Gonna rant again...

[poseidon]

Sigh. I'm going to rant again (I know I've ranted on this topic before).

Michelle lost her job a week ago. She's done an awesome job going through the loss, picking her head up and going out and looking for new work.

We sent out 10 resumes last week. I spent about two hours tweaking a cover letter for her that was totally awesome (not to toot my own horn, but TOOT). Out of the 10 resumes she sent out, she heard back from seven of them (I think that's a great percentage) and had a total of 11 interviews.

Most of them said they would make a decision by Friday and would notify everyone on Friday.

We wound up purchasing a fax machine because apparently nobody in her industry uses the 'Net, we didn't have one, I couldn't use the one at work, and the cheapest rate we found was $1.00/page. At three pages (cover letter plus two pages of resume), we figured 20 resumes would purchase a fax machine.

One would think that if a potential candidate takes the time and effort to send a resume, come to an interview, then come in for a second interview later that day, that the least the potential employer could do is have the balls to let you know if you got the job or not.

She stayed home all day Friday, waiting on phone calls, getting dressed in the event that someone would want to interview her again one last time.

Of the seven employers that she met with (again, 11 interviews), one called back to inform her that they picked someone else.

I've been there myself -- it is frustrating as hell to go through all the crap of trying to get a job when someone doesn't have the common decency to tell you that you didn't get the job.

I guess employers think that there's no effort on the part of job candidates, and that it must be beneath them to give them the courtesy that they deserve. I guess when you get what you want, well, that's all that matters, right?

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Ugh. That sucks.

I've been the interviewer and must admit, I hated making those "you didn't get the job" calls. But I remembered threads like this and bit the bullet and made the calls.

to you and Michelle

[murasaki]

Not much I can say other than I'm sorry you all are in this position. Should Michelle call the employers she didn't hear from on Monday? I think knowing for sure would be better than letting the employers off the hook if they didn't want to make rejection calls.

[eplovejoy]

murasaki said

Should Michelle call the employers she didn't hear from on Monday?

Of course she shouldn't have to, but it does sound like this would be a good idea, although Monday's being a holiday might make Tuesday the better choice. Not only would it resolve things so Michelle doesn't waste any more time wondering, but her professionalism might make an impression on someone and get her a chance later.

Maybe, and my fingers are crossed here, Michelle got one of the jobs but there was some kind of mix-up and the person who was supposed to call to let her know just didn't. Otherwise, there's no excuse for their not having called already.

[eris esoteric]

What they said, Jeff. Tell her to call on Tuesday, and to try to work her way up the chain as much as possible. It puts her name in front of them, and if she plays it right, she comes off as assertive, and interested, and all that stuff. Really, it's what all the professors in college told us. I mean, they wouldn't tell us stuff like that just to be mean and set us up, right?

Well, only some of them.

[mrisch[$]]

What a bummer, but 11 interviews in a week or two based on 7 resumes means that she is going to land on her feet. Given that this was a holiday weekend, it is quite possible that they just didn't get a decision made in time, so calling to "check the status" as others have suggested makes sense.

Also, note that many companies send out letters to those who don't get positions, so that might be coming.

Good wishes to you both!

[thinkerlady[$]]

Yeah--what everyone else has said. We have been in the same position, and I know how "long" the hours and days are when you are waiting to hear back.

Good luck to you both.

[pippadaisy[$]]

My experience has been that RARELY do companies make their decision in the time they estimate it will take, especially ramping up to a holiday weekend.

I'm with everyone who said to call on Tuesday, say how interested she is in the position, and ask if they've made a final decision yet.

