State Street

State Street advertised for a Marketing Production Designer in March 2016. I applied and heard nothing. Here's the ad on StinkedIn; note the huge number of applicants (edit: the number of applicants stat has now been removed from LinkedIn...gee, I wonder why). 

Three months later, on June 16, they posted it to their careers page as a "new" job (in red):

I guess with 70 applicants (myself included) they just couldn't find what they were looking for. And, I would really REALLY like to know WHAT they ARE looking for...

Fast forward to August 2017 when they advertised for a designer with Cinema 4D experience. I applied online and their "talent acquisition" department contacted me for a telephone screening, which was held on Friday, September 8. As with most telephone screenings these days, the woman on the other end of the line sounded half-asleep as she asked me the routine checklist questions like "what are your salary requirements." The call ended with her saying she would forward my application to the hiring manager. I told her to be sure they view my LinkedIn profile as one of my colleagues is a vice president at State Street, and she wrote a very nice recommendation for me. I also told her to be certain they have the login credentials to view my portfolio on my website (which I password-protect), as reviewing a designer’s portfolio is crucial when evaluating a designer’s candidacy. 

On Monday, at 4pm, I received her rejection email. 

I checked LinkedIn…NO profile view notifications. I checked my website…NO visitors. 

I emailed her via the intermediary who coordinated our call, asking what was the criteria she used to disqualify me, as it appears that nothing significant from my background was evaluated. Of course, I received no reply from her. As of February 27, 2018, the job remains advertised.

EDIT, 07/01/18: They began re-advertising the job on June 29, 2018. I chuckle at the "All resumes must be accompanied by portfolio and/or website link" requirement, when we all know that nobody from State Street will ever bother to look at a portfolio...