COLUMN: Etiquette for interviewers, too

From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99 From Josh Callahan's, "Under Construction," Fall '99On-Campus Recruiting Services sets very exacting standards for students who want to interview with firms that come to campus. The list of rules also includes the proper follow-up if you miss an interview or cancel at the last minute -- a note of apology. If you break the rules, you face the possibility of being barred from future participation in interviews arranged through Penn. But although OCRS is strict, most of the rules are fair and based on simple professional courtesy. It is unfortunate, therefore, that the recruiting firms themselves do not adhere to a similar code of conduct. It is startling how common it is to run into a company or interviewer with little social grace. Some companies make it feel like a one-night stand, offering the proverbial "We'll call you tomorrow," only to disappear for eternity. Some say they will call the same night and instead never call, while others say they will call or write in a week or two and then never do so. If that was the worst offense, I would write it off as a few people who think that students don't care about responses unless they are in the affirmative. But being too cheap for a stamp or a phone call is hardly the worst offense committed by an interviewer. To illustrate, the following is a list of things that have happened to myself or to close friends over just the first two months of recruiting -- all things that OCRS would never tolerate from students: · A firm called one morning to tell a student that he would be invited for a second-round interview scheduled for the following week. The same firm called the following day saying it had changed its mind and that the interview would be canceled. · A firm sent a rejection letter informing the student that a second-round interview would not be offered. The same firm sent another rejection letter the following week. · A firm sent a rejection letter with the student's name misspelled. · A firm's representative showed up 10 minutes late for an interview and then complained that there wasn't enough time to do a proper interview. · A firm promised to reimburse a student for expenses and never followed through. · A firm opened its office resume book to students during an in-office interview to show examples of poorly written and otherwise hilarious resumes. Professional courtesy aside, there have been some instances of downright inappropriateness: · Upon being asked by a fellow restaurant patron why there were only men at a table, one employer responded that it was a homosexual/ transsexual convention. · A partner in a firm told a female student during a company dinner that he would never hire her. Later in the evening, the same partner asked the student to sit on his lap. · A student dropped a resume with a company only to hear from a friend who worked there that the company's recruiter had stopped by to say that her friend was clearly not cut out for the job and should never have bothered to apply. Admittedly, some of these events were meant as jokes or were honest errors, but it is nevertheless unfortunate that some companies abuse their power and fail to return the respect shown by students. And after the first round of interviews -- once OCRS is no longer monitoring their behavior -- firms can go on being asses with impunity. But OCRS can do more to ensure that companies behave themselves during that first round by informing students of the proper procedure for filing complaints about inappropriate behavior and seeing that such complaints are followed up on. In the meantime, for students who are on the receiving end of this crass behavior, there are two good lessons to be learned. One is not to let others' idiocy anger you -- there are better things to worry about. The second is to remember why it is important not to abuse power. It is important to be respectful to people even if you have control over them. Or, if all else fails, you can do what we do at my house -- make a Billy Madisonesque list of people we will hunt down and kill one day.