[helene_t]

So this headhunter agency found a company that might have a job for me, and after two hours of phone interviews they invited me to come to their Swiss headquarter to have a chat. Scheduled for Friday 26 Feb at 12h45.

By Wednesday I still hadn't received my travel iternary and called the agency. No worry, I would receive it this week (!). I would hope so. Would be nice to know whether I were to leave Thursday (so I couldn't schedule meetings on that afternoon) or Friday morning (in which case I would probably need a hotel room at the airport).

Thursday I got my tickets. With a scheduled arrival at 14h30. I called them and they realized they had made a mistake. I would have to book a flight on my own then. To my surprise this was actually still possible, just a little inconvenient, leaving by train at 20h55 from home with three changes, arriving at the airport around 3. Oh well.

So I got into the plane on friday morning, and they announced that due to an air traffic controller strike it was unclear when we could depart. Might take as long as 4 hours. Started wondering how long a delay I could tolerate before I would have to call the thing off. It got hot in the plane, they opened the doors to cool it a little, people now complaining about it being too cold, children crying. After two hours we took off. After a terrible flight with enormous air turbulence I arrived 15 minutes late for the interview, which became 30 minutes due to formalities at the company's gates.

Then four hours of uninterrupted interviews, got a cup of coffee but otherwise still had no time to eat or drink anything that day before the flight back. Presented my e-ticket at the Swiss airport, got boarding passes for Frankfurt and from there onwards. Again, waiting 1 1/2 hours after the gate closed until take off, but at least my connecting plane would be delayed also so I would catch it. That would mean that I would not be able to get home from the airport that night but the headhunter had told me that I could just take a room at the airport hotel on their expenses. Fortunately flying business class so I got a small snack and something to drink.

Then at the departure gate in Frankfurt the boarding pass reader started beeping and they asked me to show my ticket. Strange, never happened before. Turned out my ticket was not valid as the company only reserved it and never payed for it. So the Swiss airport should have refused me already but they overlooked it. Never heard about the possibility of flying without a ticket, even unintentionally! Anyway, I would have to go back to the ticket office and buy a ticket but in the meantime the flight would have gone and I would have to stay overnight. Also the ticket office could neither accept my UK cash nor my UK debit card so I would have to wait till next morning when the exchange office opened.

My train back from the UK airport was on time so I was home after 51 hours with no sleep and no shower, must have smelled pretty badly.

[Rain]

Free frequent flier miles!

[blackshoe]

I hope you aren't paying that headhunter agency.

[kenberg]

If these guys want to hunt for their own heads I think I know where they should look.

[Winstonm]

Perhaps you actually got real headhunters?

[JoAnneM]

Was it a complete waste of time? Would be nice if the interview went well and the position was interesting. What a nightmare!

[helene_t]

JoAnneM, on Feb 28 2010, 05:12 AM, said:

Was it a complete waste of time? Would be nice if the interview went well and the position was interesting.  What a nightmare!

I dunno, would have been nice to have had some time to look around at their premises, chat informally to some people, attend some of their own activities, have a look at the city and some residential areas. Maybe this sounds strange but I have worked for 25 years for gvt, semi-gvt and small business but never for a large commercial company so I am curious about lots of things.

But what I have seen looks ok, the interviewers were all very nice and professional people and the general atmosphere at the offices appears pleasant at first glance. And they have beautiful premises. And offer decent money and benefits.

The tasks they had in mind were a lot less attractive than I had thought, though.

Anyway, I am pretty sure they won't offer me the job.

[PassedOut]

helene_t, on Feb 27 2010, 03:32 PM, said:

My train back from the UK airport was on time so I was home after 51 hours with no sleep and no shower...

A nightmare without even the compensation of sleep. Hope you are recovered now.

[Al_U_Card]

helene_t, on Feb 28 2010, 05:12 AM, said:

The tasks they had in mind were a lot less attractive than I had thought, though.

Anyway, I am pretty sure they won't offer me the job.

But at least the whole thing got you out of your ennui....

[Fluffy]

what a nightmare trip, only thing that could get worse is that the lugage were sent to another airport.

[mike777]

helene_t, on Feb 27 2010, 03:32 PM, said:

So this headhunter agency found a company that might have a job for me, and after two hours of phone interviews they invited me to come to their Swiss headquarter to have a chat. Scheduled for Friday 26 Feb at 12h45.

By Wednesday I still hadn't received my travel iternary and called the agency. No worry, I would receive it this week (!). I would hope so. Would be nice to know whether I were to leave Thursday (so I couldn't schedule meetings on that afternoon) or Friday morning (in which case I would probably need a hotel room at the airport).

Thursday I got my tickets. With a scheduled arrival at 14h30. I called them and they realized they had made a mistake. I would have to book a flight on my own then. To my surprise this was actually still possible, just a little inconvenient, leaving by train at 20h55 from home with three changes, arriving at the airport around 3. Oh well.

