Interview From RecruiterI was perusing Monster and noticed a job in my field posted by a recruiting agency. I normally DO NOT have anything to do with recruiting agencies because of my prior bad experiences with one. I applied for this anyway. I figured what the heck, right? About 15 minutes after applying I received a call from the recruiter and, apparently, she is a multi-tasker because I also received an eamil notification and the email was from her. I didn' t answer the call but let it go into voicemail instead. (Tip I learned from someone which may or not be accurate) I perused a few more job boards and then shut down my compter. Honestly, I forgot about the call and the email until this morning when my phone rang and my caller ID showed this recruiter. I answered the phone and she was very anxious to speak with me. Apparently, she is having trouble finding someone that will fill the position to the company' s satisfaction. They have let the previous four people the recruiter found for them go. After we talked, the recruiter stated that she is going to contact the company and set up an interview for tomorrow (Thursday). As it happens, I have an interview for a government job similar to the one I left when I relocated a year ago. As I am an honest person, I told her this and then said that I would be happy to meet with her and the company hiring director on Friday. The recruiter wasn' t very happy about this and asked how much the government job would pay. I told her what the website stated when I applied for that job and she said that she would be in touch before noon. Well, she was. And what she stated was that she had contacted the company' s hiring director and sold me to them. She stated to me that she presented me at the highest end of their starting salary range which just so happens to be $7000 MORE than the government job. She then stated to me that the company has stated that after the interview on Friday, the job would be mine. There are NO other contenders. Now, for my dilemma. (About time, you are saying) I am still going to the interview for the government job and if I am offered that position, I would want to take it. So, do I forego a position that I want (government) for one that pays more money (recruiter job)? By the way, they both offer 401(K) plans, 2/3 company paid medical and dental, vacation days, sick days, personal days. And, if I am offered the government job, what do I say to the company and the recruiter? "I didn' t answer the call but let it go into voicemail instead. (Tip I learned from someone which may or not be accurate)" This is the only reason I continued to finish reading your long post "Now, for my dilemma. (About time, you are saying) I am still goingto the interview for the government job and if I am offered thatposition, I would want to take it. So, do I forego a position that Iwant (government) for one that pays more money (recruiter job)? By theway, they both offer 401(K) plans, 2/3 company paid medical and dental,vacation days, sick days, personal days." 1) if you get one acceptable offer, accept it. "And, if I am offered the government job, what do I say to the company and the recruiter?" Go to both interviews with an open mind; after all, you might not get offered the gov' t job.... Chances are if you get an offer from interview #1, it won' t be for a day or so--they' re not likely to offer you the job on the spot! (Especially being the gov' t!) If you get the offer from company #2 on Friday after your interview, you can most certainly ask for the weekend to think it over. If they put so much pressure on you that they want an answer immediately, I' d have to question how professional are they, and would you really want to work for such a company? They know they want you, but you can' t possibly know yet if you want them! The recruiter can cool her jets--if you' re the only candidate, she doesn' t have to worry about another firm submitting someone. Be sure you tactfully ask why the other people in that slot haven' t worked out. From what you wrote, could be they have fooled around with marginally qualified people whom they did not have to pay a lot to, and are finally willing to up the ante to get someone who can do the job. If that' s not the case (and of course they won' t flat out tell you if it is--"yeah, we were cheap, but know we know better"), then there may be something else going on. You' ll have to have your ears & eyes open for the hidden meaning. But this may be a perfectly wonderful company and a great job; sometimes firms have to find out who/what they don' t need before they find out what/who it is they do. I would not count on the offer coming thru for the gov' t job, at least not in a timely fashion. Is this a first interview? Will there be a second round, etc., etc.? You need to ask at that interview what the next steps will be and how long the process will likely take. You may have to end up, if you don' t have a job currently, taking the one offered on Friday (after thinking on it over the weekend), then rescinding your acceptance if you are offered the other one. If it' s going to take weeks & weeks for this first job to get filled, you might want to take the other one for now. Then you' ll have a dilemma if you' re offered the other one, but there' s lots of advice here on how to handle that situation. Not to sound harsh, but were you born last night??? You haven't interviewed with the company and they say the job is yours. They haven't talked to you but seem willing to pay you at the top of the salary range. They are rushing you in for an interview. They have gone through four other employees. How many red flags do you need to see? Sure, go on the interview but you really need to step back a bit and look at this whole thing with a very jaundiced eye. And what ever you do, don't jeopardize the government job since it looks more real. To answer: Yes, being a government job and having worked in government, I do know that there will be a second interview and that, since the wheels of beaurocracy (I never could spell that word correctly) turn at a pace that would allow a snail to cross safely under their wheels, it will take more than a couple of weeks before I find out if I am invited back to a second interview. To answer: No, you brat-head, I was not born last night. Everything the recruiter told me yesterday morning made me hesitate to even accept an interview. Curiosity got the best of me and that is why I said yes. Personally, I think that the recruiter is the one rushing me in. I got the impression from her that the sooner she can unload this company on someone the easier her life would be. (Just something she said to me gives me this impression) To answer everyone who may have this question: The reason that the four previous people were let go is because the company did not believe that they were professional enough. Which could, actually, mean anything from someone forgot to say hello to the president of the company to someone arriving late for work to someone leaving a can of soda or cup of coffee in plain view of a client. And, also, the recruiter gave me the company' s name and address plus their website. I swear that I have been there before, but I cannot quite grasp when. I can almost see myself sitting in the HR director' s office but everytime I get close to picturing what she looked like (and I am sure that it is a she), the image slips away. Well, good luck, If the recruiter is the one doing the pushing, then don' t let that sour you on the company. And, I' m still going to think that "not being professional enough" probably translates to "we didn' t hire someone as qualified as we should have.... because we weren' t willing before now to pay enough money to get a professional." if that be the case, you could be walking into a good situation, where they will be so grateful to have a real pro in there that they' ll pay you anything to get you! Or, if it' s a company that will never be satisfied with anyone, then you could be walking into a disaster. You won' t know till you interview. It would be nice for you if not only is the money better, but you find that this job/company are also a good fit for you. Worst case scenario, you get the offer, you take the job, you get the gov' t offer, take it, resign from the other one... Not that anyone wants to do that sort of thing, but if you do need to have a job and can' t wait for the wheels of bureacracy to turn.... Well, got back from the government interview about 4:30. There are two reasons to dislike government interviews. The fact that it is a panel interview and the fact that there is a person sitting in who acts as the EEOC. You know, the person who makes sure that the questions asked are not illegal or inflammatory in nature. I knew from experience that it was going to be a panel interview so that didn't surprise me, the fact that all of the interviewers were male did. No biggie in any case. Actually, the purpose of the panel interview is twofold; one so that more than one person is privy to the interviewee which gives a multiple opinion base and two so that the interviewee feels that he/she has impressed more than just the human resource person with their nervousnes. The EEOC is usually funny because she doesn't have any real say so in anything and isn't supposed to take part in the interview. In my previous job when I acted as the EEOC, I usually sat there reading a copy of the newspaper's entertainment section trying hard not to laugh at the under-the-breath comments of the person beside me. (He could never keep up with the answers and was always griping about needing to know shorthand). Anyway, government interview over and they stated that this job only entailed one interview and so they would be in touch. Now, I have the interview tomorrow from the recruiter to look forward to. | |
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