So I live near Dow Chemical and ended up calling them to figure out what I was doing wrong on my online applications that meant I’d never get a call back.
The HR people I found on the phone were a little shocked and offended that I’d assume they did hiring. First red flag. So I asked to speak with someone who DID do hiring. They said “we don’t do that” and they couldn’t give me any number. Again I tried to pivot. Have to say that still find it a red flag that all the pivoting, all the consideration to address a problem a real person was having with their company was required of applicants but none from their side. And for my part it sounds like they are not encouraged to be considerate of applicants. So I asked to speak with someone who COULD give me that number so we could chat. I explained I wasn’t trying to change their decisions, I was trying to understand their mindset better because I have an M.A. and great work experience and I made an effort to only apply to jobs that meet my qualifications. Since I wasn’t hearing anything back, obvs I wasn’t presenting my skillsets well so – you know I just wanted to see what I could do better. She still couldn’t send it to anyone other than the CEO who knew but she’d pass along a message.
2 days later I got someone who hadn’t worked on ANY of the applications I’d submitted and was super new and just gave me the standard line. While I appreciated her call back, the whole level of interaction was not great.