As those of you who have visited frequently already know, I've
been unemployed for a while, and one of the most annoying things
I've come up against is the personnel department. Here's just a
few of the experiences I've had....
Wagner's Castings: This has become the base
level I compare all interviews to. It was totally professional,
and very well conducted. All the information I could have
possibly wanted was in a prepared packet. I was told the past,
present and future for the company -- as well as what was
expected from me. I talked to the man who would have been my boss
-- you name it, it was there. And when they decided to go with
someone else, they called me when they said they would with the
news. I'd never been so happy about being turned down before.
K's Merchandise: This has been the base line for bad interviews. The interviewer had little or no interest in my skills or abilities, her main task was to read a psychological profile test from a page and record my responses. She had very few answers to my questions, and seemed taken aback that I asked anything. And though it has been several months since the interview, I've yet to hear from them.
Lake Land Community College: This one wasn't bad. It was my first interview in 8 years, and I thought it went off OK. It was a group interview, with the 3 people in charge of the various aspects of the department asking me questions. They had answers to my questions, and seemed well prepared to talk to me. Had they actually told me their decision without me prompting them, it might have ranked very well. But at least they finally sent a thanks but no thanks letter.
Nims and Assoc.: This was the first out of town interview that actually paid me money for my time and effort. Nims is a consulting firm, and they were working on a possible position with a local company. Unfortunately, after the man talked to me, he went out of town for several weeks -- by which time the company decided not to pursue the position. After a phone message, he called with the bad news, and the promise to keep looking. We'll see.
First Mid-Illinois Bancshares: I had high hopes for this one. The interview went well, they had most of the important information written out beforehand, and answers to the rest of my questions. Too bad they never called me back -- ever.
WAND TV: Another one I had high hopes for. The pay wasn't real great, but the benefits were. The job was a combination TV and Computers -- which promised to never become boring. I thought I did OK as well. But even after leaving messages on his voice mail at the station, he never called back.
Eastern Illinois University: My only gripe here is the 'test' they wanted me to come in and take for the microcomputer specialist position they have open. The test consisted of a list of skills, that I had to match up to my previous jobs or college courses. Unfortunately, most of my PC knowledge comes from the best source available -- doing it myself. I have yet to see any course do a better job teaching PC hardware skills than building a couple of PCs yourself will. Fortunately I have some job experience doing it, so maybe something will come of it -- but I doubt it. (ed. note, I failed thier 'test' horribly -- suprise suprise)
ATS: This is the company that does data processing for Caterpillar. They used to be Caterpillar, but they went independent, and now have to struggle to keep their client happy. They advertised for what appeared to be a primarily PC based position. When I go in for an interview, I find out they want a mainframe operator. They also have bought into that 12 hour -- 2 on/off 3on/off shift schedule. I seem to recall being pretty tired after 8 hours under the glaring flourescents, I can only imagine what 12 hours would be like. What makes employers think employees are worth a darn the last 2 or 3 hours of their shift in a schedule like this? I guess I won't find out, because they sent me a thanks but...
St. Mary's Hospital: On May 4th, I apply for
a Network Planning Analyst position. On June 9th they send a
thanks, but we hired someone else letter. On June 15th, they run
an ad in the paper seeking a Network Analyst -- same job
description as before. I can't help but think, if they'd just
have hired me in the first place they wouldn't be looking for
another person now.
Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, and Hospital Sisters Health
System are guilty of the exact same thing -- I have sent 5
packets to Sarah Bush... and 3 to Hospital Sisters -- they don't
even bother to write back anymore.
There are a lot of places I've sent to and received thanks but.. or acknowledgment letters from -- some that are still pending, and some (The Pantagraph, Schrock Cabinets) that I have never heard from, as well as 2 consulting firms and a headhunter looking for me. I used to think the computer field would be a good one to be in. Now I wonder.
Update: Since writing this, I have actually quit looking for a job, and am working as a partner in the neighbors computer shop (which means I get to work long hours, but only get paid when we get work that pays). We have a 6 month lease that I promised to work through, then see what happens. That doesn't mean that there weren't a few more event's beforehand. Such as actually being hired breifly by a computer service who decided I didn't fit in (I actually wanted work to do, and complained about a salesman who didn't give me any). There was another visit to ATS, but they would rather hire someone with an electronics degree than someone with a data processing degree and actual computer knowledge (ATS has a bad reputation around Caterpillar in Decatur, and may eventually be replaced with an in house staff of people who actually know something). A visit with a local school superintendant yielded the knowledge that I can be effectively used to bully an exsisting worker to accept terms he doesn't like (poor guy gets 26,000 a year to work part time -- until he starts not getting everything done and says 'full time or I'm gone' -- along with your entire Windows NT network!)
Update #2: Rumors from Sullivan have several teachers very annoyed at the schools service technician -- he just doesn't seem to have anytime to keep thier classroom machines going -- what with having to work part time a Shelbyville as well. I have a phone interview with Kay's again -- I never heard back from them (surprise surprise). Went to Decatur Memorial Hospital (DMH) and talked with them -- had a good interview, but I had problems with a computerized phone interviewer. I called them back several times to reschedule it, but they never returned my calls -- and hired someone else. Springfield Memorial Medical Center called me in, talked to me, told me it would be a week or 2 -- now I'm waiting for the Thanks but.... letter. (ed.note: I got aletter saying that they decided to postpone filling the advertised position -- I guess none of us were good enough.)