# Job Seekers, what turns you off immediately? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443 "2012-05-09T23:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/61 "2012-05-11T14:32:57Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > 1. Personality tests. I won’t take them. Actually ran into one the last time I applied for a job. AT A BANK which pays quite a bit more than minimum wage. Personality tests are for minimum-wage-slaves, and I’m not desperate enough for work to sink to that level. 😃 Sadly, the application test for the Presidential Management Fellowship program (very prestigious) includes a personality test. I wasn’t thrilled. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/62 "2012-05-11T14:42:00Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Some are physically and legally impossible, though. > > There was one I should have kept and framed… translated to American terms, it was asking for someone to have a Chem Eng degree, a Master’s in Marketing, and be native-level in _five_ languages, max age 22, training contract (70% of minimum salary). Note that at that time the Spanish government had made it illegal to hop courses, so even the biggest genius ever would not have been able to get through the coursework by the required age. Well, yeah, but we’re talking about two different things here. In my posts, I describe a situation which can happen because someone does have those qualifications, but it’s only the one person. It’s so that management can claim that they made an honest, good-faith search for an equally qualified candidate and, gee, they just couldn’t find anyone who fulfilled all of the qualifications that the job requires, so they have to hire this internal candidate who just happens to have exactly what they’re looking for. Everyone knows it’s crap, but as long as the process is respected, no one cares. You’re describing what Chimera called God for $25,000. Whoever is responsible for writing job descriptions bundles in everything they think the position entails (or should entail), even when it’s, as you say, physically impossible. It’s not possible, for example, to have five years’ experience in designing apps for iOS 5 because iOS 5 hasn’t been out that long. It’s not that they want to screw with people (although I’m willing to bet it’s a secondary objective), it’s that they may have a blanket requirement that programmers and developers have to have five years’ experience in the desired language, and they don’t bother to look to see if the language is even that old. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/63 "2012-05-11T15:30:51Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Ah, good point, I hadn’t really thought about whether all their data are equally old. \ nah, it’s a wasteland. > > I’ve been spoiled by working in london for a while. I’d prefer the wasteland to London. I’m on an industrial estate in Bracknell, which is near as damnit a wasteland. But I’ve got a desk with high partitions, a bookshelf, filing cabinet, and enough desk space for two monitors and some empty space. Our customers are the big banks in the City and they’re packed in like battery programmers. One site was completely first-come-first-served hot desking. You had to get there early to find a desk with a monitor so you didn’t have to work off your tiny laptop screen all day. The workstations are only 3-4 feet wide and there are no dividers between the facing workstations. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/64 "2012-05-11T16:53:43Z")
I hate those little tick boxes where they ask if they may hold your info for six months or whatever so they can contact you if a position that suits your resume comes up. I’ve NEVER been contacted for the jobs that would have been GREAT fits for my resume. I’ve ended up applying for those jobs (and getting interviews) on my own. My do they raise my hopes like this? ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/65 "2012-05-11T17:20:20Z")
> [@magnusblitz](#): > > 1. Unneeded details. Do you really need to know how many credits I took in college when I have a completed degree? Oh, this. I’ve seen some which ask me where I went to high school. Who cares? This is for white-color professional jobs. I have a college degree and professional certs on my resume, I think you can just assume that I graduated HS. And a “me too” on personality tests. Thankfully I haven’t run into them for professional-level jobs in recent memory (although they were required when I was signing up for clerical temp agencies many years ago). But I did have to fill one out to apply for the certification course I did last year. For a number of reasons (the admin/admissions and the school that would actually teach me were two completely different organizations, the school has a fantastic reputation, I was getting a freaking fantastic deal on the costs), I sucked it up, but it was pretty insulting. Personality tests are not designed to be useful in a business setting. They’re not useful as filters to eliminate “bad” candidates – any personality test will show that I’m an introvert, because I am, but anyone meeting me in person in a biz setting won’t know that because I’ve learned how to present myself otherwise. Same for any other personality trait deemed “desirable” or “undesirable.” The interviewer would get more useful information by actually talking to me. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/66 "2012-05-11T17:36:47Z")
