what are your most frustrating experiences with job hunting

Rommel might have been the "safer" Nazi choice

 

For the energy accounting type jobs I passively look for, recruiters were downright worthless. I don't think I've spoken to a single one that had a job I hadn't already applied for. I guess my thought was that these people had relationships that gave them unposted listings or positions with lesser known companies, but not really. Still a better strategy to just bogart an internal customer list, then hit some state industry board or industry group website for a list of companies and then just carpet bomb the covlet.doc and resume for eight hours a night.

Conversely, my father was an engineer for thirty years and I'm pretty sure every job he had he got through a headhunter, so I guess if you've got skills people actually want, they're a pretty good resource.

My most frustrating work experience happened senior year of college. I applied for an internship with Gene Theobald, some retail bond salesman at First Union, in their old office across from the Park Shoppe. I interviewed with the guy, he said he was impressed and asked me to start there part time in January. So I go up there over the semester break, put in a seven hour shift at $6.00/hour entering customer info in some database, and at the end of the day he says he can't hire me permanently unless I committ to him for two years. Obviously it's senior spring and I didn't want to turn down any full-time offers, so I told him no and he gives me a $42 personal check for an internship I thought I'd have all semester.

 

Literally only one way for any minority to interpret that comment. In a broader sense, I don't think there's ever a good time to bad mouth an employer, unless you're trying to explain a very short tenure there.

 

I just finished reading his book, you magnificent b*stard!

 

Interviewed for a position last week, thought everything went well, my skills matched up, interviewer liked me, even went 30 minutes over which is a good sign.

Not even a single call or email from the employer since. Even looking back now I would not have changed a thing about the interview, thought it went really well. Only thing that I can think is that my resume could be better, but there is nothing I can do to change that right now for my current job search.

Just left thinking now that even with a great interview I'm not getting anywhere, what the hell can I do? It's like there is no way to possibly outdo someone with a greater resume than mine, it's like there is no point in even trying anymore...

 

Before I got my current job, I had interviewed for a Financial Aid Counselor position at a university. I kicked ass in the interview, and the next day they told me they wanted to hire me, but that it would take a long time to do so. Budgeting reasosn as well as regulatory reasons. That was fine with me.

They called me at least once a week for the next month, assuring me I was still their #1 choice.

Eventually, I got a call saying that one of the phone numbers for a previous employer didn't work. When I had interviewed with them over a month ago, the number was current. They had since changed it. Another previous employer kept giving them the run-around and they just lost their patience and decided to go with another applicant.

I was told that since my employment history could not be verified, I was no longer under consideration for the job.

When I pointed out that the phone number WAS current when I gave them my application, they said they had no way to prove it. When I offered to get the correct number and give it to them within the hour, they said to not even bother.

I was so pissed and shocked at the same time that I couldn't even say anything - I just hung up and sat still for about an hour.

And best of all, this last phone call came when I was out camping.