it's ALL about the experience

Are You Really Going to Apply Online?

The following is a BlogSwap guest post from Jim Durbin of StlRecruiting.com.

So you want to find a job, and the first thing you do is sit down at the

computer and start searching Monster for jobs. You flip through hundreds

of posted positions, merrily clicking Appy Now buttons and forwarding your

resume to what you can only assume are hungry recruiters waiting for a

resume to come to their attention.

Is that what you imagine? A room of listless monkeys sitting around

waiting for a resume to pop up on your their desktop, with bells ringing

and alarms shrieking and a bright red light in the room spinning as the

manager says, "Stellar Candidate Number 863124 just submitted to an open

position! This is the one we've been looking for!"

Now let's be honest.  Didn't some of you, maybe just a little bit, imagine

this is what happens when you apply online through a job board?  That job

description speaks to you man, it fits you so well it's like the manager

was inside your head when she wrote it, and sure the qualifications list

the need to be fluent in Mandarin Chinese but is it really that hard to

learn?  You made it through four years of Mrs Tingle's high school Spanish

surely you can pick up some Chinese, and by golly they'll train you if

it's that important.

Are there any of you that just know this job was meant to be...yours,

meant to be yours, and clearly the universe made this job pop up in front

of your computer screen on this day.  Why, you almost didn't turn on the

computer today, but something told you that you should sit down today and

look for work, and wow - look what happened - you're here to apply to the

job.

On the other side of the internet, you can see what's happening.  The

recruiter gets your resume, glances at the title and is intrigued.  The

name seems so familiar, but they can't place where.  It's  little bit of

deja vu, it is. The recruiter reads the resume, (the world's best!

resume), and almost falls out of the chair.  He grabs for the phone and

calls the hiring manager.  "Cancel all your appointments, a stellar

candidate just applied for the job!"  The recruiter hangs up and mouths a

silent prayer to whatever beneficent deity put this candidates in front of

them.

But not everyone falls into that category.  Maybe you're not the naive

type who thinks there's someone on the other side of that terminal for

you.  Maybe you're a volume type of guy.  Volume works - ask any

cold-calling salesman.  Every "NO" you get takes you that much closer to a

"Yes."

So what do you do?  You submit a resume to every position a company posts

in the hope that the recruiter will read the resume, call the CEO, and

demand a new position be created for the talented resume that just came

across the desk. Sadly, even CEO's send their resumes to online job

postings. Need a Help Desk candidate? Send a CEO resume!

Not satisfied with blasting your resume eight times to the same recruiter

from one job board - you bounce around every board you can find, burning

up your keyboard with multiple resume submissions, sure that if one person

doesn't like your resume, maybe another one will.  It's all just one big

crap shoot anyhoo!  Am I right or am I right?

It may seem harsh - but clicking submit on an online application is like

sending your picture to a hundred suitors and begging for a date.

Companies don't have the resources to process the hundreds or thousands of

resumes that come through the pipeline every year, and many times your

resume, the one you spent weeks getting just right, is never read.

That's right. It's never even looked at. If it's opened, it might be

printed. If it's at the very top of the pile on the recruiter's desk, it

might get passed to a hiring manager. If they have time, the hiring

manager might glance over it - and if you have the perfect resume (which

differs for every manager), you might get an interview.  Do you know the

odds of that happening?

So What's A Job-Seeker To Do?

Be smart.  Use the job boards to find the companies that hire in your

field and then find something about them.  Find people inside the company,

or call the switchboard , and make sure that if you send your resume to

someone, that you've spoken to them and they are expecting it.

Don't ever send a resume to anyone that you haven't spoken to.  I mean it.

There are no monkeys and no bells and whistles to help you.  This is your

final warning.

Jim Durbin is the Director, Corporate Communications for the Durbin Media Group (www.durbinmedia.com)  He writes several local recruiting blogs and has a book coming out later this year on surviving unemployment.  This post is part of the College Recruiter www.collegerecruiter.com) and Recruiting.com (www.recruiting.com) Blogswap.  Jim can be reached at jdurbin@durbinmedia.com

Technorati tags:  college recruiting, job application

Business Ethics are Cool

Liz Handlin joins us to talk about ethics.  Of course, everything she says can be applied to employers as well--no fibbing anywhere!  Thanks for dropping in, Liz.

