
Ask HN: How should I handle recruiters who don't pay attention? - greyostrich
An internal company recruiter asked me to list several dates and times for a phone interview. I selected three different days, and a range of four hours for each day. The recruiter decided to schedule the interview no where near any of my ranges.<p>Is the recruiter testing me? Did he make a mistake? I find it hard to believe he was off by two hours. Is he expecting me to be obedient? This is a STAR type-of-interview company, as far as I can tell.<p>Should I correct him? I&#x27;m OK with the time, but I&#x27;m not the kind of person who likes these kind of mistakes free without saying anything.
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kweinber
This is a test. . .but not necessarily an intentional one by the recruiter. It
is a test of your maturity and perseverance.

People make mistakes, schedules don't always line up, and sometimes people are
overwhelmed or aren't good at their job as a recruiter. Unless you are
interviewing for a job with the recruiting department, you should not hold the
rest of the company equally at fault for difficulty in getting to the
interview.

If you need to say something, do it positively when asking for the
rescheduling, and then be frank about how to improve the experience after you
have the job (or have decided not to take it).

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codegeek
This could be a silly question but did they screw up due to timezone
differences if any ? I deal with clients all over the world and I always
specify what timezone I am talking about. I never say "how is 11 AM". Instead,
I ask "How is 11 AM Eastern?". I also add if possible "I know you are 4 hours
ahead of me...." to ensure that they pay attention to the timezone.

If not the timezone issue, then it could just be a mistake/sloppiness on the
recruiter's part.

Should you correct him ? Yes, definitely. Say that their scheduled time is not
on the suggestion you sent earlier. But if it is ok with you, accommodate
anyway. Either way, don't read too much into recruiters. They are just a way
to get into the company. If you like the company/team, don't worry about the
recruiter.

~~~
greyostrich
In the first email, he did ask me explicitly to mention the timezone (I always
do this anyway with every company). Anyway, the recruiter was a cool guy.

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n3bs
Is this company in a different time-zone? It could be an honest mistake. I'd
ask them, they can't fault you for following up on the schedule, especially if
you're clearly still interested.

"Hello xyz, I noticed the meeting invite I got was for ... do you have any
availability for ...? I'm unavailable during ..."

Worst case they say "No unfortunately that's the only time slot we have" and
you reschedule for another week or something?

~~~
greyostrich
They're an international company, and they did highly emphasize that when
asked for me to choose a time.

~~~
afarrell
I found calendly super helpful when doing an international job search

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patgenzler
The fact that he ignored your preference and didn't bother to communicate why
tells me he's not a type of person who could benefit from your "correction
attempt"; since that could affect your interview the risk reward ratio is bad
here. I wouldn't do it.

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JSeymourATL
> I'm OK with the time, but I'm not the kind of person who likes these kind of
> mistakes...

Looks a like a very minor situation in the big scheme of things. How would you
want to be treated if it were your mistake?

Perhaps some empathy/patience/appreciation for the clearly overwhelmed,
doltish recruiter.

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bsvalley
You're fine with the time? Move on...

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rajacombinator
Recruiters tend not to be the brightest bulbs, and their opinion/competence
doesn't really count for anything. If the time works I'd just go with it to
get the process started.

