Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I did, once. May not translate well why I was so contemptuous, but follow along:
c. mid 2010, I had nine years or so in IT and had just achieved project management professional (PMP). A non-trivial cert, in terms of experience required, and the exam itself. I also had a fresh MBA from an Ivy. An "interesting" job came up, referred to me by someone I didn't know well, for about a year contract as a 1099. Probably would have cleared a couple hundred K after taxes in a year. Yes, that's a "First World Problem" but IT pays what it does, very well or very poorly depending on multiple factors.
I've worked with this client before, employees are known to be uppity sometimes. Whatever, I don't play that nor do I care, usually. As I walked down the hall to the interviewer's office in Building so-and-so, I recognized someone I knew from years ago and leaned in to press the flesh and say a few words. The interviewer didn't like that. Big company, but I know hundreds of people there from many years, and that's the point: I'm not fresh off the boat.
We entered interviewer's office and I really got a good look at her: early 20s, Chinese, chilly attitude. I remember thinking, "oh, one of *those* interviews where they bust your chops" and started chuckling. She really was a sight, about 100lbs and only modest English skills obviously. I'm not jamming on her being foreign, btw, but at least have your interview process in order! Pull that idiocy on young kids out of college, not professionals.
She starts in with a retarded question about some website to be tested. I answered. She had trouble with my answer. "Do you have a copy of your resume," I said sure and handed her an iPad. She didn't like I had no paper copy, my answer was "this is 2010, I don't do paper garbage anymore." I was turning from amused at this kid's attempt to be smart and competent, to slightly annoyed. I remember her going through the production of printing out my resume. I should have asked her if she had an abacus, too.
Note: as a subject matter expert (SME), I've occasionally taken fairly high-buck assignments for a fixed duration to solve problems for clients, Seattle to Charlotte. I'm deep and wide, with superlative references. This is all pretty clear from my profile on LinkedIn, resume, etc. and the person who referred me had clearly not teed this up well with interviewer.
Red Flags: skills and expectations mismatch. Poor attitude of interviewer. Difficulty communicating...yeah.
We went on for maybe five more minutes. I was getting pissed. I reigned it in, stopped her line of questioning, and said "Ms. (whatever), where are you from, I see Taipei on your screen there? Tell me about your experience here at _____, nature of the program and org, your expectations, etc...." She was taken aback and didn't answer in any coherent way. She stumbled around for thirty seconds or so.
I remember standing up, saying, "I'm concluding this interview, this isn't appropriate but I do appreciate your time. Thank you." ...And promptly walked out back the direction I'd come.
On the way out, down the hall (big building), I leaned across the railing at the door and talked to yet another friend I'd seen behind the front desk. This annoying interview person was behind me quacking something about 'calling security' and was completely ignored by me. Couple minutes later, I handed front desk my temp badge and sauntered out the front door. Didn't see security, not my problem.
I took another gig a weekly later that made more sense, looking at my calendar (from then) it was a busy time of year. After that I was a full time employee of the same company for years, until not all that long ago.
Know when the role is not right for you, your self-worth, and when to walk out of an interview if you don't "need" the job per se.
I've had a couple of similar interviews, although I haven't walked out yet. I'm also quite senior in a particular technology -- 25+ years overall experience in tech, 15+ years with this skill. Fortunately I still look like I am in my late 30s (or so I am told), so I tend to produce a high initial-response to final-interview ratio.
The worst interviews occur with hiring managers who have not mastered English. And I am not squeamish about diction -- I don't mean millennial bros who toss F-bombs in regular speech, I don't mean colloquial speech like "reckon" or "fixing to" -- I mean managers to whom I would report directly (producing reports in technical English, explaining nuances of systems architecture, etc.) who do NOT UNDERSTAND COLLEGE-LEVEL ENGLISH.
Where do companies find these people?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blondebaerde
I did, once. May not translate well why I was so contemptuous, but follow along:
c. mid 2010, I had nine years or so in IT and had just achieved project management professional (PMP). A non-trivial cert, in terms of experience required, and the exam itself. I also had a fresh MBA from an Ivy. An "interesting" job came up, referred to me by someone I didn't know well, for about a year contract as a 1099. Probably would have cleared a couple hundred K after taxes in a year. Yes, that's a "First World Problem" but IT pays what it does, very well or very poorly depending on multiple factors.
I've worked with this client before, employees are known to be uppity sometimes. Whatever, I don't play that nor do I care, usually. As I walked down the hall to the interviewer's office in Building so-and-so, I recognized someone I knew from years ago and leaned in to press the flesh and say a few words. The interviewer didn't like that. Big company, but I know hundreds of people there from many years, and that's the point: I'm not fresh off the boat.
We entered interviewer's office and I really got a good look at her: early 20s, Chinese, chilly attitude. I remember thinking, "oh, one of *those* interviews where they bust your chops" and started chuckling. She really was a sight, about 100lbs and only modest English skills obviously. I'm not jamming on her being foreign, btw, but at least have your interview process in order! Pull that idiocy on young kids out of college, not professionals.
She starts in with a retarded question about some website to be tested. I answered. She had trouble with my answer. "Do you have a copy of your resume," I said sure and handed her an iPad. She didn't like I had no paper copy, my answer was "this is 2010, I don't do paper garbage anymore." I was turning from amused at this kid's attempt to be smart and competent, to slightly annoyed. I remember her going through the production of printing out my resume. I should have asked her if she had an abacus, too.
Note: as a subject matter expert (SME), I've occasionally taken fairly high-buck assignments for a fixed duration to solve problems for clients, Seattle to Charlotte. I'm deep and wide, with superlative references. This is all pretty clear from my profile on LinkedIn, resume, etc. and the person who referred me had clearly not teed this up well with interviewer.