When I was in business school at the University of Chicago, Enron hadn't collapsed yet. Jeff Skilling, Enron's former CFO (and Harvard MBA), was accorded god-like status by most MBA students and a job offer from Enron was a guarantee of success and riches. Today I read an Associated Press article that says Skilling is supposed to report to a minimum security prison in Minnesota to begin his 24 year sentence. Wow, how times change. I recall sitting in one of my graduate marketing courses at the U of C and thinking that we, future graduates of one of the top MBA programs in the country, were so lucky because we had access to such a great education which would most likely lead us to a great career. But I often felt like wealth was the only barometer of success recognized in our graduate school world. I recall a few in-class discussions that had me shaking my head and wondering what some folks were thinking. In particular I recall a discussion about whether or not it was OK to lie to a potential employer about your current or past income in order to secure a higher salary offer. The whole conversation just seemed crazy to me: if you lie you may get caught and the downside of getting caught in a lie is often much worse than the possibility of taking a lower salary if you tell the truth. I actually wound up in a big argument with some guy in my class about this topic. He claimed that an employer couldn't find out if you had lied about past compensation so, therefore, it was stupid not to inflate your past salary because that would naturally inflate your potential offer. I told him that (a) potential employers can find out your past salary (many ask for your W-2) and (b) you just shouldn't take the chance because it isn't ethical or smart. Just like Jeff Skilling discovered when Enron collapsed. And Andrew Fastow. And Ken Lay. And many others. Money is important but it's not worth ruining your life or anyone else's over. Remember that ethics are cool and not some quaint and outdated concept that only "squares" adhere to. Liz Handlin, Ultimate Resumes LLC, © copyright 2006

Liz Handlin

http://ultimate-resumes.blogspot.com/

 

This CollegeRecruiter.com Blogswap article is courtesy of Recruiting.com

and CollegeRecruiter.com , a leading site for college students and recent graduates who are searching for internships and entry level jobs.

Technorati tags: ethics, salary, recruiting, hiring

Speed up your job search -- Write it down!

Today we welcome Kevin Donlin as a Guest Author and contributor to Round 2 of the Great Recruiting Blogswap.  Welcome to our world, Kevin!

Got a difficult problem in your job search? Say, a lack of networking contacts? Or trouble answering interview questions?

Well, you've got company. Problems in a job search are as common as potholes in March.

But ... have you ever written your problem down on a piece of paper?

I'll bet you haven't.

Because, when you write problems down, you take an immediate, huge leap towards solving them.  Think about it: Every great invention or solution, from the atomic bomb to the Xbox, was first worked out on paper.

Why not solve your employment problems the same way?  Here's a three-step method that will help you do it ...

1.  Start by asking empowering questions.

Most folks put themselves behind the eight ball in their job search by asking questions that are depressing and demotivating.  Questions like, Why won't anyone give me a job? or How do I network when I don't know anyone?

Ack. Pass the happy pills.

Instead, start asking questions that motivate and inspire you.

Better questions to ask are:

How could I give people a reason to call me with job leads?  How did my 10 closest friends find their current jobs?  How could I brainstorm with them and use their methods in my job hunt?  What worked in my last job search?  The job search before? How could I do that again?

Important: Ask questions that you yourself can solve. Never depend on the government, your school, parents, family -- anyone else -- to do this for you. Because once you give up responsibility for solving problems with your job search (or anything else), you become a prisoner of outside forces.

When you ask the right questions, however, you're halfway to the answer. So write down at least five empowering questions about your job search, right now.

Then, you're ready for step two.

2.  Brainstorm at least 20 possible answers

After you write down five good questions, circle the one question that looks most promising. You're going to use it to get hired faster.

Let's say you write the following question down atop a clean sheet of paper:

How could I give people a reason to call me with job leads?

Write a number 1 below it. Write a possible answer next to that number.  Then move on to number 2, 3 and 4 - and don't stop until you have at least 20 answers to your question.

Not 15 or 19, but 20 answers -- or more.

There's a reason for this: Left to its own devices, your brain will pull a Homer Simpson after two minutes and try to talk you into going out for donuts or beer. Brains hate to think. Like bench pressing, thinking is strenuous work, no matter how good it may be for you.

But don't let your head off the hook. Don't stop until you get 20 possible solutions. Brainstorm as if your career depended on the outcome. Because it does.

