Age Bias / physical appearance bias - Most interviewers were professional and had good interaction - last manager interview was biased - Below is a letter I sent to Alcon HR management. Do not bother to apply if you are not one of the beautiful people. I have never had a interview where the manager spent the time disparaging the company instead of asking me how I could help overcome the challenges in a job role.
Ms. **NAME REMOVED/HR MGR**
I had an in-person interview at Alcon in Fort Worth on March 18th. I recently received my letter advising that Alcon was selecting other candidates. Normally I would not pursue a follow up after such a letter, however, I believe you should be made aware of the context of my interview with the last manager, **NAME REMOVED**. The first two managers and all preliminary phone interview were all very positive. My background and skill set to do the job are an excellent match. I do not believe they caused any disqualification to the position. I am, however, over 50, overweight and have asthma and I do believe that these things did remove me from your pool of candidates.
**NAME REMOVED**, the last manager to interview me was late to the interview and did not ask me more than three questions. She came in, scowled at me and proceeded to tell me how terrible the job was for which I was applying. I thought it odd to say the least. I have never been in an interview where a manager stated … and these are direct quotes:
“The salesmen yell at you all day long.”
“You will be working until 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. at night and still not be able to catch up
“They (management) just set you up for failure.”
“They (management) say they are working on the solutions, but I will believe it when I see it.”
“You have at least 200 actionable emails daily.” (I have managed more actionable emails on a regular basis.)
“All the data is dirty. Outside customers (doctors’ offices) call and tell you accounts are incorrect and they are right 90% of the time. The data system is from the 1980s and crappy. All the data is wrong."
"You spend all your time researching contracts and correcting them and then the salesmen get mad because they want the new contracts put in now.”
The entire interview was geared to make me not want the job offered. Unfortunately, I relish challenges and my reaction was not **NAME REMOVED** desired outcome. **NAME REMOVED** made it clear she did not want to be doing this interview by her distraction and short, sharp and sarcastic responses when I tried to explain that I have built an entire career on solving these types of problems. I excused her actions as a frustrated manager in the middle of putting out a fire. On deeper reflection and discussion with friends (HR Director at a Fortune 100 company, retired HR arbitrator at a Big Five accounting firm), I believe I was dismissed as a candidate due to my age and weight. No … I will not file a complaint. You need to be aware, however, that many people would file a complaint. It would be a valid and actionable complaint. If Alcon is only interest in hiring the young and beautiful, please do not waste anyone else’s time interviewing candidates over 45 years old. At the very least, **NAME REMOVED** needs some coaching on interview techniques. If I had been interviewing at any company but Alcon, I would have thanked **NAME REMOVED** for her time, stated that I did not think this would be a good fit (based solely on her interview, not on my ability to do the job well) and left the interview. I do not normally waste time with companies with an age bias.
I am certain you will attribute this letter to “sour grapes,” but I have always admired Alcon and have for years sought a position there. Your image is tarnished in my mind. I do, however, intend to post an interview review on Glassdoor, to help other seasoned professionals assess whether they want to waste their time or go on to other companies which use a level playing field for hiring. I will also be frank when anyone asks me about my Alcon interview. During my interviews, I was asked many times about my ethics. Part of ethics and part of being an honorable person prompted this letter. You need to be aware of what is happening. Over the last 25 years I have over delivered on the job with accountable dollar results … with savings from $2 million to $6 million dollars in either retained sales, salary impact, accuracy, audit improvement and capacity impact. As far as not being hired at Alcon … it is water under the bridge and Alcon’s loss. Best wishes for Alcon and their chosen candidates.
Best regards,
