The Bare Minimum Job Interview... Is It Enough?

I had planned an article today extolling the virtues of a recruiter with whom I recently had the pleasure of meeting.? However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that she did the very least that we can all expect out of a recruiter.

She sent me an e-mail with a Calendly link in response to my resume submission.

She called when she said that she would.

She asked probing questions about me and my experience as it related to the role and her client.

She gave me her honest assessment of my prospects with her client.

She got back to me with feedback within the period of time that she stated during the call.

This is the very least that we should expect out of a corporate recruiter.?

It is the very least that their client should expect out of them.? And this is not what companies are getting.? They are getting a lot less for their money and they should expect more.

These negative and frustrating interview experiences should be just as upsetting to the companies that hire people incapable of properly interviewing people.?

We often hear that the reason that qualified candidates do not make it past ATS or get lost in the shuffle is the same reason why we do not get feedback: Hiring professionals are inundated with resumes.

Have you looked at a job posting recently? They are short on details including essential requirements to fill the role.? Hiring professionals must want a deluge of resumes if they are leaving off key details that would dissuade people from applying.

What this corporate recruiter with which I recently spoke did not do was get the fullest picture of me possible.?

And that was a lesson that I learned from this interaction.? I need to make sure that I sell myself, my skills, and experience to the best of my ability.

She did not seem to grasp that I work on-site at these companies.? I work alongside their existing teams.? I help them recruit new team members.? I establish policies and protocols for these teams. ??For all intents and purposes, I am their temporary Head of Marketing.? I report directly to the CEO and everyone else including any and all senior marketing staff reports to me.

I thought about challenging the misassumptions that she made both on the call with her, after I got off the phone, and after she sent me the feedback stating that my experience did not match that of her client. ?I decided against it.? It was not worth it.? The company was not somewhere that I felt I would fit in.

The fifteen minutes she penciled in was not enough to contain her inquiries.? We spoke for over 20 minutes without one opportunity for me to ask a single question. We should have scheduled at least 30 minutes for us to discuss the role and my fit in a manner that would allow her to get the full picture.

Moreover, she left the possibility that the role will be left unfilled, and another recruiter will come in, meet with me, and take the time to really get to know me which could lead to me being hired and someone else getting the credit.