So we here at Pile and Company are slightly conservative and have eased ourselves into the Blog world. Our next step, today, is to open up the "comments section". I hope this blog post topic prompts you to share your personal experiences related to the topic.

I was speaking with a candidate the other day about his experience with lack of etiquette--and in this case common decency--during an interview process. Up to a certain point this person had gone through a very traditional set of interviews, three different days meeting with 3-4 people during each visit. He had connected with two internal contacts, the hiring manager and the HR person, who were helping him through the interview process. The final step in the process was to come in to meet the CEO for the first time and spend time with the hiring manager and the HR person to talk more specifically about the terms of an offer. So in he went, interviewed with the CEO and then met the hiring manger and the HR person to discuss offer, benefits and start date. The outcome was that the three had come to a verbal agreement on offer and start date. The next step was for the HR person to provide a formal written offer that would take about 3-5 days to get to him, with a start date two weeks out.

So three days pass, and nothing – five days pass, still nothing. Day five the candidate tries to reach the HR person, day seven nothing. Day eight, follow up with the hiring manager, no response. This pattern of follow-up continues with professional email and voicemail communication from the candidate to his two internal contacts. With no response to multiple attempts to connect, he decided even if an offer comes through he will not accept.

For fun and to get some closure, the Friday before the start date they had verbally agreed upon he sent an email to the HR contact and cc'’d the hiring manager. It went something like this (names and titles changed): "Hello (HR person name), Tom here, your new VP of Product Management. I’m thrilled to be starting on Monday, and I plan on being there at 9 a.m. I wasn’t sure about protocol with lap tops and cell phones so I figured I’d be proactive and go out and purchased both; attached are my receipts for expenses $4,800.00. During my last meeting with Bill (hiring manager), he let me know I’d be in my predecessor’s office, which I was shown during my last visit. Feel free to stop by on Monday, I’m sure there is some outstanding paperwork we need to discuss." This prompted a quick return phone call from HR to state that there had been a change in "hiring strategy" and that they were not filling the position.

As the story goes, the candidate took the high road during the call and the HR person couldn’t apologize enough. Interestingly, he never heard from "Bill". What's your horror story with lack of etiquette and lack of common courtesy?

Matt Gill

Senior Vice President Pile and Company Executive Search Group

617.587.3958

www.pileandcompany.com

mgill@pileandcompany.com