When an online board job ad lists a buttload of keywords, and the keywords are all over the map in terms of job definition. Obviously they’re just trying to capture the attention of anyone and everyone searching for just about any kind of job. I’ve never applied for any of those, but always wondered what I’d discover if I did. Probably just some sort of skeevy data mining operation. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/67 "2012-05-11T18:21:22Z")
1. “Required” vs “recommended” skills. I’ve had many interviews that couldn’t understand the concept of either and cut slack on reqts or, conversely, treated likes as must-haves. It just trains applicants to waste time and spam resumes everywhere not knowing if the appropriate match is possible or not. “I know we said 5 years of xxx was required, but we can OJT that…” -or- “I see you meet all of our requirements, but it’s a shame you don’t have our recommended certification.” 1. I’ve had so many interviewers that have not even done a cursory reading of my resume, reading it for the first time during the interview, that I don’t even expect it of them anymore. 2. Leading side comments from interviewers to ferret out otherwise illegal demographic profiling. “Nice to meet you, just got back from our church picnic, what a great time…”, “Wow, the news sure is full of this election talk…”, “Mother’s Day coming this weekend, have to go get flowers, you have family in town?” ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/68 "2012-05-11T18:27:02Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > 1. Leading side comments from interviewers to ferret out otherwise illegal demographic profiling. “Nice to meet you, just got back from our church picnic, what a great time…”, “Wow, the news sure is full of this election talk…”, “Mother’s Day coming this weekend, have to go get flowers, you have family in town?” THIS^ Sometimes the smaller places even try to ask it while admitting it is illegal, “can I ask you something off the record?”. I’ve come to realize would I really want to work there anyway? If something like that would matter. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/69 "2012-05-11T18:29:54Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > 1. Leading side comments from interviewers to ferret out otherwise illegal demographic profiling. “Nice to meet you, just got back from our church picnic, what a great time…”, “Wow, the news sure is full of this election talk…”, “Mother’s Day coming this weekend, have to go get flowers, you have family in town?” :::Hijack::: IANAL, but it’s my understanding, and of course this may vary by jurisdiction, that it isn’t illegal to make hiring decisions based on political orientation. That said, the mere legality of it wouldn’t prevent them from being sued for this illegal-_seeming_ practice even if the plaintiffs didn’t stand a chance to win, and then the company would have to go to the expense to defend itself. ETA as well as forming a reputation for doing crap like that unless you settle. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/70 "2012-05-11T18:40:42Z")
Critically important requirements buried fifteen bullets deep, rather than in the job title. “Requires extensive experience programming in C++”. For a job titled “Business Analyst.” ---
**Author:** ![Corcaigh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Corcaigh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corcaigh)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/71 "2012-05-11T21:01:11Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Lazy interviewers that ask either of the following questions: > > 1. What are your major weaknesses? > > 2. Where do you see yourself in five years? Oh yeah, that too. I felt like saying “burying your body where no one will find it” to #2 at one interview. Or the other one “why did you apply for this job?” Or “what can you tell me about the company?” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/72 "2012-05-12T21:03:32Z")
Stupid interviews. I come well-prepared, ready to talk about market share, sales numbers, product technology. But then you speak to a shlub who wants to talk baseball-WTF??? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/73 "2012-05-12T21:21:35Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > I hate those little tick boxes where they ask if they may hold your info for six months or whatever so they can contact you if a position that suits your resume comes up. > > I’ve NEVER been contacted for the jobs that would have been GREAT fits for my resume. I’ve ended up applying for those jobs (and getting interviews) on my own. My do they raise my hopes like this? My current job was a ‘great fit for my resume’ and came out of the blue 7 months after I initially interviewed with the tech recruiter and about 5 months after I gave up the idea of anything good ever coming from that company. Certainly there is no harm in letting them hang onto it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/74 "2012-05-12T21:33:28Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Oh yeah. There were a couple places that wanted my credit report, even though what I was doing (email marketing) would have, by its nature, NOT entailed any access to sensitive information of any sort. You can’t send sensitive info over email and still expect it to remain private; so I would have had no need to access any of it to do my job. > > Thankfully it’s now illegal in Illinois for employers to ask for a credit report as a condition of employment. Yeah, the place that asked for my medical records was CVS. I was seventeen years old. It was also accompanied by a 150 question personality test. As for the credit report, I did submit to a credit review as a condition of employment… for a consumer credit counseling agency. They wouldn’t hire anyone who had declared bankruptcy in the last 7 years. Not sure if the law would make an exception for that or not. At the time my credit was pretty awful, but they hired me anyway, and it was a great experience working there. