"Scheduling the Interview"

Water Cooler Careers
#1

I (evidently) just finished the recruiting process with a financial consulting firm.

I did 2 phone interviews and an Excel modeling test - receiving very positive feedback after each.

My last phone interview was with a Director at the consulting firm and at the end of the call he said he really enjoyed the conversation and that he envisioned 1 more phone interview and then an in-person interview at one of their home offices.

A day later I got a phone call fromt he HR rep saying that we were going to proceed directly to in-person interview, and asked me for some dates when I would be available. I gave some loose guidelines but said that I would work around whatever they could do, since their travel schedules were likely much more hectic than mine.

I waited 4 business days without hearing anything, and then sent an e-mail to check in (this was last Wednesday). She said she was still lining up the busy schedules of the directors and would be in touch by the end of the week.

On Friday I didn’t hear anything, but decided not to e-mail, expecting something today.

Well when I got our of my 11AM meeting this morning I had a voicemail saying:

"Hi Rob, this is XXXX with XXXX Consulting,

I wanted to give you a quick call and update you on the status of the position - as you know the team has really enjoyed speaking with you so far and was hoping to set up a next step in the form of in-person meetings. I actually did connect with our team last Friday and unfortunately they have decided to hold off on moving forward in the process with candidates at this time. We’ve actually had 4 of our campus hires start in the last month and are actually about to bring on 2 additional resources at this time. They do believe they are all staffed up at this point but would look to re-evaluate their needs around mid-September. And as I mentioned they did believe your credentials were very impressive and we definitely want to consider you again at that time. Please let me know if you have any questions and please keep us updated on your situation…"

The “2 additional resources” she mentioned were already hired before I spoke with the director, by the way.

I’m thoroughly frustrated.

#2

Yeah, that’s kind of annoying. I’m sure something else will come along.

#3

I’m curious - what did the excel modeling test consist of?

#4

This is frustrating, but I’ve seen it all too often. Some companies even post jobs that are essentially already filled either to insiders or people already chosen, and the reason for posting the job is a formality.

There’s nothing you can do except move on and keep on trying. It’s a brutal job market right now

#5

The Excel test consisted of a little background for two made up companies, including a 10 month list of Purchase Orders for each.

Asked to quantify the potential opportunity if the companies shared each other’s supplier contracts, the amount they spent on the same set of products, and the amount they spent with similar vendors.

It was pretty simple, but a good opportunity to display a wide array of Excel techniques - which I imagine is what they were going for.