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You'd be amazed
Apr. 5th, 2008 09:24 amIt amazes me how poor people can be at interviewing for a job. Should be simple, huh? Show up bathed, dressed neatly with clean clothes, on time, hair combed. Remember what company you're interviewing with. (No, really, that needed to be said.)
Once you've demonstrated that you're tall enough to be on the ride, there's some other tricks. It's fine to say that you didn't like a previous employment environment, it wasn't a good match for your skills, they were having some growing pains, there was a wide mix of skill levels, they struggling with implementing internal processes and procedures, they didn't demonstrate consistent HR policies, even go so far as to say that the environment didn't foster team players and it was very frustrating for you to work there.
DO NOT go on an extended rant about how your previous employers were stupid and corrupt, your coworkers were idiots, you don't like working on other people's bad code, you weren't getting paid like the boss's pets, you were the smartest person there and nobody liked you or any other version of "I can't handle workplace stresses and frustrations like a professional."
DO NOT explain how you are hoping to get a new job so you can "sue your old company for basically being dicks".
DO tell me the following - it will make it easier for me to determine that you are unsuitable.
- "I have a hard time working with Indians." (No further questioning, so I don't know if they meant Native Americans or Continental Indians.)
- "I get angry a lot."
- "My goal would be to get everyone working on Macs."
- "My programming skills are usually enough that I haven't had to develop my communication or teamwork skills." (This after showing the interviewee our performance evaluation form and pointing out that even though it's a programming job, only 3 of the 9 categories they're ranked on are strictly programming related. The rest are communication, teamwork, leadership, client handling...)
- "I'd have trouble working for someone who's not a Christian."
- "I'd have a hard time working for someone who was a Christian." (Incredibly, these two interviews were back to back. No, they didn't mean "someone who was a Christian and made it part of the workday", they meant "someone who was a Christian".)
- "Companies that are stuck on me being on time are too anal for me."
- "I need to have an office."
On the flip side, I really wish I could have found a place for the woman who said, "OK, I'm very good on the programming side, but I get very nervous around customers, and if the job involved that, I don't think it would be a good match. My skills in that area just aren't there yet." THAT is how you handle an interview - honest, straightforward, and with a desire to not waste anyone's time.
Once you've demonstrated that you're tall enough to be on the ride, there's some other tricks. It's fine to say that you didn't like a previous employment environment, it wasn't a good match for your skills, they were having some growing pains, there was a wide mix of skill levels, they struggling with implementing internal processes and procedures, they didn't demonstrate consistent HR policies, even go so far as to say that the environment didn't foster team players and it was very frustrating for you to work there.
DO NOT go on an extended rant about how your previous employers were stupid and corrupt, your coworkers were idiots, you don't like working on other people's bad code, you weren't getting paid like the boss's pets, you were the smartest person there and nobody liked you or any other version of "I can't handle workplace stresses and frustrations like a professional."
DO NOT explain how you are hoping to get a new job so you can "sue your old company for basically being dicks".
DO tell me the following - it will make it easier for me to determine that you are unsuitable.
- "I have a hard time working with Indians." (No further questioning, so I don't know if they meant Native Americans or Continental Indians.)
- "I get angry a lot."
- "My goal would be to get everyone working on Macs."
- "My programming skills are usually enough that I haven't had to develop my communication or teamwork skills." (This after showing the interviewee our performance evaluation form and pointing out that even though it's a programming job, only 3 of the 9 categories they're ranked on are strictly programming related. The rest are communication, teamwork, leadership, client handling...)
- "I'd have trouble working for someone who's not a Christian."
- "I'd have a hard time working for someone who was a Christian." (Incredibly, these two interviews were back to back. No, they didn't mean "someone who was a Christian and made it part of the workday", they meant "someone who was a Christian".)
- "Companies that are stuck on me being on time are too anal for me."
- "I need to have an office."
On the flip side, I really wish I could have found a place for the woman who said, "OK, I'm very good on the programming side, but I get very nervous around customers, and if the job involved that, I don't think it would be a good match. My skills in that area just aren't there yet." THAT is how you handle an interview - honest, straightforward, and with a desire to not waste anyone's time.
