Games Recruiters Play

I applied for a social media position at Sears that would have been soooo fun. (I’m looking for a part-time or full-time corporate trainer or social media community manager position in the Chicago loop, by the way).

I never had my phone interview with the recruiter even though we tried to schedule it on four different occasions. The fourth attempt was on Friday, January 30th. Our call was scheduled for 10 a.m. and she called the 877 number on my e-mail signature instead of my cell phone number on my resume.

I was literally sitting there staring at the phone, willing it to ring. I got the message showing she had called the 877 number and I immediately called back. I never got a return call.

I emailed the recruiter the following Monday and she said that the hiring manager had identified candidates that she was interested in.

I was kinda perturbed learning this because I never had a chance to be considered for the position because of the recruiter. And then I get this message:

hiring managers of those positions

Now, I could contact someone higher in human resources to relay this incident; I’m not going to. HR staff serve as gatekeepers. Average job seekers HAVE to go through them.

Since I’m not average and would like a position where I can learn and teach what I know, I am going to put forth more effort to find or create an opportunity.

That way, I won’t have similar experiences with recruiters who probably have less experience than me; who don’t seem to have a handle on how to manage their time;  and who don’t call phone numbers on resumes.

I just wanted to share this experience because, in addition to not being considered for a position because of not getting called back for interviews; this incident shows that you can get a call back and still not be in the running.

For people who are looking for jobs, remain hopeful. I am.