[dazedcunf]

Jeff I recently went through the same thing. Is Michelle blue collar? I've personally never used a resume.(Except when I went into car sales right out of the Navy) Even then I got the job I wanted by repeatedly calling the head guy at the dealership I wanted to work for to tell him of my other offers at rival dealerships. After car sales I went back to my military specialty...Electronics. I worked for a temp agency for 6 months, but the company hired me full time. They laid me off April 15th. May 13th I went to an open call for the railroad for a conducter position. Out of 63 I was one of five who got offered the job. My school for conductor starts in July. Next week I have an interview with an electronics company who wants me full time but will take me on as a temp until I start school for the railroad. They want me because I filled out the application online, printed it out and submitted it in person Apr 18th. They gave me the interview because between Apr 18th and May 13th I called human resources to verify they got my application, and I sent a thank you letter to them for considering my application for the job.

Kissing a little ass to get the job doesn't hurt Jeff. One thing military gave me was Transition Assistance Program. It has served me well. In TAP we had CEO's of Qualcomm, GM (West Coast). The thank you letter was a big thing with them, phone call was #2.

If you interview with me, and the diff between you and person who is just as qualified as you is the Thank You letter you send for the interview, and the old "If I am not your first choice for this job, I hope you will keep me in consideration for future employment opportunities." It shows your desire to work for the company.

[brian_igo]

I hate to throw a wet blanket, but Michelle got seven call backs and eleven interviews from ten resumes-in the first week after being forced into the job market. And you're whining that these seven didn't call back with a final decision on the exact day they said they would?

I think you need to adjust your expectations. Decision dates on hiring are never carved in stone. Maybe they didn't "have the balls" to call and say Michelle didn't get the job-but I think it is a little more likely that Friday was a getaway day for a long weekend and they decided to put off beginning the hiring process until Tuesday.

Quitcherbitching and appreciate that the response rate means it is very likely that Michelle will be back at work before she's eligible for unemployment.




Brian

[lynnzop[$]]

Sorry to hear that Michelle lost her job...it's a rough market out there.

And uh, "what Brian said" except maybe a little gentler. He's basically said most of what I was thinking.

I'm sure you'll hear something back this week. HR people are not known for their sense of urgency.

Lynn

[theworm[$]]

And some HR people intentionally don't call people back to see how eager they are to get an offer and to see how they handle stressful situations and/or difficult customers. How candidates behave and react to the interview process is often as important as the actual interview. Professionals call to inquire about their job status, and professionals are more likely to get the job. Michelle got tons of interest very very quickly. That's very promising! I'd be thrilled!

[Sooner95]

Yea, i wouldn't worry about it to much, good possibility that alot of employers simply took Friday off, or left early. Typical around here...

Should they have let that be known before hand? Yea, probably, but certainly don't have too..

Calling back today is a good idea, I would certainly do it, as others have stated.

[jgibson2[$]]

When my oldest was job-hunting, almost nobody got back to him on the promised date. Some were weeks late in responding.

[hadassahchana[$]]

No advice at all, Jeff, just wisihing you and Michelle lots of luck.


Cindy

[ms_n]

Wishing you and Michelle strength and good prospects.

[poseidon]

Update:

Yesterday Michelle was offered a job, they want her to start Monday. She is going to inform them of her decision this afternoon. She's waiting on one that she interviewed a third time with on Wednesday who was going to be making their decision today. I told her that if she didn't hear from them by 10am, to call them, tell them that she's been offered another job, but she would rather work for them, and she needs to let them know by noon.

The good news is that she'd be getting a fairly significant raise if she works for either company, and they're both about four miles from the house, and they both have M-F 8-5 as the hours (versus MTThF 7-7 or ? and Sat 7-1).

[mtomm[$]]

Cool. One of those times when losing the job turned out to be a good thing.

[jgibson2[$]]

That's great news!

[brian_igo]

So the question of their testicular endowment has been answered.

[poseidon]

brian_igo said

So the question of their testicular endowment has been answered.

No, not really. Most of the ones that she's interviewed with have not called her. This is after she's been kind enough to fax over thank-you-for-the-interview letters and everything.

The great news is that she did get the 2nd job as well and accepted it.

We sent a thanks-but-no-thanks letter via fax to the first job offer.

[ms_n]

Great news!

[hadassahchana[$]]

Good for her!



Cindy