On Time Is Professional

life

Because I was job hunting recently, I’ve got lots of appointments, either phone call or face-to-face. There are two HR’s who gave me particularly deep impression, and they are on totally opposite end of professionalism.

  • A good example
    • Wheneven she wanted to arrange a phone call with me, she sent me emails in ahead to confirm time. Never call me directly without appointment.
    • At the exact time of the appointment, ex. 5:00PM, I can expect her call to come in before the clock on my phone changed to 5:01PM.
    • Any follow-ups she promised, shel would get back to me on the exact date. Even though it might not be the final, she would insist give me some real/meaningful updates rather than hang me there waiting for the final decision.
    • For face-to-face appointment, she would send me the logistic information days before.
      • For interviews, she even sent me the names of the interviewee and their job title. I really liked this arrangement, because I liked to do research and preparation beforehand. With these information I can search these people on LinkedIn, and get some basic idea about what kind of territory their are working in, then I’ll have some better idea about how to prepare for the interview.
  • A bad example
    • This lady also sent me emails for phone call arrangements. But rarely reply to my suggested time slot.
    • We’ve had 3 phone call appointments. The first and third ones, she was later for more than 5 minutes. Even worst, she completely forgot about the second one.
    • She promised lots of follow-up documents over phone, but I never received them, until the headhunter urged her over and over for couple of times via email.
    • For face-to-face appointment, no instruction at all. The schedule was changed after the interview has begun.

To be fair, during my past 10 years after graduation, I’ve seen more than enough samples just like the second example, or even worse. My conclusion is they just don’t care.

For business owners, the battle for the right talents is getting more and more brutal. The hiring coordinators are on the front line of this battle. You should equip them with enough resource, decent training, as well as good manner, otherwise they will lose the fight and your company will lose the battle.