The application asks for your legal name, while including a preferred name field. I am transgender, so I included my preferred name, expecting it to be respected. I received a phone call from an HR person who ignored my preferred name, and used my wrong-gender legal name instead.
I think it's obvious that a 'preferred name' field exists for the benefit of transgender applicants. A store manager or a baseline employee might not realize this, but any HR person in the world absolutely knows this.
If someone who works in HR can't be bothered to read that field and put two and two together, I don't think I will have a good relationship with the company. So, I did not follow up.
In a few words, perhaps the greatest mess I have seen in my career!
Let me develop:
As a born and raised Seattleite, I always knew and respected Nordstrom so when the opportunity in the HQ for an employment arose and I had the background, I quickly applied.
A few days later I was contacted and spoke with a HR representative. Must say the conversation was rather pleasant. A few days later, I spoke to the hiring manager who invited me for a face to face the week after.
When I left, I actually had a good feeling. Nice people and I had the skills to bring something.
One week later, I followed up with HR and received a response that my face to face went well. I was motivated.
That was the last time I ever heard from anyone at Nordstrom! Of course I tried calling and followed up by email but never had any answer. Was the position closed? Did they find someone else? A “no” would have been an acceptable answer for me as an active job hunter to allow me to move on.
The good news is after weeks of being somewhat disoriented, my husband convinced to apply to other jobs. I am glad I did as a very short time after I found myself working in Bellevue at a company that clearly has a much better hiring process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Skill and background questions. Nothing out of the ordinary