Red Flags: skills and expectations mismatch. Poor attitude of interviewer. Difficulty communicating...yeah.
We went on for maybe five more minutes. I was getting pissed. I reigned it in, stopped her line of questioning, and said "Ms. (whatever), where are you from, I see Taipei on your screen there? Tell me about your experience here at _____, nature of the program and org, your expectations, etc...." She was taken aback and didn't answer in any coherent way. She stumbled around for thirty seconds or so.
I remember standing up, saying, "I'm concluding this interview, this isn't appropriate but I do appreciate your time. Thank you." ...And promptly walked out back the direction I'd come.
On the way out, down the hall (big building), I leaned across the railing at the door and talked to yet another friend I'd seen behind the front desk. This annoying interview person was behind me quacking something about 'calling security' and was completely ignored by me. Couple minutes later, I handed front desk my temp badge and sauntered out the front door. Didn't see security, not my problem.
I took another gig a weekly later that made more sense, looking at my calendar (from then) it was a busy time of year. After that I was a full time employee of the same company for years, until not all that long ago.
Know when the role is not right for you, your self-worth, and when to walk out of an interview if you don't "need" the job per se.
I had my own consulting company so interviewing for me consisted of meeting with a potential client to see if we could provide services to solve their problem. Similar to seeing if you have a fit when you interview for a job. There were a few times when it was obvious there wasn't a fit, they needed something we didn't do. When I saw that, I would just tell them up front as soon as I was sure.
I was very nice and said, "I appreciate you sharing with me what it is you are looking to do, but I don't think we are the right company for this job". I would explain why and make sure they knew what we did. I would end by saying if there is another project that would be a better fit, please don't hesitate to call me in the future. If I could recommend a company that could help them, I would. They all appreciated my not wasting their time and being up front. It did not stop me from going back for other opportunities.
I think you could adjust that to an interview situation by saying, "Thank you for your time and I apprciate your sharing what you are looking for. I don't think we have a good fit here (add reasons if you want)." You could ask to stay in touch, ask to be kept in mind for future opportunities, or run for the hills.
There was one time I SHOULD have. It was only, it turns out, for a 10.00/hr job and I rushed to get there (was worried I'd be late and was frantic when I accidentally made a wrong turn). Ended up waiting at least an HOUR after the interview was supposed to start, and, to make matters worse, there was something in the lobby or air that was driving my sinuses nuts, giving me a massive headache. The interview itself lasted about 3-5 minutes.
And, to top that I'd, a day or so before the interview, I'd gotten a tip off from my mother that the place in question wasn't that great and that she knew at least one person who worked there or who had worked there that said that the job and/or people running the place had left people in tears there.
I went for an interview with a well known large corporation and had a very nice letter of recommendation from a prior supervisor. I had sent that letter ahead with my resume.
They said they were getting ready to fire the guy in the job I was interviewing for (I didn’t know that until I got there). They didn’t want him to get suspicious so they brought me in the back way. Then the interviewer comes in and she’s the supervisor for the job. She proudly tells me her nickname is “The Terminator” (she really looked pleased with that nickname). Then she says that she reviewed my letter of recommendation with her husband the night before and thought that I wrote it myself.
I just looked at her and walked out the front. I didn’t care if the soon to be terminated guy saw me or not. That was over 15 years ago and I’m still baffled as to why I even got the interview and what kind of company would have a....person like that in a management role.
Beware of interviews where important questions are sidestepped or ignored. When possible schedule the interview for 11 AM. Since interviews and applications typically take an hour, check out the cafeteria. If the cafeteria is almost empty at 12:15 PM, run for the door. The place is a sweatshop.
Went to an interview once, I was in the older gentleman's office and he actually fell asleep at his desk for 5 or 10 minutes. I thought about leaving but waited for him to wake up. It didn't faze this guy at all he went on with the interview as if nothing had happened. Needless to say I didn't have much interest in working for this company.
Beware of interviews where important questions are sidestepped or ignored. When possible schedule the interview for 11 AM. Since interviews and applications typically take an hour, check out the cafeteria. If the cafeteria is almost empty at 12:15 PM, run for the door. The place is a sweatshop.
Why would it be a sweatshop? Besides, your interview would already be over by the time you saw the cafeteria almost empty at 12:15.
Beware of interviews where important questions are sidestepped or ignored. When possible schedule the interview for 11 AM. Since interviews and applications typically take an hour, check out the cafeteria. If the cafeteria is almost empty at 12:15 PM, run for the door. The place is a sweatshop.
I agree about dodging certain questions. However, I’ve never been on an interview where you can just wander around the place of business, unless it was for a retail job. In most other cases, I was met at the entrance/reception area and escorted back to the exit/elevator. It’s a security risk to let unauthorized personnel to have free access to company facilities.
Also, maybe the cafeteria food is terrible. Maybe people like to get out to get some fresh air, have a taste for something different, or have an errand to run. If I did see a cafeteria full of people, my first thought would be that this company must not allow time for employees to step outside for lunch. This place must be a sweatshop.
Beware of interviews where important questions are sidestepped or ignored. When possible schedule the interview for 11 AM. Since interviews and applications typically take an hour, check out the cafeteria. If the cafeteria is almost empty at 12:15 PM, run for the door. The place is a sweatshop.
I’d have to disagree with the empty cafeteria being a bad sign. In my opinion I work in at a pretty good company, been there 15 years and our break room is usually empty at lunch. After being in an office all day, people want to go out. It’s not that it’s a bad place. There are times some of us take lunch and sit outside, especially if it’s a beautiful day.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
