Today I was scheduled for a phone screening interview.

Anonymous

March 7,2023 at 8:45PM UTC

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Today I was scheduled for a phone screening interview. The recruiter was supposed to call me. I waited 15 minutes but the call never came. I then emailed the recruiter indicating that I figured she was in a meeting that went over and asked if she'd like to reschedule. She wrote back that her invite reminder forgot to alert her. She asked if we could talk tomorrow at 6:00 am. I'm wondering if it would be wrong to connect directly with the hiring manager who I located on Linkedin.

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AnonymousMarch 7,2023 at 9:02PM UTC
I would be respectful of their process first and foremost.
Inserting yourself ahead of their process might be perceived as rude and disrespectful and put the hiring manager in the difficult position of protecting her recruiter from someone trying to circumvent the process and cutting the recruiter out of the loop.
The recruiter experienced a technical snafu. Not the end of the world. Give yourself a good shot at the position.
RiaMarch 7,2023 at 10:52PM UTC
Agree 1000%
Maggie StoneMarch 9,2023 at 1:41PM UTC
Agree. The recruiter was human. Going over their head sets a bad tone.
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistMarch 7,2023 at 9:29PM UTC
Why, specifically, do you want to connect with the Hiring Manager?
AnonymousMarch 7,2023 at 10:52PM UTC
The hiring manager's profile has a "I'm hiring" stamp on his LinkedIn with a link to the job description. I wanted to connect with him to express my interest in the role.
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistMarch 8,2023 at 12:28AM UTC
Just because the hiring manager has the "I'm hiring" banner on his LI profile, doesn't mean that's an invitation to circumvent the hiring process.
What happens when he re-directs you to the recruiter or when he reaches out to the recruiter and they say "yes, I'm already familiar with that candidate - I was trying to re-schedule an interview with them". The company already knows you're interested in the position - you applied for it. They also already expressed an interest in you.
AnonymousMarch 8,2023 at 12:34AM UTC
You'll be able to do do in proper time. Go through the recruiter.
AnonymousMarch 9,2023 at 10:43PM UTC
why not? the recruiter is not being reliable or professional! I would look for a different recruiter and move on. Because an initial connection was with this recruiter, that can get a bit sticky for their fee - even if they did not place you. Once the contact is made by a recruiter, they have a bite of it. Work with a different recruiter from here on.
AnonymousMarch 7,2023 at 10:40PM UTC
"I'd be happy to talk tomorrow. I'm available any time between 10-11:30am or 2:30-4:00pm. What's best for you?" NO 6AM ANYTHINGS! It sets a standard.
Maggie StoneMarch 9,2023 at 1:36PM UTC
100% agree.
AnonymousMarch 7,2023 at 10:50PM UTC
I would suggest giving them a break on this. You currently have no voice in the game. I think it would set a tone that you may not be able to come back from, even with the best of intentions. Not sure I'm a fan of 6am, if that works for you, then great! Life happens. Good luck.
AnonymousMarch 9,2023 at 7:05PM UTC
UPDATE: We rescheduled and she again forgot and blamed it on her invite reminder. When we finally spoke it was obvious that she was quite green at this and hadn't read my resume.
AnonymousMarch 9,2023 at 8:22PM UTC
Am I the only one who thinks that the recruiter is taking the mickey? Does the recruiter work directly for the company? If they’re external, I would reach out to the hiring manager directly. If they’ve posted that they’re hiring it’s fair game. My experience has been that external recruiters are 9/10 useless and going directly to the source is better. Take care of yourself first and foremost. You owe the recruiter nothing.
AnonymousMarch 10,2023 at 1:13AM UTC
Sorry you got a double whammy there. At the moment companies are not spending for real recruiters. They are generally in some cases paper pushers and not very experienced in how to handle candidates. If you are a recruit then definitely complain to the hiring manager, gently if you are interested in the job. You are the buyer. If you applied and the recruiter flaked twice and you make it to the next round do the same and let the hiring manager know that this happened in a gentile way so that they learn from this situation. You can also let them know that from the screening call you did not learn enough about the job.
if you get rejected from this point there is always glassdoor about your experience. That will often get the recruiter a sit down with their manager to adjust and correct what happened to you so it won't happen to others. You would have to share a bit of identifying information in there which may or may not help you further if you truly have interest in their company.