Re: Skip the Interview

In article <4r4b58$l9t_at_sjx-ixn5.ix.netcom.com>, manderso_at_ix.netcom.com says...
> Have you ever gone through an Interview process and thought "how in
> the world are they still in business?". Well, on May 13, I interviewed
> with Oracle in Colorado Springs with several groups. At the time, I
> was flying back and forth from San Francisco on a weekly basis while
> consulting for a large finance company using Visual C++ and ODBC.
> Prior to the interview, I told the Personnel Manager, Corey, I would
> interview if they compensated me for out of pocket expenses the $50.00
> airline fee for changing my flight plans. Corey agreed
> enthusiatically.
> After the interview, the Oracle people liked me so much that they
> wanted me to meet with a Vice President, Thomas , in San Francisco. I
> didn’t mind. But I told them I was downtown across the street from
> TransAmerica building and had no car. And I would be glad to meet with
> Tom for drinks, or dinner, or any where NEAR by.
> Well, the Oracle group in the Springs set up a 3pm meeting on
> Wednesday at their Redwood Shores Corporate Office. I was notified on
> Wednesday at 11am. Immediately, I asked the Springs Middle Manager,
> Chris, if they’d pickup the cab fare to Redwood (about $75+ roundtrip).
> Chris got back with me 2 hours later and stated I should paid for it to
> demostrate how much I wanted the position. He said all Oracle
> employees are expected to make sacrifices. I pointed out to him since
> Oracle has had such a high turnover of employees in San Francisco,
> lower cost of living (and wages) in the Springs, and the offer of
> $30,000 - $50,000 was so low that may be they should reconsider the
> deal they were getting. Chris responded ‘No way!’. Needless to say, I
> said no thanks.
> Well, 4 weeks later I asked Corey about the $50 of reimburement
> they had agreed to and still owed. Corey stated some accounting foul
> ups and I would see something in a few weeks. Two weeks later, I
> called Corey, and this time he didn’t return any of my voice messages.
> I wrote to Barry, and asked for help. A week after my letter, Corey
> called, to say that Chris had gotten my expense check and would endorse
> over to me and I would have it in a few days. A week later, on June
> 29, I got the check. I noticed the date of the check was June 14 and
> the post mark was June 28. Oracle for some reason took their time
> reimbursing me.
> I would advise any one wanting to interview with Oracle
> reconsider. I thought it was a fine organization, I have 300 shares of
> their stock in street name in my IRA. To my dismay, I’ve discovered
> incompentence, lack of professionalism, and a mean streak a mile long.
> No wonder their support group is experiencing high turnover. I won’t
> want to work there and I hope you would think twice before interviewing
> with them too. I think I’ll be selling my shares soon.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Michael
>

   I think you just screwed yourself out of a potentially excellent future with Oracle. Not only do I feel that they were more than generous in paying for your original flight, but asking them to cater to your every need during a potential fulfilling interview is absolutely greedy.

   You obviously didn't feel that the position was worth looking in to if you were not willing to meet with the VP for a follow up interview. Upon that time you could have placed a different deal on the table with reasons why you felt the originally proposed salary was under-rated.

   And perhaps Chris told you the truth; perhaps there was an accounting mishap that misplaced your re-imbursement. Always put on a pretty face, take things at face value, and if you are still not happy then decline. If you want employment then you do whatever it takes to achieve it. Atleast in the end you will know that you did everything within your power to achieve it.

Nuff said...

Gilles Archer Received on Wed Jul 03 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST