I applied for a job and was asked to interview with HR telephonically this afternoon at 2:00. The third question, 4 minutes into the interview was “This position pays X dollars per year; that’s a little less than you’re making now. Would you be comfortable with that?”. (X was actually about $50K/yr less than I’m making now - more than “a little”.) No. I’m not ok with that. Sorry. Are you sure, whe asks? Yes.
I was back at my desk at 2:09. Oh well. Back to the drawing board. I HATE job hunting.
I used to hate when people came out the gate with salary questions, but now it think it might be better that way. I get to not waste my time with a company that wants to pay me too little, plus I think that’s a clear sign that they’re not looking to find the best person for the job and then compensate them fairly. They’re trying to fill a chair and pay it as little as possible. I get that companies don’t make money by throwing it away, but I don’t want to work any place that’s not putting in an effort to find good employees.
I sort of feel the same way. I don’t have an immediate need to find a new job, and my current job is a good one, so I’m fortunate in that I don’t need to whore myself out to the lowest bidder, or the first one to offer me a job. I’ve been in that situation plenty of times and hope to never again. FWIW, I found out my company is moving office later this year or early next year and my already arduous commute will double in distance and drive time.
Right, at least they wasted as little of your time as possible. I’d probably write them a short thank-you e-mail expressing appreciation that they were efficient.
I had one shorter than that. The first question was, “Tell us what you thought was most valuable about your time at [famous local university].”
I said, a bit uncomfortably, “I didn’t go to [famous local university].”
The interviewer looked at my resume, shuffled to another one, said, “Oh,” and showed me to the door. I never did quite figure out what happened except that he may have called the wrong guy in.
I would much rather have them do that than drag it on THEN you find out that something is wrong. I had that happen once; I was interviewing at a place that I knew was a real stickler for specific degrees.
When the HR person first called me, I said “You know I don’t have a degree in <x>. Is that OK?” She assured me it was ok.
During the first phone interview, I asked the same question. “Nope, not a problem.”
During the first of three interviewers in an in-person interview, I asked each of them. “Oh no, we don’t care about that.”
So after a total of about 4 hours of interviewing (both in-person and phone) I finally get to Last Guy, who takes one look at my resume and says “You’re not qualified for this job, you don’t have a degree in <x>.” :smack:
I had a job interview this morning. Once the last person on the interviewing committee got there, he said, ‘Do you know, you’re the only one who applied for the position; it would be rather embarrassing if you don’t pass the interview, wouldn’t it.’
I had one a while back that lasted very slightly longer- the advert I’d applied to somehow failed to mention that the position- as a receptionist- would include a mix of shifts from midday-9pm and 9pm-6 in the freaking morning. For minimum wage.
Yeeeaahhh… no.
Seriously, are you actually going to find a better person for the job by leaving that shit out of the advert?
I’m in the same boat. It’s worse than freekin’ dating. Find a job, think it’s a match, never hear back.
And the questions…Why are you leaving?
Correct: I’m looking to move up in my career and there’s no mobility where I’m at
Incorrect: My employer has been on a year after year failing decline for a decade, we have a third of the staff we need and ZERO funding. in that period of time, we’ve been through 5 major groups of leaders each group more stupid than the last. I have the same salary I had in 1996. I don’t want to be the guy left turning out the lights.
All-night computer lab? I did that as a summer job for $5.15 an hour in college. It was really crappy pay considering the overnight shift, but it was enough to pay for an apartment, gas, and food so I wouldn’t have to move back in with my parents for summer break. And I spent 85% of my time on the clock playing World of Warcraft (so did my supervisor, it was pretty great).
I had one about a year ago for a receptionist position. I got up, showered, fretted over what to wear, dressed, did makeup and hair, drove to the interview walked in at 9:00 am on the dot and was in my car leaving at 9:03. The interviewer asked me a couple of questions and said “I think that’s all I need to know” and showed me out.
I was flabbergasted. The friend who got me the interview was astounded. Turns out they hired the boss’ cousin or something and no one who came in ever had a chance of getting the job. I would have rather not been called at all than to have wasted all that time getting ready and being excited about the interview.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, I once had three interviews over a period of a month for Circuit City, which I thought was a couple too many for a sales job, considering my experience. They called me to arrange a fourth, I told them three was more than enough. Interestingly, the job I took instead was at Sears, and one of the guys who interviewed me at CC took over my department when my boss retired about 18 months later. He was a good guy, but I never did find out what the interview-a-thon was all about.
I once got an interview which, instead of starting by talking about skills, availability, the usual stuff, went:
ring ring
“Good morning”
“Hello, may I speak to Nava?”
“Myself, how may I help you?”
“I’m from Such Company. Would you be willing to work in Costa Rica, Telefónica style?”
“Yes.”
“Oh good!”
And then went on as normal. We later confirmed that they’d had several interviews which had gone on normally until the candidate heard “Costa Rica, 3 months there, one month at home (aka Telefónica style)” and rejected the offer.
I think when there is a point which they know can be an issue it’s best to get it out of the way soonest, it avoids wasting everybody’s time. In fact, I hate it when offers do not include (or even refuse to tell you) things such as location or desired starting date - it’s kind of important, peeps!
I had one that the meat of the interview was about 1 minute. Got an interview through a head hunter for a job that payed very well, and I was informed I was well suited for.I got there sat in the waiting room, and finally got brought into the big conference room with 5 guys. The introductions and small talk took maybe 45 seconds.
Then The first question:
"We are all pretty busy here so let’s get started, Tell us about your experience with technologies X and Y and Z?
wolfman: “Well I did a bit of Y 10 years ago, maybe 5% of my job then, never did X and Z at all.”
Interviewer: “Your resume says you have extensive experience.”
wolfman: “Umm, can I see the resume?” #receives resume, scans it, thinks ‘Wow, what a load of bullshit they made up while “customizing” my resume’#
“There seems to have been a mistake, this appears to be someone else’s info”
Interviewer: “So you don’t have 8 years working with X?”
wolfman, “Not even 8 minutes, and it isn’t a direction I plan to take my career”
Interviewer: "Oh… that’s the position we’re hiring for "
Interviewer2: “Hmmm”
Interviewer3: “Ermmmm”
wolfman: “Soooo…”
Interviewer: “Weellll… OK…”
Then about another minute of uncomfortable looking and mumbling before 4 of the guys left, and I talked to the one left about fly fishing for 10 minutes.
Then I left and deleted the headhunters contact info, that’ll teach 'em
A couple of years ago I had an interview for a nursing position, set up through Big City Hospital’s recruiter. I arrived for the interview, was met at the door to the hospital by an assistant or some such and led to wait in a lounge. The nurse manager was nowhere to be found, and not responding to emails or phone calls. Nobody had seen her yet that day.
I waited for an hour with no news before I left for my next interview on the other side of DFW. Never got an email or any acknowledgement from the recruiter or the manager that I’d been stood up. At least where I work, if my nurse manager is unable to make a scheduled interview, someone else in the unit will be recruited to speak with the candidate (I’ve been that person a couple times before).