How do you screen crazy employers?

[TKramar]

I assume that they are crazy as a default. If they're not, I can be pleasantly surprised. But if they are, I already expect it to be the case.

[scapegoatpa]

Originally Posted by kodaka

My first screening criteria is the hiring process itself--is the job ad written well, or is it sloppy? Do they schedule interviews in a reasonable timeframe or do they wait six months to schedule? Do they cancel and reschedule or change interviewers? Is the interview a good one, or do they ask stupid irrelevant questions like, "if I were a tree, what kind of tree would I be?" and other such nonsense? Do they followup as promised? In my experience, a company that is a mess during the hiring process is going to be a mess to work for. This is probably my top criteria.

My recent longer job search gave me an opportunity to watch trends--some firms kept advertising the same job over and over again. That's a major red flag for me. In this economy there's no reason why a company can't find someone to fill it and stay there, unless there's something wrong. In past job searches I didn't have to look for as long so I didn't have a chance to spot these 'revolving doors'. I put these revolving-door companies on a blacklist and they will stay there in future job searches.

I ask questions in the interview. It kind of surprises me how many people don't do this. This is your opportunity to scratch the surface and get a reaction they haven't prepared in advance. Ask questions like, why is this position available, can I meet the people I would be working with directly, what is the career path for the person hired, who do you consider your primary competition, how will the worker's performance be evaluated, what is the most difficult task associated with this position? and so forth. If they don't let you ask questions, that's a red flag too. Ask questions during the interview and when you receive the job offer. Frankly if you don't ask questions, you deserve whatever you get, IMO.

I do talk to colleagues in the industry to see what their impressions of the company are. Its not always helpful and I haven't always heeded their advice, but its helpful to get their impressions.

The internet can be somewhat helpful too. My industry has some webpages devoted to employee comments. Of course they are largely negative for all employers, but its helpful to know what specific issues a particular company has. Some issues may be fine for me, others not. Its part of the equation, not the deciding factor.

What is the physical work environment like? Is it well taken care of? Are workspaces nice and is the office generally organized? Or are all the chairs and file drawers broken?

I totaly agree with kodaka on this one. I sat for an interview with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and after introducing himself, the interviewer asked me "so...if you died today, what would your obituary read?" I was momentarily speechless, but quickly recovered and said "oh, I'm terribly sorry, but there is no sense in continuing this interview as I can see this is not the job for me" and thanked them for having me in and excused myself and walked out. The assistant director walked out with me and ask if I minded telling him why I was walking out. I told him that that kind of question red flagged them as an employer and I din't want to wastetheir time or mine going any further. He actually laughed and said he didn't blame me and I was the only one who ever walked out on that question and most people squirmed and tried to give an answer. He told me it was asked as a mind blower to see how people reacted and he too thought it was stupid, but the boss liked to play mind games with potential employees.

In another instance with CitiBank when asked did I have any questions, after a four hour interview/interrogation, I askd if I could speak to a member of the dept I was interviewing for. ABSOLUTELY NOT! the woman growled. I thanked her and told her I was good to go..no more questions. Another red flag...if they don't let you talk to employees, they are hiding something. As fate would have it the woman got a phone call and ended up having one of the very people walk me out of the building. On the way out he confirmed my suspicions. After asking where I worked at the time of interview, he said "oh my god...you'd be crazy to leave there to come here!" and went on to give me the info I wanted.

Always ask to talk to someone there, check their rep with other reliable sources and run at the first sign of crazy interview questions.

[Reneeme]

There were two questions that I asked when I was interviewing that seemed to give me some good clues to culture and/or negatives.

One was "why is this position available?", and the other was "what are the biggest opportunities, and also the biggest challenges"? For the first question, usually I got basic answers, however, once or twice I got squirming and/or defensiveness, which caused big red flags for me. For the second question, when they answered about the challenges, it helped me see if the challenges were challenges I could handle, and for the opportunities, sometimes it let me see how they were thinking overall.

As a side comment, for the job I ended up getting, I do not think I asked either of these questions, because I wanted it regardless of any negatives or possible red flags (I was already familiar with the company and some of the people and had a great impression). The job was explained as 9-5 with sometimes working extra when there is a lot going on, but I have worked much more than that every week so far! I am still happy I got the job though, so no regrets.

[Nite Ryder]

Originally Posted by Koale

But, man, they thought Mt. St. Helens blew alot of hot air. I'm sure 911 did know exactly where you were located and how to handle emergencies associated w/your business, they probably kept a very close eye on your operation...ha...

I'm sure they did keep a close eye on my operation. We communicated with 911 employees on a daily basis. We knew many of them on a first name basis, and on Valentines Day I always took a pound box of candy to each 911 employee. My whole operation depended on 911 operators response to phone calls from our office. I owned and operated a security company and an alarm monitoring company. Prior to that I worked as a patrol officer for the Oregon State Police. I knew all of the law enforcement officers in our area, and many of them I had worked with. Yes, I even had to deal with flakes, but I didn't expect to see them on this forum until now.

You can't win on this one Koale, you are way out in left feild when it comes to knowing what you are talking about. Hot air yes, you do remind me of St Helens.

[Koale]

Originally Posted by Nite Ryder

I'm sure they did keep a close eye on my operation. We communicated with 911 employees on a daily basis. We knew many of them on a first name basis, and on Valentines Day I always took a pound box of candy to each 911 employee. My whole operation depended on 911 operators response to phone calls from our office. I owned and operated a security company and an alarm monitoring company. Prior to that I worked as a patrol officer for the Oregon State Police. I knew all of the law enforcement officers in our area, and many of them I had worked with. Yes, I even had to deal with flakes, but I didn't expect to see them on this forum until now.

You can't win on this one Koale, you are way out in left feild when it comes to knowing what you are talking about. Hot air yes, you do remind me of St Helens.

I'm not trying to 'win' anything. I certainly am not in any sort of 'contest' and I'm not particularly interested in who you are or what you have done or how important you feel you have been in the past. I'm simply annoyed w/your arrogance and condescending holier-than-thou attitude towards most everyone else.
Have a nice day.
Koale