5 Ways Companies Mistreat Job Seekers

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My son applied for an RA position at college; he did not get it. He's the type of kid who wants to improve himself so when the rejection letter offered him the chance to discuss why he was not selected, he did. He was told that the reasons for not being selected were: he answered the questions too perfectly, his answers appeared to be too well rehearsed, he appeared to have taken his responses from a RA handbook and the topper, that he was disingenuous. I forgot to tell you he is 19.
My son is the type of kid who would prepare for an interview; he is an old soul in a young boy's body. The person who told him these things is the Director of student life.
As a result of her comments (which she has not denied making) my son has become not only depressed but also less interested in school and has decided to transfer.
I know he is a big boy but, my heart is hurting because this kid has taken her comments to heart. Believe me when I say, he is many things but certainly is not disingenuous. Life for him these last 2 months has been so upsetting. He won't live on campus anymore ( we live in the town) and hates the school.
I feel he was bullied ationsnd would love to sue the pants off these people. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

nina of CA 2:55PM April 14, 2011

I have been on both side of the interview table. When I interviewed potential staff I made sure I was ready on time (no more than 10 minutes late if I was really busy), clear on the job duties, talked about working with other staff, expectations, etc. and tried to stay away from the pat questions like "what are your weaknesses?"
I have been treated hideously by interviewers: on one, the appointment was 9am, i arrived at 8:45 am after a 50 minutes drive and working all night. I filled out some paperwork, then proceeded to wait...and wait...and wait...finally at 1pm, I was called to an office with 2 interviewers. After 20 minutes one left, and the other continued questioning, then the first came back and asked the same questions over again. I finally left at 3pm. I ask myself why I stayed so long for the interview, but I guess it was because I was there, the receptionist was very nice, I had driven almost an hour, and I was so sleep deprived I didn't know what I was doing.
On a recent one, I was sent a one page job description. I met with the two interviewers, and after introductions, was asked if I had read the job description, and did I have any questions. That was it. I couldn't believe it.
No, I didn't get the job.
At another one, I waited in the lobby for a half hour after checking in with the receptionist. After a half hour, I again told the receptionist who I was there to see, and from her phone calls I gathered that the interviewer was not there. I asked if we could just reschedule. I was told no. Another 20 minutes went by and they sent someone else out "to show me around." I tried to be positive but must have shown my annoyance because I didn't get that job either.
With this crappy economy employers seem to like to see interviewees squirm, and see how much crap they will put up with.
I have given up looking, and will go to grad school instead. This economy has made employers even meaner.

Jobless Daisy of IN 12:58AM October 08, 2009

One reason candidates get such poor treatment by employers is that the very people interviewing you have never taken their own careers seriously. To them, a job is just a job, even if their Web site has all this claptrap about passionate people being their most important resource.
Even if you are one of those people who does care, however, you may be surrounded by others who don't. I've been in many situations where once I got into a corporation, I saw how heartless the people inside were. It came to life when I tried gathering a hiring team together to prepare for meeting and greeting candidates. One of the upper managers said to me, "Do you really believe we went through all this effort to get to know you when we interviewed you?"
Work has become extremely impersonal, especially exponentiated the larger the corporation.
And to Mike in CA who asked how can you get dependable people, did it ever occur to you to ask first and foremost if the applicant can do the job?

Greg in CA of CA 7:48AM September 22, 2009

Unprepared: Went on a job interview...I spent time and several hundred dollars to buy a new interview suit and shoes...studied the company's website...researched articles on the internet...drove 30 miles to the interview...interviewer yawned and said, "boy, I just dont know what to say? I am sooooo tired."
Bored: Drove 35 miles to interview...walked in the office where there was NO ONE at the front desk and continued to be NO ONE at the front desk for a good 10 minutes...finally heard some voices in a back office so I cautiously approached...the people looked shocked to see me...I told who I was and why I was there and the guy who was supposed to interview me rolled his eyes and said,"ok, let's get this over with." Interviews me for a total of 8 minutes and I counted over 60 yawns, eye rolls, eye rubbing and sighing only for him to tell me that the position had changed to part-time, no benefits, no full-time in the forseeable future and less pay (actually the position went from $18/hr to $12/hr).

Jobless in ILL-ANNOYING of IL 6:10PM August 25, 2009

I too wished that ALL companies listed their salary range. I'm either too qualified because I probably made too much in my previous job (or the position I'm applying for is more of a menial job than what I used to have), or they think I'm not qualified enough because I dropped my salary requirements by at least 1/2 of what I used to make because I really need a job after being unemployed for 9mo now. I have a family to support so need to take anything I can get.
To make matters worse, my previous job was as a contractor (rec'd a 1099 and not a W-2), so I don't even receive any unemployment benefits! I wonder how many people are like me and are not counted as "unemployed" in all the US unemployment statistics?!?

