Interviews

[insertNameHere]

Do I really need to explain hating interviews?

I am expected to come in knowing EVERYTHING google has to say about a company so I look like an interested candidate on why I want to work for a company. But personally as long as it is in my field and is doing general IT or something along those lines at this point I really don't care as I just want some damn experience. To the point of I have an interview in 2hrs at a place that is 50minutes away for a package sorter job at a shipping company. Personally I want to find a job in my field doing what I love to do. But for the time being I have to put on the show about how I would love nothing more than to sort packages.

I also feel like there is a screwed up standard that since I went to college I feel somewhat obligated to go business casual to a job that I know I can probably get away with a smart ass saying t-shirt, dirty jeans, and flip flops if I was anyone else. As well, that is what at another tour I went to somehow was wearing.... and they made it clear they wanted you to be in closed toe shoes. But considering the fact this guy had plenty of tattoos that looked like prison ink maybe they let it slide.

So I guess, unless they offer me a great deal depending on how the interview does even as much as my current job blows at minimum wage, I don't know if adding 20min to my already long 30min commute is worth it for a job I'm going to quit first offer for my "real career".... Unless they mention promotions from within which is what my current job did and that turned out to be the biggest lie ever, and has made me use the previous year to obtain customer service experience and appreciation for future wages.

[Rageaholic]

I couldn't agree more, especially on the dressing up part. I've even started a thread on it in the past and I stand by what I say, interviews are 100% bullshit. You have to kiss ass, your abilities are judged on irrelevent trivial stuff, and most of the time, you never hear back.

The entire job hunting experience sucks the big one.

[Hobbs]

Then don't go to them if you don't like them. If I were an employer, I'd be more willing to hire the person wanting to do what they can to prove they're professional than whine like five year olds about it. You're a grown up. Time to put on your big-boy panties and get to work.

[Red Panda]

If I were hiring I would look at dress, not so much as how well they are dressed but how much it looks like they put effort into dressing up. If a person doesn't care enough about the job to put on shoes then they probably will do a terrible job if hired.

[insertNameHere]

well actually after going in, haha the commute will suck but $11 an hour, along with the fact it sounds like they give regular raises more significant than my current one. Along with the fact in a year I will make %50 more than possible in another year at my current job per hour. Of course it sounds like hours are based on the whim of business (normal at my current job as in the winter we get hours slashed). and I would be working as little as 3hrs a day. But they do have setup hours of operation, weekends free..... just a matter of if I really want to become 3rd shift again, as I just got off of it.

Although, after the tour and interview and the fact it wasn't hard to qualify I'm more interested. But still the pressure to kiss ass was annoying, trying to look around absorb and comment on what I loved about the place. Along with bullshit behavior based questions. One about doing something I wasn't told to do, one about safety, one about going above and beyond.....

[Dreamstalker]

I wouldn't hate interviews as much as I do if companies actually asked about a person's experience and strengths rather than a bunch of bullshit pseudo-psychological fluff that someone in HR read in a book (don't even get me started on those personality tests...).

If I'm interviewing for a behind-the-scenes tech position I shouldn't be required to wear a fancy suit...khakis, fairly nice shoes and a nice shirt seem like they should be fine. Obviously for an office job interview one should be in businesswear, but...clothing shouldn't carry quite as much weight as it seems to.

I've come to the conclusion that "above and beyond" is one of those phrases that is so overused it's lost any useful meaning. My last retail boss (The Jerk) wanted me to go 'above and beyond' and then cooked up a reason to fire me when I did.

[Rageaholic]

If I were hiring I would look at dress, not so much as how well they are dressed but how much it looks like they put effort into dressing up. If a person doesn't care enough about the job to put on shoes then they probably will do a terrible job if hired.

I could understand the not wearing shoes part (unless it's winter then wear boots), but for the most part, I should be able to wear what I would normally wear. To say that a person doesn't care about their job if they don't care too much about what they wear is bullshit. The two are completely different and unrelated things. That's like saying that because a person sucks at super mario bros, they are going to fail at driving.

Dreamstalker said it best, the pseudo psychology bullshit is rampant in both the applications and the interviews. They are trying to test outside and unrelated things to determine someone's worth to the company.

[insertNameHere]

Dreamstalker said it best, the pseudo psychology bullshit is rampant in both the applications and the interviews. They are trying to test outside and unrelated things to determine someone's worth to the company.

EXACTLY! I love how HR decides who is qualified, completely ignoring any technical expertise or abilities. So what if a candidate is perfect with social interaction as long as they can perform the job, I don't see what is with all the elitist judgments about people because We left out the most important thing, if the interviewer doesn't like the font or type of paper used they don't even read your resume.


