[KnowItAll]

>> you would prefer to have 3 offers then decide for yourself which
>> one to take.

And try not to burn bridges while you're at it. You'd be surprised as to how many folks visit online forums and might put 2 and 2 together.

[discobay]

Sounds like he's burnt all his bridges and is retreating back into the wilderness (wilderness = the UK).

[expat sam]

everyone knows headhunters, recruiters and to a lesser extent equity sales, are like car salesman... this is a cut throat business where you need to make your budget/ quota or your out - dog eat dog... i think if you feel the process has been unfair its probably best to stick out of this industry. i'm surprised you've been naive about the whole process seeing you've had nearly 2 decades of work experience and have dabbled in recruitment before.

in the recruitment business if you really treated your candidates the way you would like to have been treated, i would suspect that you would have trouble making your budget... its all about bottom line and making the sale. and to be honest the real client is the corporates - and their image wont be tarnished because of how some potential candidate was treated in the recruitment process - they are out to find the best person for the job to boost their profits, not giving out charity work. thats life and i know this only having been working for 7yrs (in the US, Australia and Asia) - so its not a localised issue as well.

i'm not saying its right - i'm just stating thats the rules of the game and you need to roll with the punches

[Mat]

Originally Posted by jimbo

And so it happens that the HK regional director flies into London last week for business and does not 'bother' to contact me at all in anyway shape of form and subsequently I find out that they are at an advanced stage with two other candidates, Why the hell they didn't bother telling me this in the first place rather than waste my time and effort in chasing up this role.

1. He came for business...he was maybe busy no time to meet you
2. Why would they tell you that they are in an advance stages with 2 other candidates??? + Imagine the 2 back out..they need a back up solution (you or somebody else) so they keep on interviewing even tough they are in advance stages..

[jimbo]

Thats the thing though they knew straight from the start that I was not prepared to fly out straight to HK and quitting my contract with HSBC just to attend an interview when they could easily enough of scheduled a meeting with a colleague in their partner office in London.

Expat Sam, They're the ones that were interested in me in the first place and approached me rather than the other way round. Thus obviously I had a lot to offer them.

Its just the principle of the fact that they couldn't of actually bothered to contact me to say they were too busy and even your bog standard generic dear john e-mail would of sufficed in this instance.

Anyway I'm saying no more on this issue.

[freeier]

hi jimbo,

well, you do not want to say more that's fine. but hopefully you are open to reading some comments and advise.

i was the guy that you showed me your resume and I told you to redo it because it was too cluttered. glad that you did the professional version and its reaping the rewards.

i know you are a nice guy and one of those that worked hard to gain your experience, but I think on the practical/realistic domain you still have things to pick up.

its easy for someone who's getting frustrated (in your case) to get emotional, but think from an employer's perspective! your experience is actually a disadvantage in you part. without a degree there are limitation in where u can climb next, and yet you are so senior that a regular manager that's like 5-7 years experience will find it uneasy to give command to you. jobs that you do might not be easy, but to most employers that's quite a basic job and i don't think they value experience as much.

so, figure out a way to get out of the vicious cycle. if need be, go get a degree. ya, that's like paper chasing, but what else can an employer rely on other than papers. if you are being employed by the CEO then fine, but likelihood your employment decision is made by HR or some VPs... how willing are they to take a risk on your profile and if something screws up take the responsibility. in UK its normal for someone of your experience and calibre, but in HK its entirely different. so is it fair for you to be moaning about big 4s unwilling to take you in ?

i went thru similar process like you in the past. my first banking job interview, the boss decided not to take me in because I am too aggressive and sharp for his team. but he introduce me to another job that's much better than the original one I went for and now I am progressing in the right direction. i get calls from HH almost every other week, but when i was going thru the initial switching process it was so miserable. still, I never thought it was the fault of the boss. everyplace in this capitalistic world there is the local politics that determine how a person shld behave, and its important for you to think from the perspective of the employer and see where are your shortfalls.

off hand, i really think you shld forget the pride and go study for a degree or something. most people of your experience and age are doing that and they are also staying in their somewhat comfortable job. its rare to see them hopping jobs or challenging to get a overseas job.

for all it is, good luck to you. hope you don't take my comments negatively. I think you are a nice person and I can only give you my comments. hopefully this also helps other that are in similar situation as yours or mine.

cheers and good night (morning).