Mr. Frustrated of TX 4:34PM August 25, 2009

So I think there are a lot of opportunists out there because of the recession. Some start up junk company run by a bunch of kids out of college called my husband in for several interviews. On the last one they made it sound like he definitely had the position just had to do a quick test and passed it to his non techy head hunter. When he got it he was shocked but he needed a job. So he spent his whole weekend writing this program and turned it in. Two days later he gets a call from his headhunter saying they said it was really bad and wasn't even junior level etc. He was devastated. And I know he always got great reviews as a programmer. He was extremely upset and depressed after wasting a whole weekend and giving up a BBQ with his family. I asked him if it was a program they could use and he said yes. Behind his back I sent it to a bunch of programmers I worked with and they looked at it and said it was fine and definitely did not warrant the response he got. I figure this was their way of getting expensive work done cheap and since they had to have a good explanation they royally trashed him in the process to the headhunter so she'd be afraid to try to push. But of course she believed it and didn't seem to want to work with him again. I think these kinds of people tell themselves they are being "scrappy" and doing what they have to do to make it, but it's just terrible and I hope it happens to them some day. Especially kids out of school don't really understand what that does to people. I was in a similar field as them as looked at their product. I did not believe it would sell so I'm glad he's not there. Now my husband has an excellent job where he is doing top level development work with a lot of experienced people from top schools. And they don't seem to think there's anything wrong with his programming. So if that's happened to anyone else out there, don't let it affect your self confidence. And a sales guy I know gave me great advice. Tell them, "I'll be in your office to show you what I created, when can we meet?" And never let it leave your laptop. That's when you know whether they are for real.

MorganG1289 of NY 2:36PM August 13, 2009

I recently got a call for a job that I was very qualified for. I emailed back and took time off from my vacation to stop and call the HR person back. I even had my husband drop me off in a park so that she wouldn't hear the distraction of my family driving home from vacation. Once we got on the call I was asked what my pay currently was. I asked what was the rate they were looking to spend and she went into this canned speech about how they never reveal that until later in the process and that they do ask for proof of previous paystubs, blah blah blah. So I told her, but I had taken a cut in order to have flex hours so needed to express that in order to explain why it was what it was. Then she started on about not having any flex hours in their company and I said I was fine with that and understood. She then told me that probably the publisher was going to go with a friend of his who he's been looking at for the position but wanted to talk to me first. I never heard from them again until I pressed for a response. But frankly, I think it's downright rude to ask someone what they make, before you even meet them or are ready to make an offer. It really has nothing to do with the new job on the table. Next time someone asks me that I think I will ask them how much they make. Fair enough right? I don't think I would have lowered myself to working for a place that covers the kind of content they did. But employers do need to remember what comes around goes around and a little respect is long remembered. I also think they never intended to consider me, they just saw how my resume was such an exact match for what this new person would be doing, and it was just meant to figure out how much they could pay them.

morganG128 of NY 2:16PM August 13, 2009

My dream of 20 years was to relocate to Arizona. I finally got here this past March, taking a huge pay cut to work for a small company. I didn't care--it was the realization of my dream! Four months later, I'm out of work due to budget cuts. In the 6 weeks since then, I have applied for over 100 jobs. I have a bachelor's in business, 20 years experience in the business side of the medical field and am 1 1/2 classes shy of my Master's - and have received a response back from exactly 5 of them. You can't talk to a live person. You can't even find a phone number nor a physical address for HR to go and try to speak with someone. They say "apply on our website". You go to the website and invest time and effort to follow their rules - and then nothing. Not even a tweet. I was told at a job seminar yesterday that job seekers need to get on board with Facebook and Twitter and Link N and all of these other social networking avenues. What happened to just talking to someone face to face? I'm not against change or technological progress. Change is imperitive to maintaining competetive advantage. I understand HR's get inundated with thousands of resumes but please HR people - update the candidates status in a timely manner so they can move on - send the sterile "no thank you" emails so they can move on and most importantly - remember that the words on your website or on the piece of paper you hold in your hand represents someone real who is facing challenges right now. Do the right thing and respond yes or no.

Anna Janicki of FL 2:02PM August 13, 2009

The first & last topics are my pet peeves. Having been an assistant to a hiring manager I was the person who was responsible for scheduling interviews & sending out the disappointing results of interviews. Even if my manager only spent 10 mins w/ a candidate he was always respectful of the candidates time and feelings. Working w/ him for almost 20 years & knowing that this was the way my father always conducted business I mistakenly thought this was the norm. Since I have been job hunting I have found the opposite is the case. Recently I flew in (at my own expense) expressly for an interview and the day of I got a call just as I was leaving my house that the interview had been cancelled. I have had numerous interviews and the only "result" calls I get are the interviews booked by my "head Hunters", those booked directly w/ the companies remain in limbo.

Lenore of CT/NY of CT 1:18PM August 13, 2009

Hers is another perspective... as a person responsible for hiring qualified employees for over four years I am amazed at the lies that a prospective candidate will tell. I have stacks of resumes that lack any truth as to the candidates’ actual employment history or qualifications.
Ask any manager what their biggest challenge is and they will most likely state finding and hiring a reputable employee.
So which came first the mistreatment of a job seeker or misrepresentations by a job seeker?

Mike of CA 12:15PM August 13, 2009