An Arrogant Company Shows Its Colors

I recently had a very senior candidate who was flown to an out of town client to interview for a job in the C suite ($300,000+).  I was blown away by the inattention the client showed to this candidate.  And then I realized that it wasn’t rudeness, it was just arrogance (“We’re so good that everyone wants to work here”).

First, I had a devil of a time getting an itinerary for his interviews.  I wanted to be able to brief him on who he would be seeing or at the very least, let him know who would be talking to him so he could check them out in advance..  The HR director told me she wasn’t sure about people he would be seeing or the times. I told her I didn’t care about that, I just wanted to know the names and titles of the people he would likely be seeing.  She didn’t understand my need for that and I had to convince he to send me the names; it turned out that the list was incomplete – she was merely placating me.  It was a sign of things to come.

When the candidate's flight arrived the night before his interview, no one bothered to pick him up (that is actually not uncommon) or offered to buy him dinner or breakfast (that is rare at his level of seniority).  Okay, he is a big boy and didn’t need hand holding.  And certainly when people come to NY or LA that usually doesn't happen, but it does in smaller markets, especially when a company is trying to get someone to relocate there and paid to fly him in.

After he arrived, they texted him and changed his appointment from 10 am to 3pm, which was not a problem, but, again, no one offered to buy him lunch or arranged to get him from his hotel to their office.  He arrived at their offices at the appropriate time and was there for several hours. He was barely introduced to the people he met, no one bothered to give him business cards.  He saw six people in about two hours; so none of the interviews were in depth, including the president (who he would be reporting to).  It was more like a meet and greet.  He was there long enough to miss his flight home so he had to check back into his hotel.  Again, no dinner, but not even a, “We’re sorry, but things are hectic here.  Will you be okay?”

I thought it was uncaring.  It certainly showed no warmth.  He was left with an overall impression of arrogance. 

I have written that companies should send candidates thank you notes and companies should, at the very least, send a follow up note giving the people they meet information as to their status.  It took this company three or four days and they sent him a perfunctory and impersonal email thanking him for his time and telling him how to submit his expenses for reimbursement.  It was a form letter and, except that they used his first name in the salutation, it might have read, “Dear Candidate”.

I understand that everyone is busy.  But surely one employee could be designated to handle out of town visitors and make sure that things ran smoothly.  This is a well known agency in a small market.  If someone in advertising wants to live and work there, they are the target agency and they know it. But that doesn’t preclude being nice to visitors. The gesture of picking someone up and feeding them isn’t at all necessary, but it is a nice thing to do. An offer to drive them around town to show them the various neighborhoods might have been in order. At the very least, a candidate should leave there thinking positively about the agency’s culture and its people.

Being nice to prospective employees isn’t limited to out of town companies.  Every company should go out of its way to give visitors a positive vibe.  It makes people want to work there.

Suffice to say, that if this candidate is offered the job, it will likely be turned down.