What could possibly be going on?

Run away, run away! I don’t think I’d want to work for a company as disorganized as X seems to be.

This sounds like the kind of where you can get away with anything. Keep calling, or show up in person. I wouldn’t be too formal about it.

@augustlan: I agree, but with the economy the way it is… a job is a job.

Yeah, it sounds like contractual issues.
“Ethel” was all for it when she thought Company X was paying, but when they told her that their arrangement with Store A was a 50/50 split then she balked and is backpeddling in order to negotiate a better deal with Company X.

Only a guess though. And I agree with Agustlan that running might be a good idea but I think that you’ll find a lot of disorganized companies, unfortunately. Was this a significant shift from her last job, promotion-wise?

It’s also a tough economy to be looking for work in, so if going back to her old job isn’t a possibility, then I would check over anything provided by Company X in order to determine their liability to pay her regardless of which store she was placed in.

@fireside: Sorry, I wasn’t clear. The “who pays whom” only plays into it to explain why she needs both authorization from the store AND the company. Those ratios have been set long before the position was available.

And no, the move is purely a lateral one. Totally equivalent to what she’s doing now.

Edit: So why is she changing jobs? Because it’s likely her company is going to make cuts come the new year.

Well, frankly I agree w/ Augustlan. If this isn’t an option, I would just tell her to keep up the daily round robin of phone calls to all involved parties.

I am not overly blown away by Lily’s and Ethel’s managerial/organizational skills. Holiday Season or not.

Sounds like they have the communication skills of a dustpan. Unless it’s a great move, I’d skip. The first impression is just the tip of the iceberg….

@all:
Also, I should point out that in terms of disorganization in corporate beauty, this ranks as “par for the course”. I’ve been so amazed with some of her stories of how people run their business that this doesn’t even surprise me.

Do you think that it’s disorganization, or some strange purposeful avoidance?

Both

Whatever it is, it isn’t professional. I would push them to an endpoint as politely as possible to not leave any “stones unturned”.

Phone calls by SO should obviously be bright, cheery, during slower times of the day…..relating genuine interest in the job opportunity.

Sounds to me like people dropping the ball during a busy season. HR is notorious for not getting back to people Sometimes it’s because they don’t want you, and sometimes it’s disorganization, and sometimes things get delayed by unanticipated factors.

I’d keep calling. You have to organize them—take them by the hand and tell them to hire you.

If your SO really wants the job, it’s all about persistence. It’s a balance – be somewhat annoying, while being exceedingly polite, like Snoopy said. I would call once a day to inquire about it, and leave messages if necessary. The idea is to be professional, bright, cheery, and polite while getting them to the point where they are tired of taking the calls and they finally deal with it. If it doesn’t work, I would show up at the place in professional attire and try to meet with the people face-to-face.

Lots of places are disorganized.. I just went through a month-long idiotic ordeal of trying to get an interview at my current job, which I knew would snap me up if they could get their shit together long enough to look at my resume. I called daily or every other day, until I got that call for an interview.

If the place is near enough, why keep calling? Just go to the store’s customer service and ask for whoever she needs to speak to. Then she can tell that person how eager she is to start and she realizes that they are in the busiest season of the year so she just wanted to come by and discuss things face to face and perhaps sign any papers if need be. The best impression is always made in person. Phone calls often lead to miscommunication. Also, if she is right there, in person, it’s a lot harder to say “oh uhhh i’ll call you back.” or “mm i still need to figure this out” and people are more willing to just resolve the issue.

Could it be that the national trainer is a recruiter for a staffing agency? This sounds like a situation were the staffing company is trying to place the employee, and the company (the one that pays the staffing agency) has other ideas, or has found an employee without having to pay the staffing company.

This happens a lot, and many staffing folks don’t have the courage to let the SO know that the job has not been secured.

@mizuki: No, the trainer is the boss of the regional, who is the boss of the account exec, who would be the boss of the position.

@PnL: This is an instance where everyone travels around store-to-store, so it’s hard to get face time.

So! She finally heard back. It turns out it was a case of everyone needs to talk to everyone else to make a decision, combined with the fact that they’re in the process of training 4 other people to fill counter manager positions. She should hear back about a final decision in a day or so.

you should leave, I would never want to work for a company as unorganized as company X seems. You will probably just get more complications later on in your job. You don’t need that stress.

@ andrew, oh never mind I just saw your response.

Sorry I’m late to respond…sounded like an issue with protocol…the floor manager was trying to cover her arse…rather disingenuous; if I were in your SO’s shoes, I would proceed with caution.

Also; I find it quite interesting that “SO” is so popular in the US, but I’d never really heard it here in England.

@Andrew, you could have your SO buy “Lily” and “Ethel” copies of Getting Things Done for Christmas!~

@richardhenry: I’ve only really seen it online.

rich – i didn’t really use it until Fluther

Oh, that explains it then. How disappointing.

I don’t know why. But I find it cute/amusing that RichardHenry is disappointed by this.

@Nimis Its the accent.

It’s not just an online thing. :)