Chile Forum

Hello,
I live in Santiago since February 2011, and because I have a Chilean spouse I also have the working permit. I am looking for a job in the tourism field - more specifically hotel management. I am multilingual (fluent Spanish, English, German, French) and have a good international experience. I sent my CV to a lot of headhunters and directly to the hotels, applied on laborum.cl, trabajando.com etc.

I have been called several times for interviews. Since I have myself a considerable experience in recruitment, my conclusion after each interview I was called to was that it went all right. They even asked for references to be sent (which my ex-boss did - got a copy too and it all seemed to be fine).

They always say the classical "We will call you back in one week to arrange the next interview", sometimes very specific "sometimes from WED to FRI you will be receiving a phone call from us for the next interview". Other times they get back to you with an e-mail making sure that you do have the working permit (which I do have). You never hear from them again! Until now, they were all well-known brands (hotels or other companies) or apparently serious headhunting agencies - in order to be decent, I will not allow myself to make their name public. Except for ONE hotel, none of the companies mentioned before would send back the classical "We will keep your application in our data base and if a new opening..." message.

I don't mean to offend anyone here, but I have the feeling that I am not taken seriously as an expat and that the recruitment process is done in a very unprofessional way. Of course, I might have a good CV but I am also aware that out of all the jobs I have applied for, some might not be suitable for me entirely. I am referring more to the reactions after the interview for a management position in a serious company.

I spoke to an expat friend from Europe and she did similar experiences.

Anyone with some encouragements, please?

Expat35 wrote: Anyone with some encouragements, please?

Not exactly encouragement, only to say that many Chilean companies treat well-qualified professional applicants very badly, if we consider that North American and European human resources practices are the norm. It is another "unprofessional" and "underdeveloped" (not to mention rude) characteristic of Chile and you should not feel that this treatment is due to anything about you personally.

patagoniax wrote:you should not feel that this treatment is due to anything about you personally.

Thank you, patagoniax! It is not an encouragement but it does help!

I have a feeling that many companies have policies that require them to publish job vacancies. However, if the local boss has already secretly lined up someone for the job through the famous pituto system, an external candidate, however well-qualified won't get a look in. I could be mistaken, but I doubt it....seen it in other areas. So don't get discouraged, its cronyism or nepotism at work. Sooner or later you'll get lucky.

fraggle092 wrote:...the local boss has already secretly lined up someone for the job through the famous pituto system

I thought of that too...

The other direction is just as flaky, a company I have was hiring a person to work full time for us this past summer. The first 2 never showed up (excuses were 1) well we are on holiday and 2) not answering their phone) and the 3rd lasted 1 week, this was a professional 1.5M monthly mid management position, why all we interviewed expressed interest and then never showed when hired, I’ll never know. We did talk to the 4 we didn’t hire after we made our first decision. Several thought it odd we were hiring in the summer, but that’s when I’m in Chile. I sent someone from Canada to fill the job.

nwdiver wrote:...why all we interviewed expressed interest and then never showed when hired

Waw! As the Chileans say "Que mala onda!" Really bad attitude, I admit it!

Expat35 wrote:

nwdiver wrote:...why all we interviewed expressed interest and then never showed when hired

Waw! As the Chileans say "Que mala onda!" Really bad attitude, I admit it!

Take everything you ever learned and reverse it. Used to under promising and over delivering? Try the reverse in Chile. You ususally show up five minutes early to a business meeting? Try showing up an hour late to get used to Chile. Used to hiring female staff based on merit? Try doing it based on bra size, her chances of not getting pregnant, and the number of children who might keep her from giving her all to your company. And by all means learn to accept the fact that everyone in Chile is an engineer.... sales engineer, tourism engineer, commerce engineer.... DO take the time to compliment them on their cheesy business cards. They like that.

PenquistaDeCorazon wrote:Take everything you ever learned and reverse it.

I got your point, however, lets face it: most of the Western companies might have this kind of problems! I worked as a foreigner in Austria, Switzerland and France - all private companies, all facing fairness issues to a certain extent. A lot of these western companies might use coded phrases of the type "don't call us, we'll call you" to refuse a candidate after an interview.

As far as my experience goes, in the case of the Chilean recruiting companies or companies recruiting directly I am surprised of their very specific answer which tells me that the recruitment process will continue - in one form or another. I also specifically requested to be announced in case of a negative answer. Never got a reaction of any kind until now. I doubt they are totally shy to tell you "no" in the form of a classical, standardized e-mail.

Anybody that went through that but finally got a good job?

Hello expat35....I'm sad to say my job application experience in Chile so far has been very similar to yours. The typical never hear from them again even though they were interested bit.
I love Chile, such a beautiful land, and I have great fun here, but there are soooo many little annoying things I wish would just get fixed!!!! The attitude of employers during the hiring process is one of them. I want my island where I don't have to deal with any of the bureaucratic $#*& ever!

Ditto for me too and I'm Chilean.

This is normal for chileans! gringos! everyone! its a chilean thing...................