Applied online. I was contacted by a recruiter via email 4 weeks later and I replied the same day with 5 business days/times for an initial phone screening. Several days passed and I did not hear anything back. I sent a follow up email on the 5th day to the recruiter asking if any of the days I provided would work. One thing to note here is that 2 of the 5 dates I provided had already passed by that time. I immediately received a response from the recruiter asking for an interview the following day (which was outside of the days I initially provided). Unfortunately, I had to decline due to scheduling conflicts, however we did agree to a time two days later.
The day of the scheduled interview finally came around and I was very eager and excited to talk to the recruiter. If things were only that easy. Exactly 11 mins. before the interview, I received an email from the recruiter (luckily I checked my emails right before the expected call) telling me that the phone screening needed to be rescheduled two days later, without any further explanation. (11 days after the first email) Being employed full time with a very busy work schedule, it is always very challenging to accommodate last minute changes on the calendar. Since this was the first time the recruiter rescheduled, I did not want to make it a big deal and ended up postponing an internal meeting in order to be able to speak to the recruiter at the newly suggested time.
Now, the day of the rescheduled interview finally arrived, but I still had some doubts if the conversation with the recruiter would ever take place. In the hope I would not get an email from the recruiter, I checked my emails one hour before the scheduled call. And there it was. A note from the recruiter mentioning that she was behind with her work load and also at the same time she was preparing for her vacation (she was expecting to take the next 3 business days off). Ultimately, she rescheduled the interview again (the second time!) to the following week when she would be back from vacation. (17 days after her first email) (On a site note, I don’t quite understand why a candidate should suffer when the recruiter is not able to handle their workload.) In addition, the recruiter mentioned in the email that the timing for the role was still good and it seemed that moving the phone screening to following week would not cause any issues or delays in the interview process. Being already very discouraged, I did not have a choice but to agree to the proposed time.
After having the conversation rescheduled twice, my motivation and excitement for the company and position was starting to suffer tremendously. When the third attempted interview date arrived, once again, exactly 10 mins. before the proposed interview time, I again received an email from the recruiter, but this time, explaining that an internal employee was interested in the position I applied to and she was no longer interviewing people for this role.
I would understand if I would have been eliminated from the interview process due to lack of skills or experience. However, going through 3 attempted phone screenings, all cancelled at the last minute, all while being assured that there was no interference with timing, was highly unprofessional. In addition, I always had the feeling that I and my work schedule were not taken seriously.
This experience has certainly given me a completely new perspective on ebay and the professionalism the company has with interviewing candidates. I am very concerned that the lack of seriousness that is presented during the recruitment process is a reflecting of the way ebay conducts business and treats employees.