Now. Most of your 20 answers won't be very good -- that's OK. Your best answer may come right after the most hare-brained.  By forcing yourself to write out 20 answers, you're flushing the creative pipes while going deep into your subconscious mind to dredge up a winner.

Don't knock it until you try it!

3.  Take action on one solution

Choose the most promising from your list of 20 answers. Then, get started -- today -- to make it happen. No excuses.

Let's say the most actionable of your solutions is to throw a networking party where you can meet friends, family and acquaintances, and let them know about your job search.

Now. What do you need to do to make this party happen?

Well, you have to make the guest list, send invitations, get the food, etc.  So write down all the sub-goals necessary for the party to be a success.  Check each sub-goal off your list as you complete it. Before you know it, your networking party will be a reality.

After that, take the next most-promising solution from your list of 20 and make that one happen.  Repeat until hired.

Here's why these three steps work when it comes to solving problems -- clear thinking plus continuous action equals results.

If you're struggling to find a job, write down clear, empowering questions of your situation. Then, brainstorm at least 20 possible solutions and take action on the best one today. When you do, you'll be that much closer to getting the job you really want, faster.


Technorati Tags:  Blogswap, Recruiting, Procrastination, Job_search

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes, and you can learn more about his book, "The Last Guide to Cover Letter Writing and Resumes You'll Ever Need," here.

This Blogswap article is courtesy of Recruiting.com and CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students and recent graduates who are searching for internships and entry level jobs.

Talent matters

This week David Manaster of ERE Media has graced our blog with a post dear to our hearts.  We couldn't agree more, David.  Thanks for stopping in.

     

I’m David Manaster, CEO of ERE Media, the leading trade publisher for recruiting professionals.  It’s ALL about the Experience is generously hosting this (very late) guest post on her blog as part of the Big Bad Recruiting Blog Swap.  Thanks to Alise for her patience – I was supposed to get this post to her weeks ago!

Every company spouts platitudes about talent being a “key asset”, but we all know that not every company means it.  Sometimes though, you come across an example so obvious, that it makes managers who don’t pay enough attention just look silly.

I was reading Alan Meckler’s blog today, and saw that Danny Sullivan has left Search Engine Watch.  Danny is probably an unknown to most recruiters, but in the search engine world, this guy is huge.  He has run the Search Engine Watch web site for the last ten years, and headlines the Search Engine Strategies conferences for their new parent company, Incisive Media.

In reading the reaction in the blogosphere to Danny’s departure, it is pretty clear to me that Danny is not just a key player to the business – he is its soul.  Incisive will almost certainly figure out a way to go on without him, but this is not a small obstacle for them.  It’s a massive roadblock – to the point where I wonder if they made the right choice in paying $43 million for Search Engine Watch only a year ago.

Talent matters, and the hiring process is your opportunity to make a first impression that will set the tone of the rest of your relationship. 

Technorati tags: talent, Danny Sullivan

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Truth or Dare

Claudia dropped in on the MN Headhunter's blog for the 7th week of the Great Recruiting Blogswap and noticed the motives for volunteering for community service might just be the same ones employees participate in an employee referral program.  You tell us--that so?

Here’s the Truth part.  You’re sitting around having a beer with your friends after work and discover that someone at the table has the exact skills that your boss is trying to hire into your development team. You like this person, think they’ve got both talent and potential, and know you’d work well together. Do you say:

(a)    “You really ought to come to work for my company!”

(b)   “You really ought to meet my boss!”

(c)    “You really ought to be glad I won’t pass your resume on!”

Referring others to your company for hire can seem like a slow and painful way to make a buck - if they pay you for it at all.  Which is why most people I know don’t do it for the money.  To be honest, referring talent is bit like volunteering in your community…you do it for lots of reasons, but money isn’t usually one of them.

Not every charity is worthy of your time – and not every company is worthy of your friends (read the end of this post if you think you’re working for one of those). But for companies that do take care of their own, in the spirit of volunteering we recommend the following "Top Five Reasons To Introduce Your Friends":

1. My existence here makes a difference.  And if I can make a difference here, think of what we could do together.
2. I want to give something back. My company has done a lot for me – opened doors in my career, invested money in my training, and given me opportunities that I wouldn’t have had somewhere else. They believe in me…when was the last time you said that about your job?
3. I want to be part of a team with common interests.  We’re already friends.  This team would ROCK if you were a part of it.
4. I want to promote my business.  I am part of an amazing company that deserves a chance to be seen and heard.  I’m telling you so you can turn around and tell somebody else about it too. 
5. I love what this company does.  This product, this service, this connection with our customers…that is why I’m here. We’re changing the world, one customer at a time.

