I applied online. I interviewed at Pollard PLLC (Fort Lauderdale, FL) in Mar 2021
Interview
My first interview with J. Pollard was over the telephone. Most of the interview was him telling me he was a genius and a master writer. He was on his phone in a restaurant dictating his order loudly and pretentiously to the server. He opened with telling my how masterfully written my resume was and how I was "wicked smart". He offered me the position on the spot. The next day I emailed him asking if he had time to chat as I had some further questions about the position. He replied immediately with... "Sure but it truly has to be a quick call. Please call me. I’ll be around." 5 minutes later he is calling me. I thought he would offer some available times to speak later in the day as I was busy at work and was not free to talk at that exact moment. I later emailed him with "I missed your call. My apologies. Busy putting out fires" again opening the door for him to suggest a time. The following day I had no intention of accepting the offer but figured what the hell let's see what his offer looks like. This was his rude response "No you never called me back yesterday so you need to explain". Okay, red flags continue to appear and I'm pretty steamed at his arrogance. I do some research and see a Glassdoor review of a former potential candidate for a "Communications Specialist" and this confirms everything the red flags are telling me. He then takes her review and posts it on another website slamming her and further has the audacity to post her writing sample, along with his redlined version pointing out the "flaws" of her writing. So I follow up his rude email with this: so I follow up with "Did you receive my follow-up email yesterday or were you too busy stroking your ego?" Clearly, I have hit a nerve a little too close to home and he responds with this: " ? Why would you say something like that. That’s totally uncalled for. I tried calling you yesterday. You told me you missed my call but never tried calling me back ". For someone who doth protest too much of his mastery of written language, his emails is riddled with errors. Rule #1 being NEVER end a sentence with a preposition. He then tries calling me. I have been in this busy for over 25 years. I have worked for the best and the brightest in Washington, D.C.; one of which was Clinton Administration Cabinet Member. The D.C. legal wheel rolls fast and stressful so I've cut my teeth dealing with egos, arrogance and belittling behavior before and with age, maturity and experience I have learned how to earn their respect without crossing boundaries. I have also learned how hostile, bullying behavior has costs firms valuable employees because they are too afraid to speak up for fear of losing their job. So in spite of a very generous offer including a significantly higher salary, I would rather make thousands less than deal with this egoic nonsense. Law firms are stressful and attitudes matter. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. However, who wants to go to work everyday, perform a stressful job very well and then have it spoiled by your bullying boss. Life is too short. Some may say my response was completely unprofessional. It was but it needed to be said. Yes, I lowered myself to his level and I did so because I have never encountered someone so arrogant and rude in my life. So for the person who wrote the review about Mr. Pollard's behavior, be glad you didn't get that job.
Jonathan Pollard is one of the rudest and unprofessional hiring managers I have ever encountered in my job seeking experience. After applying for the job, he sent me a one-paragraph critique of my writing samples, instead of simply telling me that my experience is not the right fit for his firm. A direct quote from his email to me: "My English and history professors at Cornell would have ripped this to shreds (as I just did)". This is an incredibly inappropriate way to speak to a job seeker and is probably a good indicator of his management style...I suggest that the company outsource its' hiring needs to a recruiter who is familiar with the hiring process and the decorum that comes with the hiring process. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable.