In the waiting line

In spite of US government numbers and spin, the job market still seems a bit less Whole Foods Market and more Soviet grocery store.  Many job-seekers are standing in line for jobs that aren’t on the shelf, but hope still fuels the line and its inhabitants.  Maybe some job-seekers are being picky, but I’m willing to bet the majority aren’t.  They’re probably doing what I’m doing, and what I’m doing is a lot of job-hunting.  It’s not unusual to find me applying on a company’s site, filling out all the fields (again), and getting used to each system’s idiosyncrasies (bad programming).  Every day.

After all that, it’s also not unusual to receive a response in the form of an automatically generated email.  And sometimes that e-mail is all the feedback a job-seeker will get.  The thing is, this is what most of us are used to, but maybe we shouldn’t be.  I’d like to describe a good interview process I experienced.  A job application process in which a company does applicants right.  I know, I know—that’s not what job-hunters normally experience.

The process of courtesy

My good interview experience started when I applied to a particular company online.  Very minimal information was required of me, which makes sense:  why should a company accrue all that data for someone the company may not be interested in?  All I had to do was fill in my name, address, phone number, e-mail, job experience (not a description—just title and time frame), and a few other easily filled out fields.  That was it.

Once I completed the application, I received an automatic e-mail.  But this one was different from the others I normally ignore.  The e-mail told me just how long the company would take during the application phase (about a two weeks or so), and that I would be told of the company’s decision no matter what the decision was.  Hmm.  No, “Due to the large amount of inquiries received, we are unable to provide the status of your application via phone or email.”  What is this company doing wrong that they aren’t too busy to communicate with people who want to work for them?  This almost verges on…common courtesy??

the communication

Two weeks go by.  I get an email from the company’s HR department.  Normally the story stops there, as every company I’ve applied to seems to agree I have an impressive background, but other candidates are a better fit.  Except, this company wants me to put together a six slide presentation on a particular topic, giving me about a week to get it in to them.  Easy enough—I’ve done far too many presentations about topics less important than me getting a job.  I do consult a few friends with my slide drafts though, and get some important points that help tremendously.

After I turn in the presentation, I get another email from the company within 12 hours (did I mention this company is in Europe?).  The HR person had forwarded it to the hiring manager and he’d like to talk with me (YAY!!!).  The company gives me a time for the Skype interview.  It’s in a few weeks because everyone is on vacation.  That’s okay.  I prepare like crazy, going over my slides, rehearsing for possible questions, etc.

The interview starts.  There are introductions, then the hiring manager wants to go over the presentation.  Great!  After the presentation, there are a few questions from me and from the hiring manager.  At the end, the hosting HR person tells me she will give me feedback on the interview in a few days.  Um, what?  Yup, feedback.  About my performance during the interview.  They would let me know when.  And they do—it’s to be a couple days after the Skype interview.

the follow-up

The lead HR person calls me when she said she would.  She gives me feedback—good feedback.  About how disappointed they were I didn’t cover particular areas during the interview, but also things that were good.  It didn’t take very long and I said “thank you” at the end.  The upshot was:  I didn’t get the job.

Company Courtesy, COnsideration, and consistency = Want to work there

While disappointed, the experience made me want to work for the company even more.  If this is how they treated someone who doesn’t work for them, how do they treat someone who does?  It’s as if I’d always been in a bad relationship, and then witnessed a couple who really loved each other.  I thought items such as courtesy, consideration, and consistent following up on promises were things of fiction regarding company interviewing practices.  But the hiring “rainbow unicorn” exists.  And I want to work for it.

As a result, I’ve become more discriminating in where I apply.  I’ve read job-hunting advice somewhere that says I should do that anyway.  Sure, I occasionally apply to the “applicant tracking system” farms—the ones that automatically laugh evilly when I press “submit.”  But it’s only because sometimes the job sounds interesting—even if the company isn’t interested in its applicants.

But I also search harder, and try harder, to find the companies that “get it.”  I am trying to find the ones that say what they are going to do, and then, do it.  The ones that communicate effectively with their candidates.  The ones that value employees not just through vision statements, but through courteous action.  The ones that could make ironing shirts seem like a rewarding and fun job because they know the people are important—no matter whether a person is applying to, or already working for, them.  They are out there.

 

 

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John Holst’s career path is as nonsensical and mad as the March Hare. In a series of what John thought were very trusting decisions, the United States Air Force let him babysit nuclear weapons, develop future officers, and then operate multi-billion dollar space systems. Then John re-enacted scenes from “Brazil” by joining the Missile Defense Agency, working as minutes-taker, configuration, project, mission, and test manager. When he’s not writing for Clearancejobs.com, he is putting his journalism degree skills to use as The Mad Spaceball.