Valentines Day

I’m old enough to remember when Valentine’s day was a legitimate holiday that wasn’t trendy to hate. It was a celebration of love! Friendship! Any excuse to celebrate!

Now that it is trendy to dramatically clap your hand to your forehead and declare you disagree with the blatant commercialism, I’m almost loathe to admit I was one of the original haters. Ask me, the only good thing about Valentine’s Day is the 50 percent off candy the day after (curse me and my ever-loving sweet tooth).

Anyway, moving right along to how V-Day plays a part in the recruitment industry:

I had a gentleman scheduled for an interview with one of the world's biggest medical device manufacturers. Now, it is not easy to get into this particular company. Your application gets buried amongst the rest of the worldwide applications that pour in on a daily basis. Getting in through an agency (like mine!) is both easier and faster: the in-house talent acquisition team needs to handle all of those worldwide applications as opposed to an agency that is only dealing with the positions in their area.

I send my applicant the details of the interview (date, time, address, etc.), and he confirms the afternoon beforehand. I text and email him the morning of his interview just to see if he has any questions before going out to meet with the supervisor.

No response.

A little irritating, but not the biggest of deals since he confirmed receipt of the information the day before. So, I go to lunch and wait for feedback.

I come back from a delightful lunch to an email from the supervisor stating the guy never showed up. I call the guy to see why the heck he didn't go. You know what his response was when he returns my voicemail?

He forgot it was Valentine's Day.

What the f*** does that have to do with an interview? An interview at 1pm no less?! It's not like it was interrupting a romantic dinner for two. Oh, a romantic dinner for two that you had reservations for yet must've conveniently forgotten about less than 24 hours prior?!?...and what was with the not calling to let someone know you weren't going to be there?

Having not grasped the opportunity he let slip through his fingers, he had the audacity to ask if he could be rescheduled. I told him to kick rocks in sandals but to enjoy his…dinner?