Sick and tired of potential employer's runaround

[Double J]

It's been almost a month since I interviewed for a position at an electronics company.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't get that position because they decided to hire someone from within. He told me this on March 17th.

 

That same day he also informed me that he was opening another position that would report directly to him. At the time he said he didn't have a job description for it.

 

He e-mailed me a job description yesterday and naturally I was ecstatic. He said he's been a little flaky because his wife recently gave birth. I said ok, not a big deal.

 

But today I was sifting through ads on Craigslist, and guess what. The same job description he sent me was posted there on March 12th. So he told me about the second position five days after it was posted and didn't send the actual description until almost two weeks later.

 

I'm starting to get the feeling that this guy is taking me for granted and just pulling me along at his convenience. Maybe he'll pull the plug on me completely once he finds someone who catches his eye. Now I'm starting to wonder if, even in the midst of the pregnancy and what not he's been there interviewing other candidates.

 

I said something during the first interview that might have affected my chances of working at the company. I told him that it was a fairly long commute, but that I was willing to drive each and every day because I was highly interested in the position. Perhaps after that he feared he wouldn't be able to rely on me to show up to work on time, etc. That may not have anything to do with his behavior, though. If it WAS the case, he could have just told me and not wasted my time telling me about this second opportunity. I feared he told me about it simply to ease the blow of rejection for the first position.

 

What should I do next? Should I try catching him in a lie by asking if he posted the ad this very week? There's a chance someone other than him may have posted the ad, but I seriously doubt it. He created the position and the candidate would be reporting directly to him.

 

How should I approach him on this matter? I'm seriously tired of being taken along for a ride if he's not serious about me as a candidate.

[JadedStar]

A month is not long when interviewing for a major corporation. I used to work for an electronics company and i was in the interview process almost two months.

 

You have to realize these folks have busy jobs and they want to fill a position but it is not going to be on their mind all the time like it is yours. I know it is frustrating but they are dealing with other priorities, and if they filled the first position wtih an internal it is probably not as dire of a need so he is taking his time.

 

As far as the posting on CL, the hiring manager usually has NO involvement with posting ads. For all we know he didn't even know it was posted out there. Recruiter's handle all of that...hiring managers rarely even know where or when their openings are posted.

 

Trying to catch him in a lie is a sure fire way to be knocked out of the competition. He did call you which means there is interest. He has no obligation to even have done that. I say you wait a few days if no call and send a polite email expressing that you are still very interested and for him to let you know if he needs anymore information from you.

[shes2smart]

After reading your post, here's what jumps out at me:

 

You're not wild about the commute.

 

You think the guy was acting a little flaky.

 

You don't like the way the guy has handled things since.

 

You think he may be lying to you at worst, jerking you around at best.

 

Why do you want to work there/for him?

[jenny_mcs]

Yes, listen to JadedStar's advice.

 

This is business- stop taking it personally. Hiring employees takes forever, with many different people involved.

 

You need to get out of the mindset that this is somehow a personal affront to you- that you are getting a "runaround", that you are being "taken for granted", jealous that the company might be interviewing other people, so you are going to try to "catch them in a lie." Your sound like you are posting about relationship rather than a potential job.

 

Like JS said, in a few days email them to say that you are still interested in the position.

[BeStrongBeHappy]

First, recognize that companies can take a long time to hire, and many take time to gather lots of resumes before interviewing any, then interview a lot of people before they make a decision. then the paperwork can take weeks for getting the appropriate signatures and approvals, especially at large companies.

 

So this guy isn't lying to you, he's just going about his business. You're being paranoid here from the standpoint of why should he lie about anything... he just tells you they aren't interested if he doesn't want you. There's no reason for him to lie to you. They don't care about rejecting you because they do it all the time. They probably interview 5 or more people for every job, so 4 get rejected every time.

 

You are working yourself up becuase you really want this job, but need to calm down and recognize it is business and not take it personally. If they sense you are agitated or angry at them, they won't hire you because they won't don't want angry or disgruntled employees.