Insight

Does anyone has any insight on getting an interview with Mattel? I applied for the HR Administrator position, I am qualified, but have not yet received any type of response. Help!

Hey Sarah. One of my business school classmates had this to say,"it's an onion; a huge organization with lots of layers." I too have superior qualifications and experience and would love to break the Mattel code. I've applied to several positions with not even the courtesy of a reject letter. As much of their HR campaigns picture minorities, I wonder if they're trying to meet some internal numbers. If you're a minority, you should probably mention it in your resume by way of your minority professional associations or clubs.

Sarah,

I've worked in a managerial position before and when it comes to hiring people, you can't even imagine the amount of responses that a company receives when they put up a job listing.

When an ad goes up, over 100 responses come in overnight and unfortunately, good candidates get lost among the bad ones. Unfortunately, you've just got to keep applying until you get noticed and then hope the interview goes well.

Good luck, it can be tough out there.

I recently tried to contact Mattels American Girl division in Middleton WI after applying for a entry level graphic design position on the internet. I was not sure if they had received my online application and I wanted to know if I could send a small sample portfolio to the art department. When I called the American Girl company I was directed to HR but the HR person had her voice mail on so I left a brief message about sending a few samples in. Several days past and I had completely forgotten about the call and message I left with HR at American Girl and the phone rang. I was suprised by the call but was asked by this HR director why I had called her I repeated my request and then she asked my name and said that she would pull my file. Her next response was that according to her data base that I had FAILED the entry questionaire which asked if I had ever worked in a MAC environment. I said no but then I told her that I had been on MACs in the graphic design programs before and had owned an older IMAC but my last position which was designing art for an interior design company was a WINDOWS platform and I knew how to use both Illustrator and Photoshop. She continued to be very cold and sharp toned with me so I thanked her for returning my phone call and said goodbye. I felt very offended that she had said I failed. She had never seen the quality or skill level of my art and the only reason I am unemployed is that my company recently downsized and my position was cut. I have spent many years in the art field both in the corporate and academic world I have an MFA in painting and drawing and have taught at the university level. I know how competitive it is and am aware of what is required for creating top level work and I care very much about the quality of my work and to make sure the client is happy.
I guess I am wondering if I should reapply since I saw the same position advertised again, I see that they have not found a suitable artist, should I bother?

Jean - After being spoken to in that manner, I would ask myself whether or not that is even the type of company I want to work for. If I were you I would walk away. Not because I don't think I can get the job, but because I choose not to work for an employer that speaks to people in that manner and represents the organization in such a negative way.

I have a friend who was laid off from Mattel about 5 years ago, after working in the graphics department for 10 years. Since his lay off, Mattel has gone through a lot of changes in top management and execs many times over. Unfortunately, the way into Mattel hasn't changed a bit. The best chances of getting in is to go through the temp agency located within their corporate office building.