If we have to afford them certain courtesies, then they owe use a few too
Six months after graduating from college I'm still looking for a job. Combine the fact that I'm not a programmer by any means and I'm a new grad coming into a terrible IT job market, and it's little surprise that I'm still out there beating the bushes. I've had a few good leads, several interviews and follow-up interviews and I've come within inches of a really good net security gig that fell through at the last second due to internal corporate issues. In the past 6 months I've developed an extreme hatred for certain practices employers practice when posting job openings and interviewing prospects. It's been drilled into my head that as an interviewee it is your responsibility to do many things in order to impress the employer, how you are honor bound to being available to them in a timely fashion, how if they offer you an interview it is your responsibility to clear your calendar if they pre-select a time, regardless of what it means for your current job or life in general.
Now, don't get me wrong... all that is fine and dandy generally, as they're essentially doing you a favor by offering you a chance to convince them to hire you. I do not begrudge my duties as an interviewee, and I gladly hold up all expectations on my end. That said however, there should be certain parts of the bargain that employers should themselves uphold.
1) Do not call people in for interviews for a different job than the one they applied for without telling them in advance.
I've been to a few so far where I was applying for an IT/Sys Admin type job, as that's what I'm most qualified for only to arrive at the interview room to find out that sorry, we had to close that opening but there's a slot here for a C++ and Java programmer... how's that sound? Umm... I'm not a programmer, it's pretty clear from the resume I sent you.
2) If for some reason the job becomes unavailable before an interview, please cancel
This goes along with number 1... on one occassion thus far I've taken time out of my day to go to an interview only to have someone sitting at the door to the conference room waiting to politely inform me that the job is no longer available,, but thank you for taking the time to come out, we appreciate it.
3) If I am expected to be on time (if not early) please do the same
I was floored when I had an interview where the interviewer was almost 45min late, and due to a tight schedule for the rest of the day, I lost that time out of my interview (I was the first slot of the day) and not given a fair amount of time to prove myself. They say it shows a lack of seriousness on the part of an applicant to be anything other than on-time or early, I think it shows a serious lack of professionalism on the part of an interviewer.
4) If you hold interviews, it's only fair to let an applicant know they were not accepted for the job
This is perhaps my biggest pet peeve of all in the job hunt process. Now, I can understand not sending me a rejection for a simple resume submission as often hundreds if not thousands of people send their resumes along for a job posting, so it's just not feasable to tell them all no. However, if you're taking the time to talk to someone, have them visit your corporate offices etc... then you should let them know if they aren't being offered the job. On several occassions I've been one of less than 4 applicants for a certain position, I've been flown in, wined and dined and given the tour, but I never hear back, and all attempts to contact them are ignored. This is perhaps the ultimate in unprofessional behavior and shows a complete lack of respect for all applicants involved. When you're actually interviewing people, the number is typically small enough to send them rejection letters (even if they're form letters). These people took time out of their lives to come see you, sometimes over great distances and they've endured being grilled by multiple people in hopes of landing a job with your company, the least you can do is let them know they weren't picked.
It seems like 99% of the people involved in the hiring process have forgotten what it's actually like to be on the other end of the system. I'm not asking for any special considerations, or to be given an easier time in the process. All I'm asking for is companies to treat applicants with respect greater than that you afford a bum on the street. I now know several companies that I will warn friends away from applying for because of how they've handled the interview process. We are expected to afford the employer every opportunity and every convenience and show a high degree of respect. Which is fine as long as it's mutual.