Call Waiting Costs You A Job
So this guy calls my office today, looking for a job. First he asks about jobs “…in Microsoft Access.” Frankly, I try not to work with the kinds of small-potatoes shops that do lots of database work in Access. It’s fine for small projects, but people don’t pay my fees for projects of that scope. But then the guy asks if we have Crystal Reports jobs. I should have realized that a guy who looks for a job in terms of one software package or another is not my ideal candidate, but as it happens, I never have Crystal Reports experts around when I need them, so I asked for his resume.
I was in the middle of giving him my (rather long) email address, when he asks me to hold because he had another call coming through.
Then after several attempts to answer the other call, he got back to me about a second before I would have hung up on him, and just asked me to finish giving my email address. I was so stunned that I just gave it to him.
I have his resume, but I’m not all that interested in working with him, and here’s why:
It’s not JUST that he took the other call, but that he did it like I was just one of his buddies, like my time wasn’t important. Look, if YOU call ME to ask for my help in finding a job, I don’t expect to be kept waiting on hold while you take some other call that you apparently think is more important. I mean, the guy is looking for a job, so it’s possible that he was waiting to hear back from a potential employer and didn’t want to miss the call. I get it. But if that was the case, he should have said so. It’s just not that hard to say, “I’m sorry about this, but I’m waiting to hear back about an interview.” But don’t just leave me hanging, wondering if you’re wasting my time so that you can make plans to hit the bar with your buddies later.
February 13th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
In a similar vein…..
I think the worst interview i ever did was someone whose cellphone went off during the interview. Now this happens more than you’d think but normally the candidate blushes, apologises and switches the phone off. Not in this case. He excused himself and took the call whilst I and another colleague sat waiting! He spoke on the phone for about half a minute and then we resumed the interview as if nothing had happened.
Needless to say he didn’t get the job.