Misadventures in Job Interviews

Considering my 12 year plan and the income requirements to give it legs, I have been working the job market (I am willing to continue in my present organization provided that it meets my price; nothing against it - I'm just committed to my plan).

I have recently been contacted for an interview for a Training executive position in one of the older outsourcing firms here in the Philippines. And what happened was completely and utterly disappointing.

First, the night before the interview one of their human resources people called me to book me for the interview with their human resources director. The interview was to happen at 10 late in the evening. I had reservations about such a late appointment, but hey, I want to see what they're about anyway.

In the afternoon of the day of the interview, a different human resources person (I assume that she was from human resources) called me about the interview. I informed her that I was called the night before about it. Strangely enough, she was unfamiliar with the prior call. In any case, it was very clear to me that the interview was set.

I arrived ten minutes before 10, as is my way about these things. I entered their lobby where there were two ladies behind a receptionists' desk, and a lady security guard by the door.

Interestingly enough, the receptionists did not receive me. It was the security guard who asked me about my business in their office. I declared my appointment, and as I was about to help myself towards the common lobby (where there was a large television showing a replay of the Bulls vs. Bucks NBA game), I overheard one of the receptionists admonish the guard that she was lax in one of their protocols: I had to surrender an ID and wear a visitor's pass.

Okay, at this point I was thinking this company valued intense security as opposed to guest relations (or executive recruitment, for that matter). I sat down in front of the television and waited.

And waited.

At about twenty minutes past 10:00pm the lady security guard approached me to inform that my interviewer was in a meeting. This did not sit well with me. Then she handed me a generic applicant's information form that she instructed me to fill out.

Where was anyone from HR? What were the two receptionists busy with?

Now this was the kind of form that asked you to declare most if not all of your personal information, including your tax ID and social security. It required you to mention your immediate relatives by name, age, and occupation beyond information already in the resume in their posession.

Thinking that they did have my resume and that I brought another copy. I only filled certain parts of the form (the indignity was getting to me already). About five minutes later the security guard got back to me and retrieved the form.

After a few minutes, she got back to me and instructed me to fill out the form utterly and completely. My goodness, I was already thinking that they clearly did not know how to handle executive recruitment.

I completed the damned form. The guard got back to me and thanked me for the completed form, and told me that my interviewer (the HR director) "just stepped out", but, "she already knows that you're here."

My good lord, this is the worst. I waited some more until I noticed that I was getting a bit sleepy. The game was already on halftime, and when I looked at my watch it was already ten minutes before 11:00pm.

That was it. I had waited an hour of a very long day out in the city at a very inconvenient time. They did not give me even the least of courtesies: a host from human resources, coffee, or a by when for my interview to eventually begin.

I left them. I vented some misplaced disgust on the poor lady security guard, asking her if this was how they treated their applicants.

I wouldn't want to work for an organization like that. There is an axiom in customer service: Treat your employees as you would want them to treat your customers. That organization, which is specifically in customer service, has no business being an outsourcer of such.