Have I mentioned job hunting sucks?

I understand times have changed since I first entered the workforce. Employers don't seem to accept applications or resumes unless they're for advertised jobs. They tend not to communicate with job hunters, even in response to courteous inquiries. I deal with it.

What is still bothering me is how the hiring process seems so adversarial. Employers act as if it's us against them. They build walls around themselves to keep information in and potential employees out. It seems counterproductive to me, but who am I? They have jobs to dole out, and I need one.

I went through an interesting experience in the past two weeks. I applied for a job advertised on line by a major local employer. In doing so, I noticed there was absolutely no contact information—no physical address, no phone number, no e-mail. I know they hire people who don't have computers or computer skills—how does that happen?

A few days later I received an invitation to an interview and was given a street address a few blocks away from the main facility. I had to ring a bell at a locked door just to enter. Thank goodness I didn't need to confirm the address or have an emergency the day of the interview—I wouldn't have had any way of contacting them.

I couldn't tell how the interview went. The interviewer, my potential boss, asked a lot of questions without giving me a clue about what she wanted. I can understand that because most applicants, including myself, would tailor their answers to whatever the employer was looking for. She wouldn't know whether someone was the right candidate or just pretending to be. But I had hoped to get a feeling for whether I even wanted the job, and I never got that, either. At the end of the interview I thanked her, told her I hoped to be invited back for the next round of interviews, said she could keep my samples and left.

Afterward I received an e-mail message, dated the day of the interview, from the Human Resources Department saying I hadn't been selected. Ouch! I knew they still had more people to interview, so the woman who interviewed me really must not have liked me. But I moved on.

Out of the blue today, I received a phone call from the HR department. "Hello, is Ann there? How are you today? I'm calling to inform you the materials you left here are ready to be picked up."

WTF? #1, I gave the samples to the interviewer; I didn't loan them to her. (They had requested I bring them to the interview.)  #2, Why didn't this come up when they sent the rejection notice last week?  #3, They have my address.  If for some reason they're hesitant to discard the samples they asked for, would it kill them to put them in a manila envelope and mail them to me?

I told the guy he was welcome to discard them, which is what I'm sure he expected to hear. Because I haven't found a job yet, I resisted the temptation to tell him what I really felt like telling him to do with them. If I'd been thinking, I would have told him I'd go pick them up just to see if he'd actually give me a physical location and arrange for me to be let in. I bet he wouldn't have.