It’s a great thing to like the company you work for.

If that isn’t your story (I'm guessing that you're the one who answered (C) above), then it’s time for the “Dare” part of this post.  Dare to find a job you love this much.  Or, dare to work toward solving the problems in your company that will make it the kind of job you love this much. Either way, you win.  Happy recruiting!

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Visiting Career Builders Blog

For Week 6 of the Great Recruiting Blogswap, Alise dropped in to share her fond memories recruiting at T-Mobile with Dennis Smith and the rest of the gang on the Career Builders Blog.  Thank you Dennis for letting me reflect back on many good times.

Technorati tags: T-Mobile, recruiting, career.

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Visiting CollegeRecruiter.com

For Blogswap Week 5, Alise visited CollegeRecruiter.com's blog and posted some advice for creating personable resumes that bring "you" to life, courtesy of adjectives and adverbs.

HRSEO provides Internet recruiting solutions to hiring companies.

Technorati tags: resume, language, recruiting

It's About the Experience

Already in Week 6 of the Great Recruiting Blogswap, we are honored to have Yvonne LaRose stop in for a few comments.  Thanks Yvonne!

Here it is, Week 6 of the Blog Swap. I find myself for at least two weeks in a row (possibly more, it's getting fuzzy) talking about things that are very closely related to the life of the organizational development and career coaching consultant. Thanks, Alise and Claudia for allowing me to talk about improving the candidate's experience in interviewing and hiring.

We've all been in those shoes, the job applicant shoes. There's the anticipation and anxiety about whether the resume is formatted properly, presents the right image and information, is compelling and inviting. It's emailed, mailed, and online submitted to what seems like thousands of potential employers. And then, the first killer aspects happens. The Wait.

Sometimes the wait is a mere day. Sometimes its several days to a week -- or so. Sometimes it takes months. And then there is the no response whatsoever. Chances are, the advertiser is being inundated with literally hundreds of resumes for the solitary position. No human can filter through, evaluate, and respond to each and every one. In one overheard recent conversation, a candidate for a firefighter position said 1800 people applied for a single position that was advertised in a nearby city. Because it was a government type of job, each application required acknowledgement.

Actually, this is a good practice. At a minimum, it tells the applicant that their cover letter, resume, and application were not lost or buried in application Hell. It notifies them that their efforts were not in vain. And there is a window that allows them to be notified as to whether they made the cut and there's just a little more time required to do a finer evaluation to determine whether they'll be called for an interview. There's no equivocation. It's definite. They are made to feel validated. Silence is not the norm.

These words do not emerge as mere theory. Over the past six months alone while coaching the writing interns on CollegeRecruiter.com's Candidate Insights blog, time and time again there is expression of disillusionment with the application, interviewing, and hiring process. And the expressions cover the gamut of employer types. The situation is the same, whether it be the temporary staffing agency, the cold-calling headhunter, the ad purporting to entice to a corporate site that is actually a recruiter, as well as the corporate hiring situation. They note that they respond and the job is not what was advertised. They follow up and never get a response. Their application gets lost in the online application process. Their paperwork gets lost in the office. They are treated as though they have psychological difficulties or some type of plague. Some note the rudeness at the office and determine that if potential employees are treated in such fashion, employees and customers must suffer even worse. Thus, they determine they will either stop being customers or not become one.

My job becomes keeping the spirits high and the attitude positive with the interns so that the quality does not slip in direct proportion with the level disappointment and dismay. My job also becomes encouraging them to see the assets they have and nudging them to present those qualifying talents in a new way, while discovering some they had taken for granted, so that they will rise like the creme they are, in their unique styles.

In our present economy and under our current hiring (and layoff) conditions, it is understandable that there are still enormous numbers of those who are motivated to find a realistic position vis-a-vis their background, training, and experience. Although they are motivated, they are far from unqualified. They are educated, trained in theory and practice and eager to apply their knowledge and skills in new and innovative ways. They yearn for the opportunity to make their imprint on the workforce landscape. But the experiences with fake job ads and overwhelmed (or else disorganized) hiring venues, makes them wonder if there are any.

