I understand that as an employer, you have the superpower of assigning internships and jobs to any candidate at your discretion. I also understand that in recession-times/in the aftermath of a recession, unfavorable circumstances exist for job candidates--the entry level jobs offered to recent college graduates may be rescinded. Not only does it negatively impact that class--the class of 2009, for example, but it also has unfavorable outcomes for the following class, which must compete with the graduates from last year. Twice as many candidates competing for the same number of jobs, assuming that these entry level jobs are now being reinstated, now that the recession looks like it is drawing back. With so many qualified college graduates competing for these paid and unpaid jobs--and willing to work full-time--undergraduates looking for paying jobs and internships are also left to deal with a difficult situation.
But that's not the complaint. These circumstances are not under anyone's control. What the employer can do, however, is treat each candidate courteously and understand that time is incredibly important for these job-seekers. If you are not looking to hire a student, let them know as soon as this is apparent to you. The student can then move on and look at other places of employment instead of waiting idly. If you are looking to rescind an offer, please do it ASAP as well--I can imagine how painful it would be to have been offered a job in January, and find out in May, as you are graduating, that the offer no longer holds. Five months that could have been spent sending out cover letters and resumes are no longer there and he/she graduates unemployed.
My story isn't too bad but I'm feeling tinges of annoyance. I already have a terrific internship, but I saw an opportunity to intern at a terrific organization in the city and I applied last minute on the off chance that I would end up spending one or two days a week working there. The managing director of the program emailed me and asked to schedule an interview. After a week of back and forth emails, she finally agrees to do a phone interview with me. I do the usual prep, read all of the reports and whatnot written on the website, imagine what I could do for the place if I worked there, etc. I set aside a good hour and half block of time for the thing, and ask that another phone call that I had to take to be moved to later time that day. I forgo lunch. I get psyched. I wait at my desk. Five minutes go by... she's a little late. That's to be expected. Another ten minutes go by... okay, she may be preoccupied with other business. Twenty minutes. Alright? Am I sure I got the time right? It was ridiculous. I waited an hour for the call (she specifically told me that she would call me when I asked her how I could reach her) and finally stopped waiting for the call. I took my other call, ate lunch, went running, ran some errands, and obvi wrote a blog entry, and let me tell you I have not gotten an email or a call from the director yet.
If the director had emailed me directly and said that she already filled the position, however abruptly and rudely done, I would have preferred it to this. I wasted a good amount of time and rearranged my schedule to fit hers and if she had no intention whatsoever of hiring me/calling me, the "easy way out" shouldn't be faking an interview date with me. I may only be a college student, but this epitomizes a complete lack of consideration for others. I hate how there never seems to be a solution to the situations when the candidate is put in a disagreeable position. I browsed google to see if anyone else had faced this problem--and sure enough, a good number of anecdotes showed me that this situation was common enough and nothing worth fuming over for too long. But as for revenge/relief, there doesn't seem to be much. Who knows where an angry letter will end up? Those hours are gone, might as well move on and do something else. Eff professionalism and all of its boundaries.
