Sunday, January 16, 2011

Worst HR Rep Ever

Last October, I got contacted by the worst HR rep ever. First, he called and left a message- without referencing a job or a job number. When I called him back, I found out he was calling about a job application that I had filled out back in January- 10 months prior! He was quite annoyed that I didn't even recall his company nevermind what the position entailed. Most of the time when I get called by an HR rep months after applying to a position, they tell me that they've emailed the job description to me to refresh my memory and to return their call after I've looked it over. To appease him, I requested that he email me the job description and that I would call him back when I had looked over the details. I then call the guy back and he basically tells me that he is contacting me because they still haven't filled the position. He then implies that I am his last choice but HIS boss said that he wanted to interview me. Can we say unprofessional? He then tried to set up a phone interview with me the following evening at 7:30PM. He was surprised when I stated that the time was not convenient for me as I had a prior commitment (I had plans to attend a sporting event). He then told me that "you know, someone in your position can't pick and choose." I wasn't picking and choosing- he proposed a time that didn't work for me. For all he knew, I had scheduled another interview at that time or was working the late shift somewhere. So I simply reiterated that I had a prior commitment and asked for the next available interview opening. He told me that he'd have to get back to me. He then called me back at 7:45AM on a Saturday morning to schedule an interview. I was actually out walking the dog and returned the call when I returned. He then stated that if I wanted a job at his company, I would have to get used to getting up earlier (ummm....I can't tell you the number of times in grad school I started an experiment at 4AM in order to time it so that shared equipment would be available). I didn't reply to that statement...just let a long drawn out silence develop. He then responded "Well..." I replied that I was returning his call, why did he call me? He then responded that he called me to schedule an interview, but had changed his mind as he didn't think I'd be a good fit for his company. At this point, I was wondering what sort of reputable company can't fill a position in 10 months and works these sort of crazy hours. So I just replied I'm sorry he felt that way and wished him a enjoyable weekend. I then dismissed the entire incident from my mind until today. Yes, today, a Sunday, when I received a "LinkedIn" request from him. Yeah, because it's a good idea to network with someone who has implied that you are lazy and not worth employing. Oh, and I checked, the position I applied for- it is still open.

Not sure what to think

So I messed up. I forgot to mail HH's birthday card until the day of her birthday. I truly meant to call her and wish her happy birthday (she may be psychotic and mean, but she is my grandmother). However, right as we finished dinner, we had an emergency call from the neighbors. My neighbor has been battling cancer for 22 years. She's gone into remission a few times, but it always comes back. In October, she had brain surgery to remove a tumor. Several months of therapy later, she is still experiencing seizure-like symptoms. After a long day at the hospital, she fell trying to get up the stairs to her house (therapists WANT her doing stairs, hence no wheel chair ramp). Her wheel chair is impossibly heavy, so the neighbors called for help carrying it and her up the stairs as neighbor's husband and daughter couldn't quite manage it. DH and Dad were both out, so that left me. I can lift about 40lbs when walking up stairs. Obvious solution is to carry neighbor up separately from her chair, but she is so exhausted that she can't assist and we were afraid of dropping her without the support of the wheelchair. So I proposed that the neighbor's daughter and I take the bottom of the chair while the husband took the top. Working together this way, we got my neighbor and her chair up the stairs and into her house. In all this excitement, I forgot all about HH's birthday until after 9PM. I called HH at 10 the next morning, got her machine and apologized profusely and wished her a happy birthday. Tried 2x more to get ahold of her, but kept getting the machine. Dad gets home from his weekly visit today, and tells me that she was snippy with him because I forgot to call on her birthday because the neighbors are clearly more important to me. There is a grain of truth to that statement, which is probably why it hurts, but at the same time, I owned up to what I did wrong and apologized. What more can I do? Tell the neighbor, "Would you mind waiting out in the cold for 10 minutes while I call my grandmother and wish her happy birthday?"