Was drawn to Baxter not only because they are one of the top medical device companies in the world, but also because of the new CEO's initiatives on telecommuting. I am located in CA and at this time unable to relocate to IL. When contacted by talent acquisition I was completely transparent about my desire to work remotely, but that we could form what an in office schedule that was beneficial for us both would look like - whether that was a regular travel schedule or intermittent as needed. My talent acquisition representative said she would contact the hiring manager to confirm if she was open to such. Once she confirmed that this would be OK a phone screen was set up with hiring manager.
My initial phone screen with the hiring manager went very well. Honestly we hit it off and it felt like I had known her for years. Initially I had applied for a couple of different positions, but after speaking with her regarding my experience she requested I come in to interview for a manager position rather than the specialist position even though I wasn't quite at the years of experience.
Travel was very smooth and Baxter handled everything! When on site I met with the team and I felt like it went very well. Everyone was great, and background and skills seemed to be a great fit for the US Device team. When I left, the hiring manager told me she would like to schedule a call with the Sr. Director and that even if the years of experience were a challenge that we could find a place for me on the team based upon my background.
Once home I sent a thank you and followed up with talent acquisition - this is when things got weird. My talent acquisition representative had moved on from Baxter, and my position was reassigned to another person. He set up a phone call to follow up. The first call he missed and then had to call me the next morning instead. When we spoke he seemed very negative about telecommuting, but said he would gain feedback from the team and get back to me on next steps over the next couple of days. Over a month passed and he had not even informed me if they decided to move forward with someone else - just dark. I wasn't too worried, as I know these things take time and the Fourth of July holiday was coming up.
After the holiday I sent him an email to follow up and he stated that they are not moving forward as they need someone local in IL. Since getting the new talent acquisition representative everything got strange from the negativity towards telecommuting, to not hearing from him even when he said he would get back to me, to the email stating they needed someone local when I was completely transparent from the beginning and it had already been confirmed that the hiring manager was open to the situation. Had the hiring manager said no telecommuting from the beginning I would not have wanted to waste their time, as I know they are very busy people. I did sent him an email stating that I found this surprising considering my transparency from the bringing, but thanking him for the information and should another opportunity allow telecommuting I would gladly look forward to speaking with them in the future. Strange thing was, I was totally blindsided and even said I would be willing to relocate potentially in the future should my role grow.
Baxter is an amazing company, and I absolutely loved the team I would be working with, but just a disappointing and bizarre outcome. Hopefully in the future there will be an opportunity for me to join their team.
