Reply to: Clients Not showing up for telephone interviews....Is that a thing now?

[uk contractor]

Often when you're coming in at top whack they want to see what they're getting for their money. I had one interview where it was a phone interview then face to face with a technical specialist that they'd brought in from another department because I was in at £50/day more than anyone else. I got it because he told the hiring manager that, based on the interviews, I was the only one capable of doing the job.

I guess your right as I was top whack but TBH for the role (negative background to it existing staff were not going to be receptive to welcoming any contractor) it needs someone with less experience late 20s early 30s who will put up with all the negatives. The journey was also a nightmare not easy to get to & constant engineering on the line mean you would need to coach it or use a vehicle so I am not going to lose any sleep over it going elsewhere!

[LondonManc]

Had another bad experience last week on this. The end client withdrew a few hours before the interview was due to start with no reason given then rescheduled to have a phone interview & 3 face to face interviews on the same day! I withdrew immediately way too much hassle for a contract role (albeit well paid). Always a warning sign when the end client cannot get the interview done on time & you have to see several different senior people.

Often when you're coming in at top whack they want to see what they're getting for their money. I had one interview where it was a phone interview then face to face with a technical specialist that they'd brought in from another department because I was in at £50/day more than anyone else. I got it because he told the hiring manager that, based on the interviews, I was the only one capable of doing the job.

[uk contractor]

Had another bad experience last week on this. The end client withdrew a few hours before the interview was due to start with no reason given then rescheduled to have a phone interview & 3 face to face interviews on the same day! I withdrew immediately way too much hassle for a contract role (albeit well paid). Always a warning sign when the end client cannot get the interview done on time & you have to see several different senior people.

[GmartSuy]

More than one interview = trouble usually.

Usually a high staff turnover or have a prior history of making poor hiring decisions so want to meet you twice to indicate how desperate you are if you indeed show up

[simes]

Well, I was thinking... but didn't want to just assume or cast aspersions...

[uk contractor]

Grief!

What industry area was this in, if you don't mind my asking?

Must admit, after the first interview I would likely have known it was not the cultural fit.

Financial Services...that well known giver of big money, big egos & big aggro!

[simes]

To give another opinion its not always the contractors perception. I recently had a series of Video Interviews with senior managers in other time zones:

1st Interview: Manager kept me waiting for over 2.5 hours with no apologies or excuses whatsoever then gave me only 10 mins.
2nd Interview: Same manager called me back for a 2 hour interview & was quite rude.
3rd Interview: Different person kept me waiting 25 mins with no excuses or apology.
4th Interview: Another different manager kept me waiting for 15 mins with no excuses or apology.

After this I decided their culture was not my culture so withdrew from the interview process. Most of the people I had these interviews with were not punctual. 1 of the 4 was friendly the other 3 were hostile & unsettling. Whether this was their intention or not or they were just like that who knows but face to face many contractors would walk out or end the interview.

Grief!

What industry area was this in, if you don't mind my asking?

Must admit, after the first interview I would likely have known it was not the cultural fit.

[Hobosapien]

More than one interview = trouble usually.

I did have one client interview me then it went quiet. Hey ho - Got another gig. Two months later the agency contacted me (I think they knew though!) and said client x wants to do a 2nd interview.

Got the feeling agent was also a bit peeved to have his time wasted by the client.... Not quite sure if client really expected his initial candidates to be still available after 2 months.

Two months later! I'd be thinking either the project was stalled for that time, or they originally chose a different contractor who didn't go the distance and they were hoping to shortcut the process by not going back to the start for new candidates.

You could have done the 2nd interview and when they asked how soon can you start you give them the day after your current contract ends.

[psychocandy]

Ah, permie multi stage interview bollox. They're so important they can't all get into the one interview these days.

Only ever experienced it once myself, when I had a mid-contractor-life crisis and applied for a local permie job after wasting the warchest on a failed plan b.

Did the first interview, and this was back in the days when usually one interview was enough to secure most jobs, then they started going on about coming back the following week for stage two of the recruitment process. Declined, went home, hit jobserve, and a few hours later (after a telephone interview that the client managed to make on time ) was in a contract to start on the Monday.

The relative simplicity of securing a new contract is one of the perks of not going permie, long may it continue.

More than one interview = trouble usually.

I did have one client interview me then it went quiet. Hey ho - Got another gig. Two months later the agency contacted me (I think they knew though!) and said client x wants to do a 2nd interview.

Got the feeling agent was also a bit peeved to have his time wasted by the client.... Not quite sure if client really expected his initial candidates to be still available after 2 months.

[Hobosapien]

12 month Contract to then go Perm for big bucks!

Ah, permie multi stage interview bollox. They're so important they can't all get into the one interview these days.

Only ever experienced it once myself, when I had a mid-contractor-life crisis and applied for a local permie job after wasting the warchest on a failed plan b.

Did the first interview, and this was back in the days when usually one interview was enough to secure most jobs, then they started going on about coming back the following week for stage two of the recruitment process. Declined, went home, hit jobserve, and a few hours later (after a telephone interview that the client managed to make on time ) was in a contract to start on the Monday.

The relative simplicity of securing a new contract is one of the perks of not going permie, long may it continue.

[uk contractor]

You had 4 interviews for a gig???

12 month Contract to then go Perm for big bucks!

[northernladuk]

You had 4 interviews for a gig???

[uk contractor]

To give another opinion its not always the contractors perception. I recently had a series of Video Interviews with senior managers in other time zones:

1st Interview: Manager kept me waiting for over 2.5 hours with no apologies or excuses whatsoever then gave me only 10 mins.
2nd Interview: Same manager called me back for a 2 hour interview & was quite rude.
3rd Interview: Different person kept me waiting 25 mins with no excuses or apology.
4th Interview: Another different manager kept me waiting for 15 mins with no excuses or apology.

After this I decided their culture was not my culture so withdrew from the interview process. Most of the people I had these interviews with were not punctual. 1 of the 4 was friendly the other 3 were hostile & unsettling. Whether this was their intention or not or they were just like that who knows but face to face many contractors would walk out or end the interview.

[Glencky]

I'm really interested to know if the people being so snotty about the missed interview on this thread, have ever hired contractors themselves?

I agree entirely that the behaviour is very much suboptimal and unprofessional, and certainly not the desired way to act when you're recruiting anyone, contractor or permie (or indeed dealing with anyone either inside or outside the company where you're working). But on the other hand, sh1t happens. I can't claim experience of anywhere outside financial services but in that environment, the very time when people are at their most stretched is *when they're recruiting* and particularly *when they're recruiting contractors*. It's like that pretty much by definition. You're recruiting contractors because you need a flexible workforce quickly. That by definition means that you're at greater risk of having your day 'blown away' by some hideous and unignorable crisis.

As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the reasons why a contract market exists. It's the business opportunity for me. It's not that I don't find it frustrating to be on the receiving end of behaviour like this (I do, sometimes to the point of wanting to scream). It's not that I 'excuse' it. But I do *understand* how it happens and I've even unfortunately done stuff like this myself sometimes.

Nobody's perfect. There are some incredibly self-important people on this thread spouting the kind of inflexible sh1te I wouldn't expect from a Big 4 consultant with some clout, let alone a one person band type operation. If I was the hiring manager, I'd consider it a self-selection exercise...

Clearly there is always going to be a line where you walk away because you're not happy with behaviour, and where that line is will vary depending on the level of relative power in the equation. But some of the attitudes here really stink.

[Lance]

Blimey. When did the wold get taken over by fawning bedwetting lickspittles.

2001