Rolandes Ramblings

Having been in the professional workforce for 10 years now and having worked for several different companies both big and small, I am amazed at how ridiculous and irritating the job search and interviewing process is becoming. Being one of a relatively small number of people out there in the US today with the CCIE (~4000), I would think that this process could be a whole lot easier. But it is exactly the opposite.

First of all, 99% of all recruiters or headhunters deserve to be punched in the face for wasting my time. They all think they can somehow sell me on a position, even if it isn’t necessarily the right fit for me. So, instead of telling me the important details up front about a position like travel requirements, off-hours work requirements, and salary range, they try to drag me into a phone screen. Once I find out that the position requires 50% travel and/or the salary range is well below where I am at now or something ridiculous like that, I end up having to send the rejection email or phone call. It is such a colossal waste of my time to interview for a position if it is so far from what I am actually looking for. Having the CCIE on my resume has just made the process that much more painful because now I get every Tom, Dick & Harry recruiter emailing and calling me up because they have the “perfect” position for my background.

I can’t believe the number of companies that post positions and advertise all over the place only to freeze the budget or cancel the position within days of posting. I have had this happen for so many positions over the past year that it seems to be challenging the odds. Are companies really that stupid and not know what is going on internally that they go crazy posting for new positions to only cancel them within days? That is a huge red flag for me about any company if they seem that stupid from the outside they are probably much stupider once you’re on the inside.

You also have to love companies that appear to give you too much information. I had a company tell me that I was pretty much the candidate of choice within days of flying me down for an interview. They then informed me shortly after that that the one other candidate that I was up against decided that they no longer were willing to relocate. So, they wanted to continue interviewing so that they were sure that they were making the “right” decision. They strung me along like this for almost 3 months. I had a feeling they were just trying to hang onto me as a backup alternative. I finally pushed on them recently hoping that I could receive an offer and time it against some other offers that are on the horizon so I could leverage them against each other. They then informed me that an internal candidate had just come forward and that they were committed to promoting internally, so I should consider my other options at this time.

What a bunch of crap. I think they had known about this internal candidate all along and there was some logistical issue holding up the process, so they were hanging onto me as long as they could just in case it didn’t work out. As much as I wanted to burn that bridge and give them a piece of my mind for playing a game with me, I let it go.

Anyway, I love the double-standard when interviewing. Companies will take their sweet time getting back to you or keeping you updated with a status if at all. However, when they finally decide they want to make a move, they will give you 24 hours to make a decision. That, in my opinion, is completely absurd. It is a huge decision to make and there are a lot of alternatives to evaluate to make sure it is the right decision for you. If they really want me that badly, then they should be willing to offer a little more flexibility in the process.

Negotiation is a 2-Way street. At my level there aren’t thousands of qualified candidates beating down company’s doors for these positions, especially in some of the areas and the companies at which I am looking. From what I can gather, in some cases, there are only a handful of potential matches and sometimes only 1 or 2 at the most. So that puts the ball in my court. If they have selected me for the position it is for one of 2 reasons. Either I am the only qualified candidate or I have really stood out from the rest of the field. In the first scenario I should have tons of negotiation room. In the second scenario there should still be room for negotiation up to a certain point. They obviously want me for a reason, so they should be willing to wait a few extra days for a decision. Give me a break with the 24 hour time limit for a decision. The company has most likely been in the process of interviewing and looking for 6 months or longer. Waiting an extra day or two won’t kill them.