I dealt with the PR firm (Global Impact) that has the contract for this position – the company that does the hiring and carries out the work for the federal government’s fundraising campaign.
I applied online to the PR company and got a request about a week later from the hiring manager for an in-person interview at the PR firm’s office. We settled on basic information (time, date) for my interview, but the hiring manager told me I would “hear from HR” before the interview with more information. I never did hear from HR. When I arrived at the office, more coldness - there was no one to greet me there – a vacant reception desk. So there was still some doubt that I was at the right place at the right time. But after a few minutes the hiring manager came and got me, but no word from her about HR not getting back to me as she had promised.
The interview was with the hiring manager and three other staffers (one of whom was on the phone from a remote location) from the various parties (organizations) involved. The questions were fairly standard, but the interview had some complexity because of the different parties and interests involved – just the complexity of the program and how it’s operated. But the group was good about explaining some of the complexity so I could understand what I would be getting into. As I was being walked out, I connected on a more personal level with one of the PR firm’s staffers, who told me he was familiar with my former employer and knew some of the staff there.
After a few weeks of waiting, I realized I would probably not hear back from them, despite appearing before them in person (at their request). I didn’t hear even a peep from them, not even to tell me that, after learning more about me in the interview, I was no longer being considered for the position. I find this baffling but also downright inconsiderate. The hiring manager was, unfortunately, like many, many other hiring managers and HR staff who are rude to you once you leave the in-person interview and never speak to you again. It’s like they purposely forget you, when you’ve spent some time talking – at their request – about some very personal things in your life, which is the very point of an interview. Forgetting you completely is almost as if to say that providing them with an opportunity to consider you was an imposition on them, like you as the candidate have forced your way in to their day and wasted their time.
How do organizations and companies that treat potential employees and supporters/customers like this treat their own employees? I shudder to think about what it’s like to be around people like this all the time.