An Open Letter to Matrix Resources

Update: To their credit, Matrix found this letter, and acted on it nearly immediately. I spoke with them, they were very contrite, and I found them serious about righting the situation. Kudos to a company that can admit when they’re wrong, and try to make things right.

Folks: Pardon this exercise in catharsis…I absolutely have to get this off my chest…

Greetings Gentlemen,

As a job seeker in the 21st century, many tasks and challenges present themselves to us each and every day. A continuing search in the field of information technology is fraught with frustration: Ignored telephone calls, emails, resume submittals, and a serious lack of qualified recruiting talent in the IT field add to the stress of the job search to a great degree.

I am sure that in 1983, you gentlemen understood this and took steps to found a company that was “not like the rest”. It is in the text of your charter that I have chosen to communicate with you.

Your charter promises several items I would like to consider with you.

INTEGRITY
“We pledge to do the right thing in all circumstances”

I live in the Atlanta area, and as such fall under the purveyance of the Perimeter Center Place office. I have contacted this office via email, your website, and response to posted job advertisements for over THREE YEARS with never a reply from your organization.

In society, a bsuiness contact from an unemployed or an employed individual looking for a change deserves respect and consideration from a personal contact… A human being who cares and is there to help an individual seek their new position…a contact of INTEGRITY.

There is *NO WAY* your personnel can possibly know the suitability of a candidate without SPEAKING to them personally. You are in the PEOPLE business. You owe it to yourselves and your clients to contact candidates. You are selling yourselves and your clients short and treating the candidates like objects…a distinct lack of INTEGRITY.

EXCELLENCE
“We exceed expectations by providing superior service and unsurpassed quality and value.”

Again, having been one to try and contact Matrix resources over the last several years, and having never been contacted, excellence (and your adherence to it) is not being served. Furthermore, the efforts of your personnel deserve discussion.

I have no problem that your staff chooses not to contact me. However, on a daily basis I have to sift through *HUNDREDS* of Matrix entries on the large Internet Job boards such as Monster, Dice, Computerjobs, Careerbuilder, etc. Recently, your firm has even begun placing their ads in our local paper, only to drive visitors to your website, and then be summarily ignored.

EXCELLENT personnel service organizations contact their candidates, interview them, obtain quality characteristics of the candidate, and pitch them to your clients. You can never be sure that you have found the best candidates. You have not performed your job with EXCELLENCE.

RESPECT
“We show care and compassion for all individuals because of our inherent trust and belief in people.”

How can you show compassion when you don’t even contact A) those who are out of work and B) those who are looking for a change. If you *believed* in people, you would spend time contacting each and every candidate that showed promise for a potential position. You Atlanta office *REFUSES* telephone calls, and will not speak to you. Not only does this not show RESPECT for the individual, it shows disdain for them and their person. It could be nothing further from RESPECT.

INNOVATION
“We promote creativity and possess the courage to embrace change.”

While I cannot speak for your internal processes (as I have never even SPOKEN to a Matrix employee) I can speak from your activities as an organization on the web. It is not INNOVATIVE, CREATIVE, or COURAGEOUS.

A Simple search reveals the following:

Computerjobs.com has 260 jobs with Matrix Resources listed. You have reposted the same 22 jobs in the Atlanta area for 17 days consecutively, yet refuse telephone calls.

Dice.com has 182 Matrix Resources entries for Atlanta. You have reposted the same 24 jobs for 26 days consecurively, yet refuse telephone calls.

I could continue…

As you can see, There is not only a public visage of LACK of INNOVATION, but the statistics seem to support that fact strongly. You have on staff a large group of website surfers that know how to post jobs.

FUN
“We strive to make MATRIX an irresistible place to work,where fun and professionalism coexist.”

Since I can neither confirm nor deny that there are actual living, breathing human beings working at the Atlanta MATRIX office, I cannot speak to the validity of this goal’s execution.

RESULTS-DRIVEN
“We believe that our success is ultimately measured by the results we deliver to our customers.”

I am one potential customer that has not been served. I have not been spoken to, called, asked in for an interview, or given a rejection. I have been accosted by auto-responders, denials of contact attempts by phone (The receptionist actually said “I am sorry, but we do not take telephone calls unless we have contacted you already…correct me if I’m wrong…you *are* in a people business, right?) and offers of visits to seminars to teach me how to look for a job. (we could start with you contacting me so I can sell myself to you for RESPECTful consideration in INTEGRITY by an EXCELLENT team member that uses INNOVATIVE methods of RESULTS-DRIVEN recruiting practice to obtain *ME* a job, and *YOU* an income.)

In regards to your Vision, you should actually speak with your candidates. When a candidate contacts you by phone, is it really impossible to take 15 minutes with this person to treat them with integrity? To respect their position, and to try and help them find that next position? I don’t think so.

Do yourselves and the technical community a favor: Operate by your foundational values and vision.

Updated: February 13, 2005 — 11:59 pm

1 Comment

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  1. Sounds like a wonderful company to work for. Beats watching paint dry.

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