What Not To Do During a Job Search

Yesterday, a young man who had applied for a position with one of my clients was not happy with the response. I had conducted a phone interview and forwarded his information - cover letter, resume, and phone screen to the client with information for 8 other candidates. They did not choose to interview him -- and that is certainly their prerogative. He was not happy and felt that I had undermined his candidacy.

Generally, the people who have gotten mad at me are those who were informed that I can't move them forward, and it is clear that I am the blockade. Since starting Hire Well, I can think of two such candidates who have been angry and spoken very inappropriately to me when I refused to interview them. Yesterday's candidate reached a new low.

In his phone message, he firmly expressed his dismay in a businesslike manner and ended with his wish that I have a "Merry Christmas". Evidently he felt that didn't go far enough so he then wrote an angry email that -- among other things -- accused me of not having my "stuff" together because I was obviously going through menopause and having hot flashes which caused me to make mistakes. He of course also assured me that he would never apply to one of my jobs again. Good.

It was nice of him to reaffirm that my client made the right decision. They would certainly not want to hire someone with such poor judgement -- and they have some staff members who are women near my age, so I am sure he wouldn't want to work with them, either.

So, for candidates:
1. Unfortunately, you do not know who you are competing with. We do. While the job ad and description may be "written for you", we need to make our decisions by comparing all of the candidates and choosing those who seem to best fit our needs and our team.
2. We understand that these are trying economic times and you may be anxious. Express that with friends and counselors, not with those who can help you get a position.
3. Never, ever put such nasty, ill advised thoughts in writing. Emails last a lot longer than phone conversations -- and they have your name on them.