Before putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard), I normally have a specific purpose or message that I think is worth sharing on the internet. Today, I have not spent any time with research but instead I am going to have a bit of a rant about an extraordinarily disappointing experience I had yesterday. Like most recruitment firms, people2people is always on the lookout for experienced recruitment consultants wanting to make a change and join our team. This week, I received a call in response to one of the campaigns that p2p has run across various platforms.
The potential consultant, let’s call her Jane for the sake of this blog, called through, introduced herself and asked “If the job was still available?” Not an unusual question, but pretty naïve given that I subsequently found out that Jane had twenty years’ experience within the recruitment industry! After establishing it was the advertised recruitment consultant’s position, I asked Jane a few questions about her background and she was a little vague, but determined.
She had twenty years’ experience and was a part owner in a recruitment firm, which sounded pretty good. Unfortunately, Jane went on to tell me that things hadn’t gone well with her husband and she was looking for a new role. Too much information 45 seconds into a call with a potential employer! Remember this is someone with twenty years’ experience. All that experience is pretty hard to ignore, so I suggested that we meet and talk through what she would be looking for given it was a big change in her life. We agreed a time and I then asked for her resume.
She didn’t have one! Twenty years’ experience and no CV! OK, not good, but possibly understandable, so I compromised again and said that I could use her LinkedIn profile. Her profile had a profile picture which was clearly a selfie taken in her car. Not exactly corporate, but also not a deal breaker. To confirm the interview, I said I would send her an email, so I asked for her email address, which turned out to be a comical play on words. Hmmmmm After waiting ten minutes after the scheduled interview time, I decided to call Jane to see if she was still attending our interview.
She answered! Jane had forgotten about the meeting we had arranged less than 24 hours before. “I simply have forgotten….. actually I had a family emergency.” Frankly, I was pretty annoyed given the occurrences leading up to our interview, so I cancelled the meeting and said I didn’t like having my time wasted. Jane then told me not to lecture her “F$%k off” and hung up the phone. So what have I learned from this experience;
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If someone hasn’t read the advertisement and they are responding to an ad, then you may have a problem
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Someone looking for a new role without a CV is also not a good indicator
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Linkedin profiles are a public reflection of you and your personality.
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Comical email addresses are best kept for friends, not potential employers.
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Turn up if you say you are going to.
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Don’t lie about why you didn’t turn up
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Accept advice without swearing and hanging up the phone
Finally and probably the most disappointing, is that Jane has been in the recruitment industry for twenty years. A sad indictment of an industry that I have a particular passion for. Needless to say, there is probably a very good reason Jane is looking for a new role and I think I may have dodged a bullet. Rant over.
