Why So Many Bad Experiences?

Good question. I believe it’s simply a matter of odds: the more interviews you go on, the greater the chances of participating in an unpleasant one. During the past year alone, I have been on more interviews than most people will experience throughout their entire working lives. 

Since getting laid off in March 2009, I have been on approximately 60 face-to-face interviews, in addition to the literally hundreds of telephone conversations I’ve had with HR drones, HR directors, executive recruiters, executive recruiters’ secretaries and scheduling vendors (yes, scheduling vendors. I learned first-hand that at least one of the Big Four accounting firms has outsourced its HR appointments to a scheduling vendor, probably off-shored somewhere in India. The vendors do not always get the time zones right. Too, I must say it’s a bit irritating to receive a confirmation for an appointment scheduled at GMT +5 o’clock. More interestingly, I wonder how exactly this saves money, or time. If anyone can explain, please do.)

But I digress (again). The better question, I think, is why so many interviews? To that, I can respond only with the data and ask you to do the math: I am now 58 years old. I am a woman. I made a six-figure salary. I am in marketing and business development. Companies have stumbled onto something far more effective than marketing or business development for pumping up profits: they lay off people like me.