A Not So Funny Thing Happened On The Way To My Interview...
The following is a true account of one interview I had arranged for a "seasoned" Executive Assistant to meet the SVP of a major record label in NYC!
(For anonimity, we will refer to the candidate as "Ms. Blue" and the record label as "Client")
I was very excited to finally have the opportunity to perform a search for a hot record label in NYC that I had been calling on for nearly a year! Their SVP of Marketing was losing his assistant to relocation and he was in need of a new "right hand". The Client wanted a polished, articulate candidate who could work long hours, had great skills and came out of the music industry.
Two days into my search, I came across the resume of Ms. Blue. Ms. Blue had a college degree, had held only two jobs in the five years since graduating and had worked in support of senior executives at two record labels based out of LA! She looked perfect! I connected with her to find she had recently relocated to NYC and was actively seeking a new position. We then arranged an appointment for her to come to my offices for an interview.
Ms. Blue arrived on time, dressed in "corporate attire", armed with tremendous interpersonal skills and an aire of confidence! We had a terrific meeting in which I grilled her about her previous positions. Why she left her previous positions? Were the people she supported difficult? Were the hours long? What was her typical day like? What were her core administrative duties? What was the pace of the environment?
Ms. Blue answered all questions with intelligent thoughtful responses. I then tested her administrative skills. Ms. Blue typed 62 words per minute with no errors! She scored a 98% in MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint! She was almost too good to be true! I then checked her references. All three she provided were sparkling and were willing to speak directly to my client on Ms. Blue's behalf!
I contacted my client, forwarded her resume with a summary highlighting all of her attributes and requested an interview. The Client responed within ten minutes of receiving the information and confirmed an appointment for Ms. Blue the following day at 2pm! I gave all the information to Ms. Blue, prepped her for her meeting, and asked her to phone me following her interview and wished her luck.
The next day at around 4pm I started to wonder what had happened with Ms. Blue. I phoned her home, then her cell, and finally sent an e-mail asking her to reach back out to me. After not hearing back, I reluctantly placed a call to the Client at 5pm. I was shocked to learn that Ms. Blue had not shown for her interview! She took it upon herself to phone my client directly at 2:15pm to advise them she was not feeling well. Apparently, she was very persuasive. Despite the fact she phoned 15 minutes after her interview was to have started, they rescheduled for 2pm the following day! Everything worked out but I was furious Ms. Blue had not communicated with me directly.
The next day was an average day until 2:30pm when I received one of the strangest phone calls in my career! I answered my line to be greeted by a series of incoherent grunts, groans and crys. In the midst of this "prank like" call, I made out that the person on the other end was Ms. Blue. She was ranting about how "they took her" and "tied her up"! She was histerical...and I feared she had been attacked. I stayed on the line trying to calm her down and have some type of rational conversation. At this time, a gentleman's voice came on the phone asking who I was and if I was related to Ms. Blue. I said no, but is she OK? What happened? What can I do? The voice on the other end of the line identified himself as the Head of Psychiatric Emergency at St. Vincent's Medical Center. According to the doctor, Ms. Blue began to get histerical.... laughing, crying, screaming and fading in and out of conciousness on the 6 train and had to be "forcebly removed" and brought by ambulance to the hospital.
They said they would allow her one call to a family member or friend that could help shed some light on her situation. She chose to make that call to me! She attempted to get back on the line screaming " to tell the record people she was on her way!" The doctor got on and said he had to hang up in order to sedate Ms. Blue! And the phone went dead...
Needless to say, I felt terrible for Ms. Blue...and at a loss for what to tell my client! The Client decided to see a candidate through another source....noting that Ms. Blue was a "no show" two days in a row.
The Client filled the position on their own and I never heard from Ms. Blue again!
As a "Talent Magnet", you do not always know what you will "attract"! This was a snapshot of just a few hours in a career that has spanned more than a decade!
More tales of recruitment to come...
(For anonimity, we will refer to the candidate as "Ms. Blue" and the record label as "Client")
I was very excited to finally have the opportunity to perform a search for a hot record label in NYC that I had been calling on for nearly a year! Their SVP of Marketing was losing his assistant to relocation and he was in need of a new "right hand". The Client wanted a polished, articulate candidate who could work long hours, had great skills and came out of the music industry.
Two days into my search, I came across the resume of Ms. Blue. Ms. Blue had a college degree, had held only two jobs in the five years since graduating and had worked in support of senior executives at two record labels based out of LA! She looked perfect! I connected with her to find she had recently relocated to NYC and was actively seeking a new position. We then arranged an appointment for her to come to my offices for an interview.
Ms. Blue arrived on time, dressed in "corporate attire", armed with tremendous interpersonal skills and an aire of confidence! We had a terrific meeting in which I grilled her about her previous positions. Why she left her previous positions? Were the people she supported difficult? Were the hours long? What was her typical day like? What were her core administrative duties? What was the pace of the environment?
Ms. Blue answered all questions with intelligent thoughtful responses. I then tested her administrative skills. Ms. Blue typed 62 words per minute with no errors! She scored a 98% in MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint! She was almost too good to be true! I then checked her references. All three she provided were sparkling and were willing to speak directly to my client on Ms. Blue's behalf!
I contacted my client, forwarded her resume with a summary highlighting all of her attributes and requested an interview. The Client responed within ten minutes of receiving the information and confirmed an appointment for Ms. Blue the following day at 2pm! I gave all the information to Ms. Blue, prepped her for her meeting, and asked her to phone me following her interview and wished her luck.
The next day at around 4pm I started to wonder what had happened with Ms. Blue. I phoned her home, then her cell, and finally sent an e-mail asking her to reach back out to me. After not hearing back, I reluctantly placed a call to the Client at 5pm. I was shocked to learn that Ms. Blue had not shown for her interview! She took it upon herself to phone my client directly at 2:15pm to advise them she was not feeling well. Apparently, she was very persuasive. Despite the fact she phoned 15 minutes after her interview was to have started, they rescheduled for 2pm the following day! Everything worked out but I was furious Ms. Blue had not communicated with me directly.
The next day was an average day until 2:30pm when I received one of the strangest phone calls in my career! I answered my line to be greeted by a series of incoherent grunts, groans and crys. In the midst of this "prank like" call, I made out that the person on the other end was Ms. Blue. She was ranting about how "they took her" and "tied her up"! She was histerical...and I feared she had been attacked. I stayed on the line trying to calm her down and have some type of rational conversation. At this time, a gentleman's voice came on the phone asking who I was and if I was related to Ms. Blue. I said no, but is she OK? What happened? What can I do? The voice on the other end of the line identified himself as the Head of Psychiatric Emergency at St. Vincent's Medical Center. According to the doctor, Ms. Blue began to get histerical.... laughing, crying, screaming and fading in and out of conciousness on the 6 train and had to be "forcebly removed" and brought by ambulance to the hospital.
They said they would allow her one call to a family member or friend that could help shed some light on her situation. She chose to make that call to me! She attempted to get back on the line screaming " to tell the record people she was on her way!" The doctor got on and said he had to hang up in order to sedate Ms. Blue! And the phone went dead...
Needless to say, I felt terrible for Ms. Blue...and at a loss for what to tell my client! The Client decided to see a candidate through another source....noting that Ms. Blue was a "no show" two days in a row.
The Client filled the position on their own and I never heard from Ms. Blue again!
As a "Talent Magnet", you do not always know what you will "attract"! This was a snapshot of just a few hours in a career that has spanned more than a decade!
More tales of recruitment to come...