RecruitHER

I drove out of town last week because I received a call for an interview. FINALLY! I have been planting the seeds for months and months now. Nothing has crapped cropped up from my harvest so I figured I should get on the road and go see what the land had to offer.

I went straight to the interview after stopping at a friend's house to freshen up and change. I arrived at the office and found out Mr. RecruitHER was out sick so they scheduled me with someone who apparently viewed me as more of a burden and distraction than a recruit from which she could make money.

To summarize, this EXTREMELY rude person did the following:

1. She rudely asked me, “Ummm..and why did he call you?” Picture my face looking just like a screw as she continued to ask, “I don’t see anything here that would make me ‘jump’ at calling you for one of our clients’ positions.” “Well obviously he did you miserable twit!” I thought.
2. Insisted I change my resume and embellish my skills. “You need to mix this up a bit. What is it that you are trying to do here? Are you HR or are you Finance?” She condescendingly grimaced while mimicking the same screw face I had earlier. Why should I have to do that when again, obviously he found something in my skill set that he thought would be suitable for one their clients?
3. Started telling me what I think were made up stories. One was about a woman who was a single mother who wanted to get out of the house and away from her whining child so she gleefully jumped off unemployment and ran into the arms of a $10 an hour paying gig. Could it be that she needed work and more importantly money instead of it being about her wanting to escape from what she described of the mundane life of motherhood? This chick really was miserable!
4. Told me I had been out of the game for too long and should “take a class or something” to brush up on my skills. Now mind you, I have been out of work for almost 12 months. Really??? Take a class? Sorry but I have been too busy looking for jobs, re-writing my resume, networking at mind-numbing events completing oh about 50 profiles per day and following up on leads! She then proceeds to throw in a story about how she took 3 months off to have a child and even she felt like her skills were out of whack in that short amount of time. No. Could it be that when you came back from work everyone was so miserable and full of dread that they all acted as though things had actually changed? Because it did! You came back! Yes, you are that person people hate to see coming.

I politely picked up my things and thanked her for the interview and said I would be in touch. My original contact would be the one to whom I would share this experience. He would surely see her unreasonable behavior caused my uncertainty when deciding whether or not to work with their firm. I called him and his attitude was quite callous. He did the typical corporate ‘I am going to stick up for my co-workers to show solidarity and be professional’ thing. I was most definitely turned off by his lack of concern and felt it was best for me to shut down any emotions that were starting to fester and grow. I shifted my focus on money and sent my resume directly to Mr. RecruitHER. I remained in the city for another week and after two follow-up calls and one email, never heard back from them. The Miserable bitter monster or Mr. RecruitHER.

You see, there is this trend within the unemployed vs. employer/recruiter community. There is a certain type of smug mentality and attitude that comes out like vapors when we are sitting on opposite sides of the desk/table/cup of coffee. They seem to feel as though they have the upper hand and want to make sure you are very clear in understanding your role. There are inappropriate things said in interviews and responses that are completely uncalled for. During the initial communication period, there is a tone that is conveyed, reminding us that we are unemployed and “they” can decide our fate based on how we react to their tone.

I have a friend, who is also looking for work, tell me a story about how she received similar treatment. She sent her resume electronically to a company and although she had all of the required qualifications and education, they sent her a reply that said, “Did you even read the qualifications for this job?” I was in disbelief as to how unprofessional the representatives of these companies are in their correspondence. I really hope these people who treat us so badly are on the opposite end of the table one day. The Golden Rule is one that people seem to forget.

I am headed back home to continue my pursuit of jobs elsewhere and I won’t be coming back here unless someone wants to pay for my travel or reimburse me. I have spent entirely too much money by simply trying to "stay in the game" i.e. gas the car up, eat off the dollar menu and purchase discounted coffee so I can simply use free WIFI.

You would think this experience would scar me but I am so used to being disappointed by people that I have decided to sit on the fence from now on. At least for the time being. If I don’t let things affect me in a positive or a negative way, I won’t be affected. Until things settle back to normal for me, I have to live this way. With all of the chaos and confusion going on, this decision will help me maintain some sense of stability, at least in my mind. I am hopeful things will change soon so I just keep going….and going….and going.