so much you can do about a bad interview process. While there, try hard to give the information you came to share. Afterward, write a follow-up letter that reiterates those points. Then let it drop: This one probably wasn't in the cards.
3. "One-more-thing" interviews (the Lieutenant Columbo syndrome)
Remember Lieutenant Columbo, played by Peter Falk? This character's gimmick was to appear bumbling and forgetful while questioning murder suspects. Then, as he was leaving in his rumpled overcoat, he slowly would turn and say, "Just one more thing . . ." to the bemused suspect.
Of course, in the television show, this last question was the one that made all the difference. That isn't the case with "one-more-thing" interviews. In these situations, the company rolls out one step after another to the candidates. First it's the phone screening interview. Then an in-person interview, followed a few days later by a panel interview. Next there's the request for a psychological test, then an essay and then another conversation with . . . who knows?
By this time the job-seeker has used a ton of personal time and invested a small fortune in the parking meter. If you have come in second place on a process like this, take heart: At least you don't have to go to this company's staff meetings.
2. Online applications
To all the complaints about online applications that appear to have been created by the people who write computer manuals, I add one of my own: applications that don't tell you in advance how long they are.
I had this experience recently while working with a client. Our answers in the first two sections were so convincing that we won the right to go on to a new section, then another and then another. Our session stretched to four hours and encompassed no fewer than six mini-essays -- none of which was foretold by the program when we started.
We still haven't heard back about an interview.
1. Interviewers who don't call back
Why, why, why would anyone interview a candidate and then never again communicate with that person? How difficult is it to make one little call to say, "I'm sorry; you weren't selected"? It's no surprise that this is the No. 1 complaint of my readers. The big surprise is that it continues to happen. Interviewers, what is your excuse?
So there you have it: five of the last year's most common job-search complaints. If anyone out there is in a position to effect change, we will have done a good thing. If not, maybe someone out there will feel better knowing that others also have suffered these indignities.
- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice. com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.
