Wow, Ive considered sending a post regarding many of these same
"professionalism" issues, and now it appears others have too. I have had jobs
in many sectors, and have applied for positions from engineering to academia.
I have to say that the museum sector really has minimal HR standards, which is
strange because by and large the people, on an individual basis, are the most
helpful. 

Stephen Thomas
Research Associate
Center for Structural Biology
Gainesville, FL 32601
[log in to unmask]




Deb Fuller <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> In a message dated Fri, 4 Aug 2000 11:04:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time, John
Martinson <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> 
> >>>I think professionalism is a two way street.  A professional
organization
> should
> send courtesy letters back to all those who applied for a position saying
> that the job was filled.
> 
> Here here!! I recently interviewed at a major US institution who paid for my
plane ticket to go and see them. Everything through the interview was handled
very well. Their parting words to me were to send them my taxi receipts to get
reembursed. I thought this was a great deal.
> 
> Well over a month later, I hadn't heard anything from them about the
interview and I still hadn't gotten my reembursement. I finally e-mailed the
HR director and got a vague "we've made our selection" response. No offical
rejection letter or even an e-mail. I had taken an entire day off of my
current job to fly up there and back and promptly sent them what they
requested along with a nice thank-you card and I have to contact THEM to get
an answer? I was appalled. It's now almost 3 months later and my check from
the cab receipts just came in the mail.
> 
> After that sort of treatment, I wouldn't want to work for this institution
even if they did offer me a job. I've had the same treatment from other
instutitions as well. One asked me to yet again take a day off of work and
drive 3 hours to an interview, which turned out to be a preliminary screening
interview that could have easily been done over the phone. Again this was a
major name US institution.
> 
> Please people, if you are in charge of hiring, brush up on some basic HR
skills. Little things like a post card to say that an application has been
received and boiler plate rejection letters should be standard. If you're
screening people out, don't make them come in unless they are local and it's
convenient. Send some sort of TIMELY response to everyone that you contact,
even if it is a rejection letter as you don't want to keep people hanging,
esp. if they had to travel a ways to make an interview or you paid their
expenses to come in. We all understand that museum hiring can oftne take a
month or more esp. if it's a big institution but job hunters need to be kept
informed of their status so they can move on. People don't mind waiting a bit
if they're in the running but most will get irky if they were rejected right
off and it took a over month for them to be notified. And there's nothing more
frustrating than getting an acceptance letter or call right after you've taken
ano!
> ther job because you thought the first job had blown you off.
> 
> Deb
> 
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
> 
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes).
> 
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).


____________________________________________________________________
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com.

========================================================Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).