So I got into the plane on friday morning, and they announced that due to an air traffic controller strike it was unclear when we could depart. Might take as long as 4 hours. Started wondering how long a delay I could tolerate before I would have to call the thing off. It got hot in the plane, they opened the doors to cool it a little, people now complaining about it being too cold, children crying. After two hours we took off. After a terrible flight with enormous air turbulence I arrived 15 minutes late for the interview, which became 30 minutes due to formalities at the company's gates.

Then four hours of uninterrupted interviews, got a cup of coffee but otherwise still had no time to eat or drink anything that day before the flight back. Presented my e-ticket at the Swiss airport, got boarding passes for Frankfurt and from there onwards. Again, waiting 1 1/2 hours after the gate closed until take off, but at least my connecting plane would be delayed also so I would catch it. That would mean that I would not be able to get home from the airport that night but the headhunter had told me that I could just take a room at the airport hotel on their expenses. Fortunately flying business class so I got a small snack and something to drink.

Then at the departure gate in Frankfurt the boarding pass reader started beeping and they asked me to show my ticket. Strange, never happened before. Turned out my ticket was not valid as the company only reserved it and never payed for it. So the Swiss airport should have refused me already but they overlooked it. Never heard about the possibility of flying without a ticket, even unintentionally! Anyway, I would have to go back to the ticket office and buy a ticket but in the meantime the flight would have gone and I would have to stay overnight. Also the ticket office could neither accept my UK cash nor my UK debit card so I would have to wait till next morning when the exchange office opened.

My train back from the UK airport was on time so I was home after 51 hours with no sleep and no shower, must have smelled pretty badly.

So your post you tell us the company hires people who cannot do their job but even worse the boss does not follow up.

The one thing I always hated is when my boss seems to have no idea what follow up means.

I wonder about you stat gals and guys sometimes.


---------------


It reminds me on my last big job....the human resource person I talked with seemed to have no idea what the company did, let alone what I did, let alone what my job was.

I noted everyone I talked with after that was very very silent.......


One the first day ..ok first hour I got to meet the senior vp for human resource, this is after I was hired, my take away was...she was a nice person and thought that was her job...be a nice person.....I had asked here why she did not go after other smart people in the area, smart people I knew, much more aggressive.......she said that would not be nice......sigh.......


As others have noted I tend to ask alot of questions....maybe too many and maybe some not so smart......after my first week I was pulled aside and told if I wanted to work there..stop asking questions of my trainers....

--------------------------------

[barmar]

mike777, on Feb 28 2010, 09:30 PM, said:

So  your post you tell us the company hires people who cannot do their job but even worse the boss does not follow up.

How did you get that from her post?

Quote

I had asked here why she did not go after other smart  people in the area, smart people I knew,  much more aggressive.......she said that would not be nice......sigh.......

I suspect many companies leave the poaching to head hunters and employee referrals, rather than contacting candidates directly.

[kenberg]

What I got out of Helene's post was that it was a godawful screw-up. As is often the case iwth godawful screw-ups, it's tough to understand what really happend. For example she somehow managed the flight from Switzerland to Frankfurt but then the next leg was nixed. It wasn't clear to me if no one noticed on the first leg that she only had a reservation for the first leg (seems unlikely), or if somehow payment was made on the first leg but not the second (also hard to fathom). Basically it doesn't matter. Screwed up is screwed up.

As to the company, I can't imagine why anyone would deal with them twice.

[barmar]

The screwups were by a travel agency, not by employees of the company she was interviewing with.

[kenberg]

barmar, on Mar 2 2010, 03:41 PM, said:

The screwups were by a travel agency, not by employees of the company she was interviewing with.

Yes, I understood that, although I would place the primary blame on the headhunters rather than any travel agency they might work with. It's they who have the most at stake.

The whole thing really seems bizarre. I don't usually have much involvement in such matters but I was recently responsible for bringing five college students from different areas of the country to the annual math society meeting in San Francisco. They all had my cell phone number and instructions to call me at the first hint of trouble. There was a glitch with one of the hotel reservations, I got a phone call while I was wandering around Fisherman's Wharf, I made a couple of calls and headed towards the hotel, by the time I got there the problem was solved. This head agency seems to just do something or other and then hope everything works out. That's one hell of an approach to business. I really can't imagine them being around for long.

[y66]

Did you ever hear from those guys?

[helene_t]

y66: the headhunter called me a month later to make sure that I received my travel reimbursement. Never heard from the Swiss company, though.

Tried another headhunter company this time. Had a chat with them and they asked me to email CV and contact details.

Didn't hear from them for a week so called again. "Oh we deleted your email by accident so lost your details so couldn't get in touch with you. Please send it again."

OK, here is a hint for anyone being too incompetent for a real job: you can always get a job at a headhunter company.