.... Also, since im techy, I need to establish an online presence on like linkedin.... I hate public social networking, I prefer my privacy and like my ability to avoid having random information plastered all over the internet.

[Rageaholic]

Then don't go to them if you don't like them.

Don't go to them? How the hell am I supposed to get a job if I don't go to an interview? Aren't I allowed to think the entire hiring process is bullshit and a royal pain in the ass?

[Red Panda]

I could understand the not wearing shoes part (unless it's winter then wear boots), but for the most part, I should be able to wear what I would normally wear. To say that a person doesn't care about their job if they don't care too much about what they wear is bullshit. The two are completely different and unrelated things. That's like saying that because a person sucks at super mario bros, they are going to fail at driving.

Dreamstalker said it best, the pseudo psychology bullshit is rampant in both the applications and the interviews. They are trying to test outside and unrelated things to determine someone's worth to the company.

If a person doesn't care enough about getting a job to dress up for the interview then it raises the question if they care enough about the job to do it well. If two people have the same qualifications then the job will go to the one who shows that he has a passion for it.

I think its more like assuming a person will fail at driving because they never cared enough about driving to get a license.

[Hobbs]

Don't go to them? How the hell am I supposed to get a job if I don't go to an interview? Aren't I allowed to think the entire hiring process is bullshit and a royal pain in the ass?

Yes, but stop being a baby about it and do it. If you think a nice pair of pants and a button-up shirt is too much for an interview, I have no sympathy for you. All my previous interviews I've had to be in starched, pressed blues with f-ing garters. Do you know how uncomfortable those things are?

[blas87]

I agree, I wouldn't hire someone at an interview who was unshowered, smelled, and couldn't put themself together.

[Rageaholic]

If a person doesn't care enough about getting a job to dress up for the interview then it raises the question if they care enough about the job to do it well. If two people have the same qualifications then the job will go to the one who shows that he has a passion for it.

I think its more like assuming a person will fail at driving because they never cared enough about driving to get a license.

The problem with that analogy is that a license is necessary for driving and is actually important to driving. Dressing up for an interview really doesn't mean anything beyond what culture and society says. Just because someone doesn't dress up fancy for an interview doesn't mean they aren't interested in the job. And by "Dressing up fancy" I don't mean putting actually clothes on besides a T shirt and underwear, I mean being a perfectionist about it (shoes shined, shirt buttoned perfectly), especially for a minimum wage job. Just because I make a few mistakes on nitpicky things like clothing doesn't mean I don't care about the job. Maybe I care too much important stuff to actually care about those things.

Yes, but stop being a baby about it and do it. If you think a nice pair of pants and a button-up shirt is too much for an interview, I have no sympathy for you. All my previous interviews I've had to be in starched, pressed blues with f-ing garters. Do you know how uncomfortable those things are?

What makes you think I don't get dressed up? Just because I rant about how stupid interviews are on here doesn't mean I don't get dressed up. I HATE it and I think it's stupid, but it doesn't mean I don't do it. I just try not to stress myself out.

And just because other jobs (I assume the military?) have more stricter expectations doesn't make all the other job interviews suck less.

[Red Panda]

I doubt any mininum wage job that wants you to shine your shoes is going to ever hire anybody. As long as you look like you put in some effort thats enough for most interviewers. It doesn't matter that your suit is from the 1970s, its more about if its ironed and you put it on. Dressing for an interview is pretty much the easiest part of a job so you want to show you can at least do that

[protege]

I've been on a few job interviews over the years. Trust me, it never fails to 'wow' a potential employer if you're dressed up. This, coming from a guy that *hates* to get dressed up! Even so, I do it. Why? Because you never know who you'll run into. Nor do you know if you have friends of family members already at the company...

Many years ago, as I was graduating from college, I actually went downtown (in a suit, in 90 F weather, no less!) and handed out resumes. I did it, because after coming out of one building downtown...whose to say that the next person I'd run into...wasn't the CEO of USX Corp?

I got into that habit when I worked at the bank. That job, was at a small-town bank in my grandmother's town. Because so many people knew my grandparents over the years, I wanted to present as best an image as possible. That was why, even though my boss said I didn't have to wear a coat and tie to work...I did it anyway. Why? Well, I knew most of the board members, the president, and a few other people who had connections. It tended to open quite a few doors--even after my bank internship ended, a few of those connections said that if there was an opening...I'd get it. Simply because of the way I presented myself.