Question on Job Interview Etiquette

Originally Posted by bunnspecial
I'd be giving a week and a half notice at best(my work is closed until Thursday).


I can send a work email from my phone. That fact that the office is closed today is irrelevant, and IMO would still count as part of the two weeks.
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Originally Posted by Leo99
I'd withdraw my application. Denial emails, unprofessional emails, reconsideration emails, two unreasonable demands on your time and acting immature when told no. That place is a mess.

+1

+ 10000000000000000

Run away from that [censored] hole organization....
 
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Originally Posted by bunnspecial
I'd be giving a week and a half notice at best(my work is closed until Thursday).


I can send a work email from my phone. That fact that the office is closed today is irrelevant, and IMO would still count as part of the two weeks.


Yes, maybe you're technically right, but what would I have to gain by doing that?

Or, put another way, what do I have to gain by leaving a place that's been good to me(and where I enjoy working) in a bind-which is what giving that short of notice would do-to chase a maybe in a place that seems like it would be terrible to work?
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences on this! It's been a long time since I've been in job search mode thankfully.

I've had some very odd interviews in the past, but nothing like this.

I too would just walk away from it for several reasons..
 
Seems like every interaction with the people doing the hiring takes you deeper down the rabbit-hole.

If this is the face they're showing to someone they're trying to entice to work for them, I'd hate to think what would be waiting for the candidate once they're in the door.
 
Originally Posted by zzyzzx
Originally Posted by bunnspecial
my current employer requires one month's notice for salaried employees and that I needed to honor that notice period.


BS, and not enforceable!


It absolutely is enforceable if you want to go back there. Many contracting companies do this because they have contracts with clients and need people at the site to do the job. If someone just leaves without what they consider to be enough notice to find a replacement, there is money being lost. Most places I've worked have been the standard two weeks. My company (IT contracting) is bare bones staff right now, and requires 3 weeks notice due to client demands. Is it reasonable? Not really, but if you don't want to burn bridges then it has to be considered.
 
Originally Posted by Mr Nice
jeepman,

What if an employee got very sick and you are very short staffed ?



It's already happened twice this past month, and basically everyone else has to step up and fill-in where they can. One guy had surgery and another had the flu. The company has over 20 open positions for a reason, which is why I'm currently looking. It's all about bare-bones staff, working the best engineers until they get burned out and leave, and making the most money possible. I used to drive to a few different clients about 30 min away, now my commute averages an hour + and I support more clients. Pay has not changed. The good thing is that a lot of my work is with clients and I have a great relationship with them, but I often go months without seeing my direct boss and communication within the company isn't really as good as I'd prefer.
 
Originally Posted by Leo99
I'd withdraw my application. Denial emails, unprofessional emails, reconsideration emails, two unreasonable demands on your time and acting immature when told no. That place is a mess.
+5
They make yet another demand? Do you REALLY want to work for these people? Why are you still messing with them? My previous advice stands... move on.
 
Originally Posted by AZjeff
Quote
From the collective BITOG wisdom, is there anything I should have done differently in this?


No. A department chair who doesn't recognize your commitment to your position and/or thinks his schedule more important might not be pleasant to work for. It sounds like your moral compass is working fine.



AZjeff made a very wise and insightful statement. Wisdom speaking.



I would not ignore them. I'd send them a thank you letter and then be done. Social Media has ways to come back on you when you least expect it.
I call social media "the devil's playground."

The truth be told, I would say someone was watching out for you. I'd be thankful.
 
Originally Posted by Gebo
Originally Posted by AZjeff
Quote
From the collective BITOG wisdom, is there anything I should have done differently in this?


No. A department chair who doesn't recognize your commitment to your position and/or thinks his schedule more important might not be pleasant to work for. It sounds like your moral compass is working fine.



AZjeff made a very wise and insightful statement. Wisdom speaking.



I would not ignore them. I'd send them a thank you letter and then be done. Social Media has ways to come back on you when you least expect it.
I call social media "the devil's playground."

The truth be told, I would say someone was watching out for you. I'd be thankful.


Agreed.
 
Application officially withdrawn.

I will not communicate with them any further, as I don't see that anything good can come of it.

Thanks for all of the good advice here!

BTW, had another conversation with my department chair this morning. He said that it was giving off signs all around as a badly run department and that I was best advised to stay away.

He also said that when they posted the comparable open position in our department, that someone with my experience would have jumped off the page to them and that they would have done whatever was needed to get me in for an interview. He's told me multiple times that as an administrator, he'd much rather wait(within reason) for the right person for the job as opposed to just hiring the first person to apply/be available.
 
Originally Posted by Gebo
Social Media has ways to come back on you when you least expect it.
I call social media "the devil's playground."
I call it anti-social media.
 
And for more on this never ending saga, I just got an email from the last person I spoke with(not the department chair) saying they noticed I'd withdrawn my application and asking me why and saying that they were really trying to work me in for an interview.

I haven't sent a response, but the one typed out and hovering over the send button on is "Thank you for your time and consideration of me for this position, but after evaluating several factors I have decided that this position does not align with the current direction I wish to pursue."

Does that sound halfway reasonable?
 
Hmmmmm. It seems that it might be prudent to give them some carefully worded constructive criticism. Otherwise they will never learn about problems that need to be addressed. But, if you think this could somehow backfire to burn you in the future, then your response is appropriate. Institutions of higher learning can sometimes have very fickle situations, just like the real world.
 
Originally Posted by Gebo
Social Media has ways to come back on you when you least expect it.


Yep. I've experienced that.

Be careful what you say, because some anonymous (or not) person might try to cause problems for you.

In the OP's case, I wouldn't offer anything that could be misconstrued as criticism. Constructive or otherwise.
 
This seems to never end.

I send my above email about pursuing a different direction and thanking for the opportunity mid-day yesterday.

I got another late yesterday after, again from the department chair-the one who was so obnoxious along the way. He gave it to me with both barrels-said that he was tired of the "tire kickers" applying for a job that didn't actually want to work and how he's glad that he found out how useless I am before hiring me because he already has a department full of people like that he's trying to replace anyway. He accused me of lying about my interest in the job and, again, wasting his time even looking in to me as a candidate and that he hopes I have no luck find a job anywhere(never mind that I'm already employed).

As I see it, my options in order of what are probably best are to

1. Ignore this and any other emails from the entire place

2. Respond with again, something along the lines of "Thank you again for your time. My interest in the job was genuine, but several factors have changed in the time since submitting my application and this drove my decision to withdraw" then ignore any further.

3. Give the full riot act as politely as possible-"I am sorry to have frustrated you so much by this matter. Although I was initially interested in the posted job description, and remain interested of jobs of that type, my decision to withdraw my application was based on a variety of factory. Above all, I am committed to my current employer, and you have pushed me to break standing obligations to that employer in the hiring process for this job. The less than professional response I have received when I explained those obligations has caused me to give this job application much more scrutiny. Although, again, I am interested in the position the tone of correspondence up to this point has made me question the quality of the work environment I would be exposing myself to if I were to be offered this position. The tone of our interactions to date along with the events and requests made within them were the exclusive motivation for my withdrawing my application. Thank you again for your time, and I apologize for any part I had in these interactions unfolding this way. I feel that it would be in both of our best interest if there were no further correspondence between the two of us regarding this position."
 
You could probably just forward that to HR and tell them you didn't think it would be a good fit which is why you withdrew.
 
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