So I have a hum dinger of a situation on my hands, passing on what has happened to me so someone else does not make the same mistakes I did. Okay so for the past 6 months, I have seen jobs that are in my field, that are right in my educational and skill set background, posted by an agency in Montana for the state of Montana. I am presently not there but I have been trying to relocate there because I have family there, one of my cousins works at the Governors office. Not that I have used that little nug of info, because I would rather get somewhere on my own steam, not because of my cousin or family name. (My first mistake, should have used it because I really wanted to work at this agency and had I, what happened may not have happened.) Regardless, I know right from the start I have an uphill battle because I am not there. I get it and accept it. I eat Wheaties, laughs, I am up for the challenge.

So after far too many rejection letters, and not giving up, I had 8 separate applications in for different positions, all under the same agency in several departments at that time. I am tenacious, I admit it. I grew up on a cattle ranch I am use to getting kicked, tossed and stomped by horses, I don't give up. Laughs.

My tenacity pays off and I get called last week for an interview. I was so excited that I missed the name of the lady who called me for the interview and she did not name the specific department or the position. We set up a zoom interview for a week later, on the following Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and she said she would send me a link for the interview. This is SOP (standard operating procedure) for a zoom interview post pandemic. I wait and no email. Tuesday rolls around and still nothing. I am starting to get nervous, no link, is there tech issue, what is happening? I have no idea who to call (my own fault, I should have made sure I had her name, I own it, my bad) or what position or department because she did not tell me which one, so looking on the portal does no good. I have 8 apps in, so I can not be proactive. I am just stuck and have to wait. MT is very laid back, I am thinking it will show Wednesday. Nothing arrives. Thursday, the morning of the interview, I am in panic mode, no link and an interview in 30 minutes, that I was more than eager and ready to do. So I send an email to the Agency Director, because I figure he could tell me who to talk to. It is 8 departments in this agency, I can go to the top, flip a quarter or send 8 emails. Path of least resistance, go to the top. I leave a message. 8:30 comes and goes no email with link, no call back yet. So 8:40 I head out to try and salvage another interview I put off, to have that zoom interview. I get home at 11:30 a.m. to an email that had been sent at 8:47 a.m. that says "are you going to bother to show up for your interview" with the link. I am floored when I see this. Clearly she was able to make contact and send the link, so maybe tech issue, I just don't know. I don't think she is evil and undermining. She had a whole week prior to that, to do so. For me the first email she had sent me that I had gotten was snide, had the link and was 17 minutes after the interview. I then see another email, where the tone is she is put out to have to ask, and asking to reschedule my "missed interview". I am upset at this point. Not getting a link sounds like a cop out, granted it is true, I never got one, but that is what it sounds like, an excuse. I am at this point, laboring under some delusion this was a tech glitch. I would not have hired someone after a missed zoom interview, who would? I accept that this missed interview has basically affected all 8 other applications. I am humiliated! I have to accept that my first impression has been made by my not getting link and missing an interview. Hard pill to take but I stick a straw in my little juice box and suck it up. As hard as it is for me to give up, I may as well save everyone time and withdraw all of my other applications. #commonsense #tryandsavesomeface So I tell her that I never got the link and my not getting it and missing the interview has made my first impression for me. I then advise her I will be withdrawing all of my other applications. I feel like my back is against the wall, I am humiliated. I send the email and get on the portal and I doing exactly what I said I was doing. The Deputy Director of the agency calls me for the director over my call and leaves a message. I am horribly upset, I have just withdrawn all my applications because of no link and her email - "are you going to show up". I feel like her email was very unprofessional. I return the call and I explain what I wanted and he tells me, she assured me that she sent it. He is under some idea she had sent it before the interview which she had not. So did she send it, Yeah she did, 17 minutes after the interview. So things came into focus real quick at that point, this was NOT a tech issue, she just did not send the link. I don't know why but she did not until 17 minutes after the fact. So not only did this lady just annihilate any chance I had, she sent a snide email and then she lied about it. So me withdrawing was MY only option because they think I just missed a Zoom interview because she lied. So moral of my story... 1- if you have a connection with someone do NOT have pride, integrity and a delusion you can stand on your own ... use the connection. 2- NEVER get excited, write it down, wait until you are off the phone and have all the information before you get excited. 3- Be proactive, if you have not gotten a link 72 hours after the initial set up, touch base. Making sure there is not tech issues is smart policy. 4- NEVER assume that anyone, even state employee HR people, have ethics and integrity, act on the side of caution and keep your ducks in a row. Not everyone is bad but there are bad ones. #interview #drama #montana