You are in : Human Resources > Recruitment & Selection

Recruitment and Selection

How NOT to interview job applicants

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:07

You’ve allowed plenty of time to deal with traffic delays and so you have time on hand when you find the visitors’ car park full – although you’re sure that the cars in the visitor parking places are staff cars, because there are a number of men, all in company overalls, inspecting the engine of one of the vehicles and sitting in other cars having tea and reading newspapers.

Anyway, you have time so you set off trying to find parking. Eventually you find parking down the hill and by the time you’ve walked back up the hill, you’ve started to perspire.

You reach the security entrance and inform the security guard that you have an interview for a job. He slightly mis-understands you and points to the “No vacancy” sign.

You explain that you have an interview for a set time and give the name of the person in the Human Resources department who called you to confirm the appointment.

You wait patiently while the security guard calls the HR department. Five minutes later, you’re still standing in the blustery wind – you’ve stopped perspiring, but now the wind is playing havoc with your hair.

You check the time on your cell phone. Lucky you planned to be early, but there’s now only ten minutes left before your interview, and you’re a bit stressed and starting to perspire again.

The security guard calls to you: yes, you can sign the list on the clipboard and go through to reception. You walk briskly, reach reception and wait patiently while the receptionist answers three telephone calls in succession – she doesn’t acknowledge your presence at all.

Eventually, after what seems a long time, she finishes the calls, looks up and says “can I help you?” You tell her that you are here for an appointment. She asks your name. You feel your blood pressure rising as you have to spell out each letter of your first name and each letter of your second name.

The receptionist picks up the telephone and dials the HR department. She’s dropped her voice and you can’t hear what she is saying.

Cartoon courtesy of http://www.sentimentalrefugee.com/ interview_dwilkins.html

You’re not sure, but you feel that you should sit down. There’s a very low couch and as you’re not sure you’ll be able to rise from it easily, you pick the very straight-backed - trendy - but very hard wooden chair.

You sit on the edge of the chair expecting to be called immediately, as your interview time has now arrived.

Three quarters of an hour later, someone comes into the reception, looks at you and mis-pronounces your name. It must be you because you’re the only one there. You stand up and shake hands and she asks you to follow her.

She leads you to a room – you’re not sure who she is because she hasn’t introduced herself. She invites you to sit down, and leaves you there. You wish that you had had some water – your mouth is dry – but you need to go to the toilet, so probably good that you haven’t had anything to drink.

Three people enter the room, sit down and one starts to talk a lot about the company, occasionally the other two interrupt him to ask you questions about information which is in your CV – they don’t seem to have seen/read it.

Five minutes later someone else enters the room and joins in the interview. Some of the interviewers take notes. After a number of questions, one of the interviewers, stands up and thanks you for coming to the interview.

You’re not sure what management positions the interviewers represent as they didn’t introduce themselves, and you’re not given an opportunity to ask questions. You find your way out.

The recruitment agent telephones you the next day to find out how the interview went – you’re honestly not sure but you don’t have a good feeling about the company.

Two months later, the recruitment agent calls you to say the company want to offer you a position at R100 more per month more than you currently earn. You thank the recruitment agent politely for their time and reject the offer.

You know that the skills which you have are in short supply. If the company mis-manages the recruitment process so badly, and treats interviewees with such disrespect, how will they treat you once you are an employee?

You’re looking for a company which values their employees, and treats potential employees as potential partners in a mutually beneficial relationship. You’d like to grow and to learn and to reach senior levels of management – which you know you can do with the guidance of professional management.

As you put down the telephone to the agent, you think to yourself - such a pity. The multi-national company spends so much time promoting themselves and their products to create a good company image.

You try to remember the words of the Mission Statement on the wall in the reception. You read it a number of times while you were waiting.

You can recall: “professional management” –“valuing employees” –“valuing diversity” – “treating all stakeholders with respect”.............