You can wear Jeans!

I quickly get over Sony. The following Sunday I retrieve a message on my home voicemail. It is a recruiter at Autodesk. She leaves me a desperate message to call her that evening, even if it is late. I did not get the message till 9:30p but she said "even if its late" being naturally nocturnal I think that means midnight, but I know the rest of the time zone is not on my schedule. I decide that 9:30p is still reasonable; I get her voicemail and leave her a message. She does not call back. I guess "late" for her is early. I follow-up Monday morning- voicemail. Wanting to be an persistent and interested candidate, but not a stalker, I give her a couple of days to call me back before trying again. Where is that line?

I know there are zillions of career advice web sites/books/mothers of the unemployed that insist you must be persistent, but on the other hand, when I was a recruiter I got really annoyed by people calling me multiple times a day. One guy who never even interviewed was under the impression he worked for me and did not understand why I would not call him for assignments. But I digress. I never minded smart, polite people calling that I had been meaning to call any way, but I am always cautious not to become the annoying one. If someone makes a business call on a Sunday evening and says you can call them until "late" doesn't that seem like they want to talk to you?

Later in the week, I finally got her on the phone, and she swore she would call me back in 15 minutes, she just could not talk then. The next day I got a poorly automated email that had the job description in it twice and some other garble. I think it was supposed to communicate to me that I was not going to be interviewed after all. Hmmmm.

Autodesk is #84 on Forbes Top 100 Best Companies to Work For. I always wonder what that is supposed to mean. . .

The article list 3 highlights
1. You can dress down
2. You can bring your dog
3. Chats with the CEO.

Those things are all nice, but in 2005 why is a company still getting credit for casual dress? Its hardly a differentiator any more, unless you are on Wall Street. What tech company does not have a casual dress policy? The recruiter who sent me to Sony kept harping on the fact that you could wear jeans to work and that is one of the many reasons I would be sooo lucky to work there. I have worked for several companies, since 1992, and I did not buy a suit(and a casual one at that) until 2000 and that was only because I wanted to dress that way to see clients. Otherwise yes, you could wear anything, even jeans.