So, how many applicants did you see today? How long did it take to test and interview them? What did you do as they left your desk? If you didn't put their paperwork into one of three stacks on your desk, perhaps you need to create those stacks and then dedicate three minutes per application at some point in the day. Those three stacks should be "We have no orders for your qualifications at this time," "We'll be calling you in 'x' days to set up an interview," or "we are sorry, but we cannot use your talent." Trust me. I wish I'd used this system when I was the screener for the executive search specialist. There were several times an applicant would call to demand whether their resume had been received, if nothing else. And I had to eat crow and tell them I simply had not had time to acknowledge receipt. A simple autoresponder, I admonished myself, could have done that much for me for each resume.

But the three stack system can work and not overwhelm. In fact, it could probably be whittled down to two stacks if you're open, cordial, and honest. On one occasion, a walk-in asked for a coaching session. I reviewed his resume and questioned him about his goals. The two did not match. The more I attempted to counsel him, the further from the main path he strayed. And I finally had to tell him, with a great amount of sincerity and concern, that it would not be possible for me to work with him. He reflected a few seconds and understood. He thanked me profusely and went on his way, satisfied that he had been heard, was validated, and that someone had made the effort to work with him. That saved me from having to write the awkward email. Stack number one was eliminated.

Stack number two can also be handled in short shrift, in some instances. There's a huge caveat with this one. Be certain you completely understand the position for which the person is applying and are in tune with the essentials they need to have, what equivalents there are, for the position. If they simply do not have them or else need just a little more and they're still in front of you, tell them as much so they walk away with a better sense of what they need to do to qualify.

With all of those candid one-minute conversations, all you need to do at the end of the day is file away paperwork in one of three filing drawers, after you've invited the third set of candidates in for an interview.

