To not offer this person a job?

[MrsStig]

DH is currently recruiting a sales person. The CV's we've received so far haven't been brilliant, but there was one person we decided to interview, despite spelling errors in his covering letter, and not having relative experience. (He has an excellent proven track record in sales in another area, though)

Anyway, a left a message for him inviting him for an interview at a certain time, and asked him to confirm he would be able to attend. When he phoned to confirm he asked for me, and when he was put through simply said "It's Lee.*". His name is slightly unusually though, and I so I figured who he was, and said "Are you phoning about the interview? Blah blah"

Now, this has annoyed me, and I'm thinking we can't employ a sales person who begins a telephone conversation like this. Basically I've already decided not to employ him based on this.
AIBU?

*names have been changed for obvious reasons. .

Afraid the spelling mistakes in covering letter would have meant I wouldn't have interviewed him. Should have proofed it/got it checked.

And in sales - he needs to have a good phone manner which includes pitching himself correctly which he didn't do with you.

So yanbu.

unfair

everyone should be interviewed and scored then tot up the scroes on the interview only - not previous conversation

You would surely train this person? So the behaviour on the phone would be overrun by your own trianing

You should be at liberty to employ or not employ anyone you like, for whatever reason you choose, if its a private business, in exactly the same way you should have the right to allow or deny people to stay in your privately owned B&B.

There too much personal choice being taken away from us. If hes managed to annoy you, he'll also annoy your customers. Get rid before its too late.

Yabu I'm being a bit thick here but not totally getting what he did wrong. Was he too abrupt in just telling you his name and not explaining further??
I'll be honest I hate that initial first contact when you are replying to a message in the circustances you describe and possibly don't handle it right.
I had to call back after a message for the job I have now and thankfully my employer liked me enough to both interview me and take me on and regularly call me during my working hours to tell me how fab I am.

At least give him a chance some people are crap at the initial contact but fabulous at interview and fabulous at their job.
Feel a bit sorry for him actually.

I do think sales is a bit different though. You do really have to have an excellent phone manner and judge quickly how to talk to someone.

He didn't get that right and for me coupled with the badly written covering letter - I wouldn't offer him a job.

You can't have quotes etc going out with spelling mistakes.

Well I would do the interview and see what you think but it's fair enough that this counts against him in my opinion. Give him some honest feedback though so he can improve.

I don't understand the exact problem either. Why did you have to "figure out" who he was? Hadn't he just told you?

If someone leaves a message for me and I call them back, I would start by saying - hi it's C.

If he's got an excellent track record then he's obviously doing something right. WHy not base your decision on that, plus the interview?

Really linncash ? Are you referring to the gay couple turned away from that B&B on the basis of their sexuality? Care to elaborate how you feel that's ok?

I actually feel pleased that I live in a country where the law protects my human rights. It may not be perfect but it is better than some places.

Sorry for hijack op.

I don't know enough about employment law/interview protocol to answer!

YANBU - I wouldn't have considered him because of the spelling errors and his phone manner would be the nail in the coffin.

I missed that post by Linncash. Yes, please elaborate, Linn - bearing in mind that a B&B is a business, and so subject to the same anti-discrinminatory laws as other businesses.

lincstash...that's not really right, though is it. I can't not employ someone because they are black/pregnant/Irish.

I do however need to make an intelligent decision based on someone's ability to do the job, and I'm sitting her tonight feeling bad because I've probably already written this guy off, yet know we all are still going to go through the interview process tomorrow.

I meant linstash, obviously.

Wouldn't employ myself, lol!

At this stage in the process YABU.

People get nervous on the phone with potential employers.

Definitely unreasonable. If you left a message for him and you say his name is unusual, why shouldn't he assume you would remember who he was?

(Playing devil's advocate, he could judge you as being less than professional for leaving him a message rather than putting the job invitation in writing. Would that be fair?)

I wouldn't dismiss him before you've met him and assessed how he matches up to the job description/person specification. If he's a very good sales person, I don't think spelling mistakes are a deal breaker - presumably they weren't that bad if you decided he was worth an interview.

fascicle, you have a good point about leaving him a message... but he is only free on Thursdays, and I wanted to get him in this week, rather than wait another week.

As it turns out, I was BVU! He interviewed extremely well, and while we still have others to interview, we'll definitely be calling him back for a 2nd interview, and probably be offering him the job.

His spelling mistakes weren't ones a spell checker would have picked up. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

I see you have already interviewed him and he has now made a much better impression, so maybe you were BU earlier. In your position I would have been extremely put off by the spelling mistakes and would have been unlikely to invite him to interview in the first place, but the way he introduced himself on the phone doesn't sound that bad to me.

Anyway I guess you could coach him a little bit on his phone manner and then take him for a trial period to see how it goes.