What should I do?

[pekoe]

Last Thursday, I got an email from a Sr. HR in a big insurance company. It requests me to call back and schedual a phone interview.
I made calls from last Thursday to this Monday, and finally reached this Sr. HR who sent me the email and set up the phone interview on 10:00am this morning.
I waited for almost 45 mins. Nobody called. Then I called back, left a message and sent an email. No reply yet.
What should I do?

[Irish Blues]

Last Thursday, I got an email from a Sr. HR in a big insurance company. It requests me to call back and schedual a phone interview.
I made calls from last Thursday to this Monday, and finally reached this Sr. HR who sent me the email and set up the phone interview on 10:00am this morning.
I waited for almost 45 mins. Nobody called. Then I called back, left a message and sent an email. No reply yet.
What should I do?

Assuming that this company isn't located in the Northeast (where we got 6-18 inches of snow today, depending on where you were):

1. I would either call or e-mail politely and say that you were supposed to have a phone interview at 10am - you waited and did not get a phone call from anyone, so you don't know if there was some kind of mix-up but would still like to talk and would like to re-schedule.

2. If you don't hear anything in 3 business days, both call and e-mail again.

3. If a week later you *still* haven't heard anything, it's a sign that you probably don't want to work there.

Now...if it *is* a company located in the Northeast, it's entirely possible that the snow we got stranded the person who was supposed to interview you - see if you get a call back on Monday when everyone should be back in the office. If you *don't*, call/e-mail on Tuesday and follow the above suggestions.

[pekoe]

Thanks so much, Irish Blues !

The company is in northeast. Your reply makes me feel released. I am really dumb and didn't think about the snow could be a reason. I have no idea about what the snow will cause. It's the first winter I am in north and see such huge snow.

I am happy that I did send an email with politely request for another opportunity.

Have a nice weekend!

[Denny Crane]

pekeo,

You handled this well. One never knows what happens internally at a company. It could have been the weather. It could have been that someone else was suppose to call you and things did not get coordianted correctly internally. It could be someone forgot or got busy. In any eveny you handled it well. Do not appear over anxious or desperate by making too many calls or sending too many emails. Try again in a couple of days but don't send mutiple emails or leave multiple voicemails the same way.

On the light side...treat in somewhat like if you were trying to date someone and you didn't here from them. You wouldn't make too many calls or you would appear desperate.

[pekoe]

Thanks for all replies!

I got the feedback today without bothering to call or email again. It was the snow! The interveiw has been rescheduled on tomorrow. It's about 45 min.

I am preparing for the questions that I got from this board and other internet sources. How should I answer the question of " What is your favorate class?". What are they seeking for from this question? I had math, economics and computer science classes. I want to answer the math classes such as statistics or probability, but I wonder if there is better answer and reasoning. Actually, I don't have much preference on subjects. I like most of them.

[Irish Blues]

The company is in northeast. Your reply makes me feel released. I am really dumb and didn't think about the snow could be a reason. I have no idea about what the snow will cause. It's the first winter I am in north and see such huge snow.

Normally, a snowstorm up here isn't a big deal - but when the storm suddenly intensifies, we get thundersnow, winds up to hurricane force, and then add on that cities forget to plow the roads so that traffic can actually move, ... well, let's just say that my 12-minute drive home took over an hour. And I got home before most of the really heavy snow and winds hit.

In response to your last post - well, what *is* your favorite class, and why? There is no "right" answer to this question - they want to know what makes you tick more than they really care if your favorite class was advanced statistics, systems programming, or remedial ballroom dancing.

[bv12]

Just answer the questions honestly. If they ask a question like that, it is likely to determine if you would enjoy working in that position. This is for your own benefit as well as theirs. I would answer questions honestly unless there is something obvious that they wouldn't like to hear. You know questions like "what are your weaknesses?" You certainly don't want to answer that you are a lazy drunk that never shows up on time. This is the kind of question where a cookie cutter answer like "I am a perfectionist and sometimes put too much pressure on myself to be successful...etc."

I go into an interview with the mentality that I am interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing me. I usually ask questions about the company and the work that you would do there. I don't ever ask about pay or benefits until they have told me flat out that they want to hire me. Unless you are desperate for a job, I think it is in your best interest to be honest and let the interview process determine if you are good for the job, rather than try to give them the answers they want. Also, don't practice your exact answers to the common questions or you will sound rehearsed and that is no good.