It doesn't take a lot to keep the pipeline flowing and growing. It doesn't take a lot to realize that what you do with today's applicant can spell what you'll be doing with yesterday's or tomorrow's customer and their referrals. Either way, the better the handling today, the higher the profits, both tangible and intangible, tomorrow.

~~~~~

About the Author:  Yvonne LaRose is a California Accredited Consultant whose office is in Beverly Hills, California. Her practice focuses on two general areas: Organizational Development and Career Coaching. Her column, Career and Executive Recruiting Advice was created in early 2000 and then moved to its own domain in mid-2002. She has written for CollegeRecruiter.com as a member of the Ask the Experts panel and a contributing author of articles since 2001, and began blogging for the site in late 2005. She became the site's career coach in January 2006 and has developed a long list of success stories from her interns in that short time. She also blogs from an extension of her site, The Desk.

See also Recruiting Blogswap Week 6. 

Technorati tags: recruiting, hiring, interviewing, candidate

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Corporate Culture as Competitive Advantage - The "New" Right Stuff

For the Great Recruiting Blogswap Week 5, we are honored to have as our blogging guest David Perry, managing partner of Perry-Martel International Inc.  and proud keeper of the Guerilla Job Hunting blog.  Thank you for your thought-provoking insight.

By the year 2010, the cumulative codified knowledge of the world will double every 11 hours. What you go to bed knowing at night will be outdated by daybreak. Shelf life for knowledge will be the same as that for a banana. Already, product lifecycles are measured in weeks not months or years. In this environment a company’s survival hinges on its employee’s ability to share knowledge - a concept that is foreign to most organizations, where people hoard knowledge to safeguard their jobs.

In the forthcoming book, Building Organizations That Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound, authors Ron Wiens, Ken Sudday and I focus on how to build a corporate culture that produces a winning bottom line by focusing on the organization’s Relationship Intelligence. The ability of employees to trust is a measure of the organization’s Relationship Intelligence.

Companies with high Relationship Intelligence will succeed because they can build new knowledge and therefore new products and wealth on a continuing basis. In contrast, companies that have low Relationship Intelligence and hoard their knowledge and will fail.

Responding to challenge is not new for technology companies. But the speed at which companies must make high-impact additions to their leadership teams is new. A company’s leadership equity has a direct bearing on its ability to drive through new strategies, make tough decisions, and turn crisis into opportunity.

This is an environment for lean companies, driven by a relative handful of highest-quality employees. Prepare yourself, but for sheer luck, the leaders who have the talent you crave are likely already employed. Any person who can design a top product, manage project complexity, perform marketing miracles, sell new customers, or execute leadership, is an authority who can take his or her pick of top opportunities. They will only make a move if the career attraction is compelling. 

Recruiters need to learn to sell first and buy later or risk watching their company shrivel up and die!

David Perry is managing Partner of Perry-Martel International Inc. He is co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters [Wiley 2005] and Career Guide for the High Tech Professional [Career Press 2004] See www.perrymartel.com for contact details.

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Technorati tags: corporate culture, business intelligence

My First Microsoft Interview

For the Great Recruiting Blogswap Week 4, we welcome guestblogger Tod Hilton of the blog Dirty Dog Stink.  Thanks for dropping in, Tod!

A quick little intro for those of you tuning in to the Big Bad Recruiting Blog Swap … My name is Tod Hilton  and I will be your host for this post. What I am: a software developer at Microsoft and a bunch of other things [father, husband, gamer, snowboarder, etc.]. What I’m not: a recruiter or hiring manager, although I do interview candidates and give the infamous ‘hire’ or ‘no-hire’ recommendation.

I was reading through Claudia's First Impressions category and it brought back memories of my first interview at Microsoft [yes, there was more than one before I was hired :-)].  I figured why not contribute to this group of interesting, anecdotal stories with my own experience.

I have worked at Microsoft since October 1999, but the first couple of years was as a vendor (with Compaq) doing system engineering work in their internet and corporate data center environments.  In March 2001 Microsoft decided to discontinue some of their contracts with Compaq and brought several of the functions in-house as full-time positions. I decided to stay with Compaq at the time and moved to a different position, still as a vendor with Microsoft. In November 2001 we found out that the remaining Compaq vendor positions would also be brought in-house by Microsoft.  Reality kicked in and I decided to jump off the Compaq ship and interview for a position at Microsoft.

To be fair, this was an unusual situation and not the normal Microsoft interview process.  Because they were in-sourcing more than 30 positions the hiring group knew they had to be efficient in the screening process.  Obviously they would be interested in people already doing the job (experience and historical knowledge can count for a lot), but that also wasn’t a guaranty that the candidate would be offered a position.  They were on a schedule with a deadline and needed to be efficient, so they set up a weekend of marathon interviewing for those of us working with Compaq and interested in the Microsoft positions.  You were scheduled for all day Saturday or Sunday and would meet with 4-6 interviewers during the day.  Here’s how the day went…

I showed up at the Microsoft office building about the same time as 3 or 4 of my fellow Compaq-ites. There wasn’t anyone waiting for us in the lobby so we just went in [we had access due to our vendor badges], sat down and waited.  I don’t think it was very long before someone came along and asked us to follow them.  They then led us through a winding path of empty offices, kitchenettes and lounges to an area with a dozen or more vacant offices.  Each one of us was asked to sit in an office [alone] and wait for a recruiter to come speak with us. 

I must have waited a good 20-30 minutes before the recruiter came by and told me how things would work for the day.  I would stay in this office and the interviewers would rotate every hour, which meant that I would have a new interviewer coming in each hour until the day was over.  They would provide a box lunch and I would be given some time to eat in my assigned office.  I could go to the bathroom, but I was not supposed to talk with anyone else I saw in the halls [yeah, right].  Sounds a bit militaristic doesn’t it?  Well, it was.  The day was pretty long and boring with lots of time spent waiting alone in my office for the interviewers.  After my 4th [I believe] interview I waited for at least another 30-45 minutes before the recruiter came in and said I could leave.

What did I take away from this process?  I was none too impressed and from my viewpoint [that of a candidate] it was insensitive, boring, impersonal, overbearing, militaristic, elitist and altogether unimpressive.  Although it was organized and they accomplished their goal of interviewing several candidates at once it made the whole process seem impersonal.  I felt like a piece of meat being pushed through a system of beltways and machines with the sole intent of making it out the other side whole.

So why did I come back for more and continue interviewing at Microsoft?  Well, from speaking with friends inside I knew this was not a true representation of the company’s attitude towards candidates.  It was truly a one-off situation that they were just trying to get through.  My subsequent interviews for specific positions were handled much more professionally and I am very happy to be where I am today.

~tod 

Technorati tags: recruiting, interview, interviewing, Microsoft

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You'll find entry level jobs at CollegeRecruiter.com