Prospective Employers: Rude, Rude, Rude! (credit, apply, interviewing, owner)

[Soothesayer9]

Friend of mine emailed me this when I asked him about rude employers:

"Back in the late 60s I was working a night job as a Linotype operator while going to school, retraining for something called “computer programming”.

After 13 years in the trade as a free agent, I had to join the Union to get the job I wanted in San Diego. First night on the job I was stunned to see the shop steward go after management over the smallest infraction of rules, which reinforced my opinion of union stupidity.

One time at lunch I asked him why he was such a ball-buster over even meaningless breaches. He said that during the Depression management was on top and they NEVER let the workers forget it. Now it was the workers’ turn.

He was in a big city and said they used to wait by the exits to the subways where people coming up would give the classified section of the newspaper to them. Same thing as reported here - 500 guys show up for two or three job openings.

The manager would walk pass the line of guys thinning out the applicants: “No n*gers, get out; no Wops, beat it; too old, get out” etc. etc. At another job they let him fill out an application, carefully looked it over, then at him and said, “We’ll let you know” - then turned around and tossed it in the trashcan. The steward said that the guy could have waited until he left, but made a point to do it in front of him.

That went on for years, until Sept. 18, 1939. I asked why he was so date-specific. “That was when I knew the Depression was over.” “How so?” “The manager wanted me to do something and said ‘Please’ “.

While the tone of put-downs will be different, I think many workers won’t be hearing “Please” for a number of years."

[Soothesayer9]

Originally Posted by dazeddude8

the trend now is if rejected from the job, the employer won't bother to contact you. Whether by email, phone, automated rejection email- you will just hear nothing back.

I foresee this in the coming years to be made illegal. Eventually applicants (i.e. voters) will get sick of getting treated like dirt. It is not rocket science to set up something that would let applicants know if the company says yea or nay.

[carolinacool]

Originally Posted by supernaut112

If a company comes across as too "immature" in its initial ad — I'm assuming that the people in H.R. draft these for the most part — I don't bother responding. There are slews of these on private boards created specifically for people who do what I do. Some of these ads are simply amazing, and they even dastardly employ "hipster" lingo that makes me cringe whenever I read it. Do they want me to think they're really cool, or do they want a good contractor?

Oh, goodness. I hate those. You see it a lot in local, start-up PR and marketing agencies. And if you visit their websites, you see lots of pictures of the staff in hip graphic tees and bios that point how "Sarah is a stand-up comedian in her free time" or whatever.

Not that I'm opposed to having fun at ALL! I like chatting with co-workers and not being business all day long. I like wearing jeans to work! But I agree some ads are just way over the top with the "hipness," but I guess they weed out a lot of people that way.

[supernaut112]

Originally Posted by carolinacool

Oh, goodness. I hate those. You see it a lot in local, start-up PR and marketing agencies. And if you visit their websites, you see lots of pictures of the staff in hip graphic tees and bios that point how "Sarah is a stand-up comedian in her free time" or whatever.

Thanks for giving me a good laugh!

And this is so true. I suppose this is to give the company a more personal "face." Unfortunately, it has just the opposite effect on me. There's a really good chance that I'm going to think somebody's a Grade-A Fool if they engage in Extreme Sports after the age of 20. Any kind of activism is a turn-off to me, too. I don't care that an employer is 'green.' I care that they get the job done correctly.

I'm not sure what demographic these people are pandering to. As far as I knew, the Baby Boomers and Gen X still hold most of the buying power and tend to be less impressed by this kind of yada-yada.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by BlindAlleyKat

Well, I haven't met that group yet. The people I work with are extremely busy, myself included. I have no family drama, busy work, etc. I do not reply to emails that are not directly related to attaining my goals for the day because I simply do not have time for it. Many people do not reply to me. It's just the way it is. I don't take offense to it because I know they are not being rude; they are just really busy.

Your post makes no sense. People send you work related emails and you ignore them and they ignore you?

Don't know what kind of work you do, but in most offices you can plan your day to go one way and something comes up and everything changes. You can't ignore a situation because it doesn't meet your daily goals.

People have always been busy, and while you have to prioritize and multi-task you can't ignore work related requests.

Well I guess you can, but eventually that will become an issue.

[Badger]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

Most of the initial and final hiring steps are handled by HR "people." They are typically 20 something bimbos with inflated egos and low competence. People who can't really contribute to a company typically work in HR.

My experience dealing with them is that they completely lack manners or morals, have very little intelligence, embrace psychobabble and corporate BS to an absurd level, and have turned hiring in a a high school popularity contest meshed with a psych exam with no relation to qualifications need for the job.

repped, deserves reading one more time.

[supernaut112]

Originally Posted by seain dublin

Your post makes no sense. People send you work related emails and you ignore them and they ignore you?

Don't know what kind of work you do, but in most offices you can plan your day to go one way and something comes up and everything changes. You can't ignore a situation because it doesn't meet your daily goals.

People have always been busy, and while you have to prioritize and multi-task you can't ignore work related requests.

Well I guess you can, but eventually that will become an issue.

I was wondering if I was the only one who found this response vaguely nonsequitous.

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by supernaut112

I was wondering if I was the only one who found this response vaguely nonsequitous.

It made perfect sense to me. Yeah, everyone is busy but people aren't contacting you for no reason, ignoring something doesn't make a problem go away... just increases how long you have to spend on the solution.

[supernaut112]

Originally Posted by Jesse276

It made perfect sense to me. Yeah, everyone is busy but people aren't contacting you for no reason, ignoring something doesn't make a problem go away... just increases how long you have to spend on the solution.

I'm not sure my original post was clear.

I have been contacted my some of these employers requesting an interview. They then fail to follow through with a specific time and date.

I do understand, having interviewed people myself, that it's impossible to respond to every applicant. However, when applicants are phoned for an initial interview, there is follow-through with a specific date and time.

"Busy" is no excuse.

[seain dublin]

Originally Posted by supernaut112

I'm not sure my original post was clear.

I have been contacted my some of these employers requesting an interview. They then fail to follow through with a specific time and date.

I do understand, having interviewed people myself, that it's impossible to respond to every applicant. However, when applicants are phoned for an initial interview, there is follow-through with a specific date and time.

"Busy" is no excuse.

Your first post was very clear and valid.

This is nonsense that people are too busy, people have always been busy.

Today there is a lot of unprofessional behavior going on.

Look at the people you deal with when you do your banking, car insurance, credit card companies, etc.