Is it beneficial for a global Fortune 500 company that usually prides itself on hiring some of the smartest people in the industry have the "Assistant to the Recruiter" call an applicant for a phone screening, only to be unable to answer most of the applicant's questions?
That happened recently. That company was Cisco. That applicant was me. In this parapraxis-filled event, I recall that six out of the ten or so questions I was asked by the tending meshuga were so broad as to have several possible answers. When I asked, "in what context are you referring?” I was told, "I'll have to get back to you on that." And I'm quoting her.
Have you ever sent a resume to various high-level VP's at a company with nothing to lose? Either you get the job or you don't, right? I did that too. After receiving very positive feedback via e-mail from two VP's, I had the pleasure of speaking with a "recruiter". That was the death of the process. A few days later, I was notified that I was not one of the chosen few that get to talk to the man behind the curtain.
I believe everything happens for a reason. That company's IPO tanked by 20%. :) Furthermore, the VP of Human Resources (who used to work at my former company) couldn't even extend a little common courtesy by providing some feedback via e-mail.
Then I get random recruiters calling me for jobs I didn't even apply for. They say, "We found your resume on <insert job site here>". My response to them isn't usually so friendly. I tell them, "If I want a job at your company, I'll call you. Don't call me.", or "Where in my resume did you see the word 'sales' mentioned? I didn't see it anywhere, and I wrote the thing. Go bother someone else."
So basically I've encountered the ignorant and the desperate. It makes me wonder how many really qualified people get overlooked because of the suppurate recruiting staff that is responsible for locating the "right candidate".
I am no prize...don't get me wrong. With (soon to have) three college degrees and 18 years of experience in everything from Fortune 500 to start-ups, working in engineering, support and management the whole time is a guarantee of nothing. It just makes me wonder how much is lost by putting critical decisions in the hands of people who pay no price when they are wrong.
I hope that my job search isn’t this bad over the long run. I would hate to think that my investment in education will have been for nothing, or have the results of that investment judged by someone who has no idea what I can offer.
Do you have any questions about distance education or anything in this post? Feel free to contact Scott anytime!