Worst Recruitment Experience

[Smylers]

Kieren Diment writes:

> My worst recruitment experience resulted in me getting a small cheque
> at the end for my expenses after I had a whine at them (and their
> overly elaborate recruitment process).

Oooh, is this a competition? That's reminded me of the time I didn't
even get the expenses cheque I was promised.

I had just graduated, and I applied for a Perl programming job
advertised in 'Media Guardian'. I was invited to interview and the
employer offered to pay my expenses, which was about £50 for a train
from Newcastle to Leeds.

On interview day I had a call from their HR person saying that she
couldn't find the person who was supposed to be interviewing me, so she
didn't know if he would be there. She suggested I didn't set off and we
reschedule for another day. I pointed out that I was already past
Darlington and heading to London anyway, so if there was any chance of
my interviewer being found we may as well still do it that day.

Round about Peterborough she phoned again to say my would-be interviewer
was off ill, so there was no way I could be interviewed that day. She
was very apologetic and said she would be in touch to arrange a second
interview date.

So on arrival at King's Cross I took the Tube to Liverpool Street, ate
my lunch in a nearby concrete amphitheatre to the sounds of The
Bellow-Average White Band playing a few 70s cover versions, had a look
round a museum, then hopped on my train back north.

Not having heard anything a week or so later, I phoned the HR person.
She told me they definitely still wanted to interview me, and she'd let
me know the date soon. To this day I still haven't heard anything, nor
been paid my £50 (which was a lot of money to an unemployed
recent-ex-student). Shortly afterwards I accepted a different job, but I
never actually withdrew from this one -- the last communication was them
saying they'd contact me.

Leo, I appreciate your point about not naming employers before they've
had a reasonable time to respond. The above events took place on 2000
August 29th -- is 11 years long enough? (If so, I'd like to name the
employer as 'The Guardian'. If you still think it's a bit soon then I
won't.)

Cheers.

Smylers
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