Ask HN: How should I handle recruiters who don't pay attention?

3 points by greyostrich 9 years ago | 10 comments

An internal company recruiter asked me to list several dates and times for a phone interview. I selected three different days, and a range of four hours for each day. The recruiter decided to schedule the interview no where near any of my ranges.

Is the recruiter testing me? Did he make a mistake? I find it hard to believe he was off by two hours. Is he expecting me to be obedient? This is a STAR type-of-interview company, as far as I can tell.

Should I correct him? I'm OK with the time, but I'm not the kind of person who likes these kind of mistakes free without saying anything.

kweinber 9 years ago |

This is a test. . .but not necessarily an intentional one by the recruiter. It is a test of your maturity and perseverance.

People make mistakes, schedules don't always line up, and sometimes people are overwhelmed or aren't good at their job as a recruiter. Unless you are interviewing for a job with the recruiting department, you should not hold the rest of the company equally at fault for difficulty in getting to the interview.

If you need to say something, do it positively when asking for the rescheduling, and then be frank about how to improve the experience after you have the job (or have decided not to take it).

codegeek 9 years ago |

This could be a silly question but did they screw up due to timezone differences if any ? I deal with clients all over the world and I always specify what timezone I am talking about. I never say "how is 11 AM". Instead, I ask "How is 11 AM Eastern?". I also add if possible "I know you are 4 hours ahead of me...." to ensure that they pay attention to the timezone.

If not the timezone issue, then it could just be a mistake/sloppiness on the recruiter's part.

Should you correct him ? Yes, definitely. Say that their scheduled time is not on the suggestion you sent earlier. But if it is ok with you, accommodate anyway. Either way, don't read too much into recruiters. They are just a way to get into the company. If you like the company/team, don't worry about the recruiter.

greyostrich 9 years ago | |

In the first email, he did ask me explicitly to mention the timezone (I always do this anyway with every company). Anyway, the recruiter was a cool guy.

n3bs 9 years ago |

Is this company in a different time-zone? It could be an honest mistake. I'd ask them, they can't fault you for following up on the schedule, especially if you're clearly still interested.

"Hello xyz, I noticed the meeting invite I got was for ... do you have any availability for ...? I'm unavailable during ..."

Worst case they say "No unfortunately that's the only time slot we have" and you reschedule for another week or something?

greyostrich 9 years ago | |

They're an international company, and they did highly emphasize that when asked for me to choose a time.

afarrell 9 years ago | | |

I found calendly super helpful when doing an international job search

patgenzler 9 years ago |

The fact that he ignored your preference and didn't bother to communicate why tells me he's not a type of person who could benefit from your "correction attempt"; since that could affect your interview the risk reward ratio is bad here. I wouldn't do it.

JSeymourATL 9 years ago |

> I'm OK with the time, but I'm not the kind of person who likes these kind of mistakes...

Looks a like a very minor situation in the big scheme of things. How would you want to be treated if it were your mistake?

Perhaps some empathy/patience/appreciation for the clearly overwhelmed, doltish recruiter.

bsvalley 9 years ago |

You're fine with the time? Move on...

rajacombinator 9 years ago |

Recruiters tend not to be the brightest bulbs, and their opinion/competence doesn't really count for anything. If the time works I'd just go with it to get the process started.