How not to get a job

  I am going to rant.  I rarely rant on here, I silently fume at my desk instead, but this issue deserves a public outing. 

In the past three weeks I've had three candidates not show up for interview.  They have all actively applied for a position I have advertised, and been invited to come and meet me and confirmed that they will be turning up at our offices at a specific time and date.  I've sat here twiddling my thumbs waiting for them to arrive, unable to book any other meetings into my diary because I have an interview to do, and they've failed to show up.  Not only that, but they didn't bother to call or email me before hand to say they weren't able to make it.

To add insult to injury, when I've dropped them an email and left a polite message on their voicemail to find out if they are on their way or whether they are bothering to come at all they haven't returned my call.  How RUDE!  All three candidates now have a big black mark against their name on my database saying UNRELIABLE AND RUDE.  I am tempted to name and shame, but figure I behave slightly more professionally than they do.

So here's a tip, if you want a recruiter to never go out of their way to help you find a job, arrange to meet them and then don't bother to show up.   

Comments

[Ben Matthews]

Sorry to hear about you experiences, Sarah.

Stephen wrote about a similar experience on his blog:

http://www.rainierpr.co.uk/blog/2008/02/shirkers-and-timewasters-sod-off.html

Fortunately, my (only) experience was far smoother running:

http://puddingrelations.blogspot.com/2008/02/pr-problems-recruiting-not-public.html

Perhaps it's a Gen Y issue?

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/feb2008/ca20080226_921853.htm

Or maybe they just are, as you say, unreliable and rude!

[Samantha Wilcox]

They say PR is all about repuation and I'd hate to think how these people would manage their clients if this is how they manage themselves! Great post though, and it's nice to know that Social Media is still a niche! I'll be hoping to use your talents when I (finally!) graduate :)

[Deon Gordon]

Kudos for remaining professional... I, too, recently thought about exposing someone's name for social punishment purposes. At the end of the day, I decided against it but, instead, opted to blog about the offense in hopes that it would provide some relief to me and serve as a small nugget of info to others. Hooray self-restraint (haha).