Here’s the situation. What would you do?
Like many of you, I assume, I get lots of Robocalls. So my voicemail message goes something like this:
“Hi there. Don’t hang up! Welcome to Robocall Hell. If you do NOT leave a message, I will block your number. Shall we begin?”
(I usually Google the number to try to confirm that it’s a scammer. If not, I block. Just my small effort to keep the world safe.)
With that in mind, here’s my Tuesday afternoon:
Phone call, no message. Five minutes later, same number, no message. (Looks like a winner.) But ten minutes later, I got an email from a recruiter (let’s call him Bill) with a job that I’m a great candidate for, and the phone number was the same as the no message number! Hmm. Hard learner.
While the job was in the Mid-West and I’m in Sarasota, FL, it’s one that’s perfectly capable of being done remotely. So I sent my resume and my reply explaining that if his client could deal with the first week on site and the rest working remotely with perhaps one week/month onsite, I would be a great resource. I then told him that I would call the following morning. (He’ll either say yes or no.)
Wednesday morning: I called and he said no. I explained that I found this strange because all of the technology involved was designed to be used remotely. I also explained that if he wanted me to call him back, he needed to leave a message.
About the job? No dice.
However, fifteen minutes later he called me back and explained that he had spoken to his manager and they would like to submit me. We went through the usual drill and I was submitted. I told him I was available to interview by phone on either Thursday morning or Friday morning.
Ten minutes later I got an email from someone else within the same company for the exact same job. This person (we’ll call him Jim) was the account manager. When I called him back, I got the impression that he doesn’t know anyone else has spoken to me from his company, yet he appears to be Bill’s manager. I explained that Bill has already submitted me, and yet Jim still wanted my resume. The call ends with my understanding that everything is now clear.
An hour later I got an email from someone else (Dave) within that same company for the exact same job, so I didn’t reply.
This was followed by a phone call from another recruiter, who left a brief message, but he’s not with Bill’s company (thank God). When I called him back, it’s about the same job. I explained to him 3 times that I had already been submitted. On the third time, I finally got his attention and the conversation ended. This is one reason my blog is called Payin’ Attention.
Still with me?
Good, because I got another phone call around 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon, which according to the message was about the same job, but the recruiter was from yet a different company (ABC company), so I didn’t reply.
Now around noontime on Friday, Bill called me, left a message, and told me that I needed to call Sam from ABC company right away. Sam had told Bill that he had left me a voicemail. I called Bill back and told him that no one by Sam’s name had called me that morning nor left me a voicemail. ABC company wasn’t even the ultimate client!
Upon checking my phone logs, it turned out that someone from ABC company had called me at 3 o’clock the day before but it didn’t sound like Sam’s name. I put all this in an e-mail and asked Bill what Sam’s phone number was and if Sam was the interviewer.
When Bill called me back, he told me that he would find out. As it was now 12:45 p.m., I reminded him that I was only available for the interview Thursday and Friday mornings. I was going into meetings at 1 p.m. and I would be finished at 4:30 if the interviewer wanted to call me after that.
Well, that’s where it stands now. No other phone calls.
(Don’t forget: Who is on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know is on third. Abbot & Costello would be just as confused.)
Fortunately, I have something else in the pipeline. It’s had one delay already but I’ve learned from past experience that a deal isn’t set until we’ve exchanged autographs.
I’m organized, I manage my time and I’m professional. Let me recap briefly and perhaps your guidance can enlighten me.
- Two phone calls and clear, concise directions were not followed.
- A manager and subordinate stepping on each other’s toes in the recruiting effort without coordination.
- Three people from the same company now working on the same resource, again, without coordination.
- No heads up from the recruiter about who would be calling to interview, or when, or that it was from a different company. Why would I expect someone other than the ultimate client to call me to interview, especially without a heads up?
- Do I think for one minute that Bill is going to tell Sam that he didn’t alert me about the interview? No. Especially since Sam called me when I was unavailable. So it will be me that looks like I couldn’t bother to return Sam’s call, therefore I will not look like a good candidate anymore.
Serious question: What’s wrong with this picture?