Pretty much this. I got to watch a faculty recruiting and hiring process when I was in grad school several years ago. Since this was for a tenure-track position, the process was very involved. Part of the process for out-of-area candidates was a tour of the area, meals on campus and off, and (I think) breakfast with the president of the university. The purpose of the dog-and-pony show was to make sure that you like the area enough to a) want to move, and b) want to stay; that you get along with the others in the department; and that you’re not going to embarrass yourself in front of the president or any other authority figures. I think they went with a local candidate anyway.
I’m not naive enough to think the bubble with never burst, but I had a lot of free dinners when i was job hunting in 2009. You know, the depths of the recession?
Software engineers are valuable because they put drones out of work.
Yeah, this. I thought the 90s were crazy as far as software engineer jobs; if anything, it’s worse now, and I’ve never seen a dropoff in hiring. My company has had 30-40% growth in software development for something like 8 years, maybe longer, and there’s no sign of stopping. We literally can’t hire developers fast enough; they just announced the goal over the next 12 months is to double the size of the already-pretty-big dev group. We are always looking.
I’m not saying the bubble will burst, but I seriously don’t see high-tech and software shrinking over the next many years. It’s one industry that’s not going anywhere. Like jellowjacketcoder says, we’re the assholes putting others out of work.
I’ve been doing software development for almost 40 years, but my first interview that included a meal was in December of 2000 @ Uncle Julio’s Mexican restaurant. Great food, but all I remember is worrying about dropping food on myself. Probably the best “interview meal” I’ve had. I got an offer and accepted it, only lasted 3+ months.
Next was for a job out of town (5 hour drive), at a family-style restaurant. Nothing special, but I was overly aware that this was an interview. Got an offer, accepted the position, lasted 7 months at a job I hated, because I thought that I was going to write software, but instead, I ended up being a network analyst.
Worst was a box lunch delivered for a interview meeting with one of the groups in the company. After ‘fighting’ over who got what sandwich, it was answering questions with my mouth full of slightly stale bread without enough dressing. Got a job there (not with that group, but with another that I did not have to eat during the interview), only lasted 3 months.
Next time some employer offers to buy my lunch during the interview, I’ll just say, “Never mind!”
I have never had a bad meal during an interview. The last meal I had was an interview for SW Lead at Disney and we had fish tacos.
Best was a dinner at a nice Tex-mex type place in Houston with a large oil company. Don’t remember much about the meal, except that I had some kind of fried plantains for dessert. Interviews went well the next day and was offered a job, but didn’t take it.
Worse was some sandwich shop across the parking lot from the business. I went there with like three employees and they were all hot for the salad bar, so I went with the flow. It was rather disappointing but that fit with the theme of the trip. I was there for about 7 hours and within the first two it was clear that the HR person fucked up in inviting me, a couple of the people I interviewed with were assholes, and I got lost in downtown Boston at 4 in the morning trying to get to the airport.
Me, too. But ever since the Boob Fairy visited (around age 30, so late in my life), my bodice also attracts crumbs, spills, grease, and sauce.
Now, I can eat with my hands/using naan with people from India. I can eat using Chinese-style chopsticks, Japanese-style chopsticks, and I know my way around a European/American formal place setting.
What I’m saying is, I can drop food on my boobs in several different cultures.
Which is why it’s a good thing that the most I’ve been offered at a job interview is coffee/soda/water/tea.
give me a definition of “drone” that doesn’t include software engineers.
Not that we counted as “authority figures”, but years ago my fellow medical residents and I rotated duty taking out residency candidates to lunch (at a pretty nice faculty club).
One candidate, a diabetic, decided it’d be a good idea to take out his works and shoot up his insulin at the table. Whether through nervousness or a lapse in technique, it turned into a rather bloody affair (no resuscitation was needed, thankfully). Kind of an off-note, but he wound up being offered the position anyway.
Best: a “bistro” type restaurant where the food and wines were incredible. The interviewer (my potential new boss) brought his wife and she was a gorgeous comediene. They were both fantastic conversationalists and I was offered the job over digestifs. It would have been a cut in salary, so I turned it down.
Worst: I had heard inside information that the business was struggling. The owner took me to his country club. We were turned away. He took me to Ponderosa. It was an awkward meal. I was afraid he was going to start crying.
I’ve only been interviewed for three jobs over lunch. All of them were at a pub-type place, but not the same place.
- Curried chicken and a ginger ale. (Got the job.)
- Steak and kidney pie with fries, and a ginger ale. (Got the job.)
- Curried chicken and a couple of pints of ale. (Didn’t get the job, but knew the interviewer and he had beer as well. I had just been laid off as an employee of one of his main customers. The conflict of interest due to my previous position was undoubtedly the reason for no offer. But we had much fun.)