VCE

Part 1

In June 2012 I responded to a design job advertised through Randstad. The recruiter contacted me, said I looked like the perfect candidate, and told me the client, VCE, is requiring that candidates complete a "design test." At this stage I had not yet become jaded and cynical about the American job market and actually thought this was a stepping stone to an interview and then being hired. I now know this is just their way of getting free work. He sent me the "test" which consisted of an existing graphic and some very vague directions. Design does not consist of trying to guess or read people's minds, it requires a good deal of back-and-forth communication (questions/answers). Here is the email I sent to the recruiter:

  

I'm having a problem here because they've done a very poor job of explaining the existing graphic, and the two sentences preceding it tell me nothing about what this graphic is trying to convey. For instance...

•      I know the first sentence says the blocks are interrelated, but a hierarchy being depicted as well? or are the three components all on the same level?

•      Do the colors mean anything? Because the outer Security and Compliance level is the same color as the Tenant Mgt and Service Assurance boxes...

•      What is being conveyed with the Service Assurance box overlaying the aqua and purple boxes? Is it somehow being "protected" by the aqua and purple? or does it share resources with them?

•      Why is the Tenant Mgt box aligned to the bottom of the green box? Does it interact with the aqua box below it in some way?

He responded back with "nope, sorry, you can't ask questions!" So, I did my best to guess what the heck they wanted and sent it off. Never heard from him again.

Part 2

Here’s an even more awesome story, going back to December 2013 when they advertised a PPT/presentation design job. I applied directly (I had completely forgotten about what had happened in June 2012) and immediately was contacted by their recruiter. We had a phone interview which went well and I sent her loads of PPT samples to forward to the hiring manager. She emailed back the next day, “Good news the Hiring Manager would like to meet you in person next Thursday the 19th, are you available? Please call me when you get this email. Congratulations on the next step!” We arranged a day/time, and she confirmed in a final email along with the following little note, “Please visit www.vce.com to learn more about our company and be prepared! Also I believe it is always great to have a few questions for the manager!” Okay, that was a bit condescending/offensive, but whatever...

I won’t bother explaining what happened on the “interview” (which, once again, was nearly a ninety-minute drive each way from my home) but instead I’ll just share the email I sent to the recruiter a few weeks later with my observations (of course, I never received a response):

As you may recall, I interviewed for this position back on 12/19. Before I put this in the past and move on I wanted to share a few observations.

The presentation design samples I provided via the download link were essential to the interview being successful. Imagine my shock when I referenced them and Mr. [Name]’s response was, "No, sorry, I didn't get a chance to look at those." In addition to not looking at any of my work, he did not bring any samples of the work being produced -- neither via a laptop or mobile device, nor simple printouts. I realize now that at this point I should have ended the interview and walked out.

The second meeting with Ms. [Name] went in an identical fashion. When I asked if she looked at the samples I provided, she said, "No, sorry, I didn't get a chance to look at those." She also admitted that she did not even bother to look at my online portfolio. She then attempted to describe and sketch a slide design that was done, which again made me wonder why she did not bring a printout of this.

When Mr. [Name] returned for a wrap-up, he asked if I'm capable of working with senior-level executives (a rather offensive question). I responded that if he would take the time to visit my LinkedIn profile he'd see many recommendations from senior VPs from Fidelity Investments, including one very strong review.

He then asked me if I have any questions, to which I explained that he really hasn't shown me anything relevant and he hasn't looked at my material, hence asking questions is rather impossible at this point. He suggested I look at the VCE website, and I responded that I did indeed look throughout the site for a sample presentation but could only find whitepapers. He said, "Yeah, there's nothing there, I'll see if I can find a few samples to send you."

Of course, I never received any samples and my LinkedIn profile has not received any new views.

In summary, this "interview" was a complete waste of time, based on the incredible amount of disinterest these two people exhibited in learning about my background. Interviewing is a two-way street. Just as it is my responsibility to learn about the company and ask questions (which I did), it is the responsibility of the hiring party to do their own research into the candidate, which in this case would have included reviewing the sample files I provided and my online portfolio. The fact that these two people did nothing beyond reading my resume tells me that either (a) the job never existed, (b) they had already chosen a candidate and this interview was just done to satisfy a quota, or (c) they just don't care about finding the best candidate.

If the answer is (a) or (b), you may want to be a bit more careful in the future, as not everyone is as forgiving as I am about having a morning and several gallons of gas wasted. If it's (c), then this corporation has certainly earned its bad reviews on Glassdoor...

In regards to the Glassdoor reference, their rating at the time was a dismal 1.7 with one negative comment after another. It has since skyrocketed to 3.4; this observation is shared by the negative reviewers who comment that the company is goading employees to post fake glowing reviews.