Which comes first, the interview or the forms?

Q: A company has recruited you. You show up for the interview, only to find that the personnel department wants you to fill out several forms and to take an employment test first. What would you do?

Nick's reply: You are called, you are recruited, you are invited to an interview ... and then the HR department wants to quarantine you prior to meeting the manager. That's the gracious welcome from your host?

Many people would agree to be "processed" before meeting the hiring manager. I'm with the folks who respond to this challenge that they'd remind their host not to be presumptuous. (By the way, HR offices are not known for letting candidates take tests home!)

When smart, assertive workers face the hiring process, they often cave in to presumptuous and sometimes unreasonable demands of an employer. Why? Because we're all a little bit afraid of the power an employer wields when we're looking for a job. There's no need to walk out -- but you should consider standing up for yourself.

For an employer, it's simply counterproductive to let respect for the candidate crumble somewhere between the recruiting call and the interview with the manager. Yet it's common for a company to entice, flatter and charm people into a job interview, only to put them at the mercy of the personnel department's paper-processing machine. And that's often the underlying reason a candidate loses interest in a company and declines a job offer. Don't let yourself be insulted by the process. Insist that you be treated with respect throughout.

When you apply for a job, a company owes you a high level of professional deference. When a company recruits you, it owes you even more.

When you are invited for an interview, assume it's because the company already has good reasons to talk to you. It should not need to administer a test -- at least not until both you and the hiring manager have established good reasons to proceed.

If the personnel department is insistent, it's worth placing a call to the hiring manager -- right from the personnel office, if necessary -- to explain that you have a busy schedule and you came to meet, not to fill out forms and take tests. "I'm pleased that you invited me to visit with you, and I think we could have a very productive meeting. But please respect my work schedule. If we establish a common interest after our first meeting, I'd be glad to complete the forms, but I really don't have time to do that until we've established a mutual interest in continuing our discussions."

If you're a job hunter, remember that sometimes it's up to you to remind employers what is the proper protocol. If you let yourself be treated disrespectfully, you're encouraging more of the same behavior.

Copyright 2008. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.