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/75 "2012-05-13T01:42:38Z")
yeah, the advertising for one job and interviewing for another pisses me off. i interviewed for an office job once which was said to be just basic office work- answering phones, filing, faxing, etc. at the interview i was told of all these other requirements that were never listed in the ad and then i was offered a position as a telemarketer. no thanks. i don’t think the office position ever existed, they just hoped someone would take the telemarketing position as a consolation prize. i saw an ad on craigslist once that made me actually LOL. it was for a front desk position at a health spa. the ad made it clear that the person hired would need to be 100% committed to the job, would need to basically be on call at all times. they said to not bother applying if you had a second job or went to school. basically they wanted someone to be married to their job and be at their constant beck and call. they offered no benefits and the pay was 8.00/hour. i actually wanted to email them and be like “are you fucking serious?” ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/76 "2012-05-13T01:51:37Z")
I didn’t mention before but I’m actually jobseeking atm. Getting put off by a lot of job ads that talk in detail about languages and APIs but mention nothing about what industry the company is in or what kind of end product they’re shooting for. I appreciate recruiters don’t want to give away who the company is, but without some kind of broad view, I have no reason to apply. Thinking “I want that job because they are using php” is almost as perverse to me as “I want to work for that army because they are using MP5s”. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/77 "2012-05-13T02:20:31Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Any job that won’t just take your resume, but makes you re-enter every damned bit of your work and educational experience in absurdly tiny little boxes. That chaps me, and I’m not sure if it’s the same thing or not, but application sites where they make you list your “skills”, and how many years of experience I have. Uh… I have 11 years of experience and 2 master’s degrees. My resume and interview ought to tell you what you need to know, instead of a line that says “Business Analysis 5+ years” or “Java 1-2 years”. It’s like they can’t be bothered to have a separate form for hourly and salaried people. Another thing that chaps me is when headhunters call me(typically heavily accented Indians) and can’t even pronounce the names of the cities where the jobs are correctly. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be following up with your “excellent opportunity” if you can’t even pronounce the name of the city right! The final one that annoys me is headhunters who want to meet me during the work day… as if I have unlimited time off or excuses for bailing during the mid-afternoon for 2 hours. If they want to meet me, they can do it after 5. I’m only going to skip out on work if it’s an actual interview… otherwise it looks suspicious, and I’m not one to telegraph that I’m looking for a new job. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/78 "2012-05-13T21:54:36Z")
Just ran across another one, again… Any job listing which has “must have a thick skin” – red flags and alarm bells. If you’ve been having such problems with “thin-skinned” employees, to such an extent that you have to mention it in your ad, maybe it’s less weird bad luck, and more a toxic working environment? Hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/79 "2012-05-13T22:06:04Z")
People who want my full social security number for a job app I found on a website. Um, no. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443/80 "2012-05-14T21:27:43Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I just honestly believe that programmers do their best work in an office with a door to get ride of distractions. I don’t want to work for a company that expects people to program in a cube farm. I’m not going to argue with a company about it, I’m just going to walk away. At one company I was working for, however, I was persuasive enough that when they moved into a new space they gutted and redesigned it so all the other programmers had offices as well. Unless you work in a non-technology related corporation, IMHO you are fortunate if you get cubes. A lot of tech companys like this stupid collaborative “open office” setup where there is almost no privacy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-seekers-what-turns-you-off-immediately/621443.md?page=5)