Tip for Job Seekers

[Rain Man]

Show up at your freakin' interview on time. Seriously. If you show up 45 minutes late to a JOB INTERVIEW, it makes a BAD IMPRESSION. I don't care if you missed your bus or overslept or had other things going on. I don't care at all.

There are no excuses for being late to a job interview. Zero. If you were pulling people out of a burning car en route to the interview, that's great and I commend you for it, but it only takes three minutes to pull people out of a burning car. You should have planned ahead to be within sight of the interview location an hour before your interview. You should still be on time, but with a slight aroma of burning rubber and a great story for me.

I guess possibly if you were on your way to an interview in Holland and you saw a dam breaking, and you put your finger in the dam, and it then took an hour for the dam repairers to show up, then that might be a feasible excuse since you saved countless lives. But I'd still want to see it on the news that evening, and I'd want to know that there were no other people around who could have switched fingers with you.

Here's how you go to a job interview:

1. Drive to the interview with plans to be there an hour early.
2. Walk to the front door of the place an hour early just to be sure you know where it is.
3. Go to the nearest coffee shop and check out the company's web site and come up with some good questions and talking points.
4. Show up 10 minutes early.

Sheesh. Humanity amazes me sometimes.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

Don't show a little thigh when you have a whole lot of thigh.

Does it matter if it's hairy?

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

I have no need for Excel. But I can do a masterful PP and know word.
But I still best at Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or a Page Layout program. Ya' know the more difficult programs. So why should I be able to know Excel? Beats me!

Excel is a fantastic piece of software. I use it quite a bit in my job as well as for some stuff at home.

[Lzen]

Rain Man,
Did you ask said interviewee his/her excuse for being late? I think I would have made it a point to comment on that.

[Sassy Squatch]

Don't fart loudly and glare accusingly at the interviewer...

[Iowanian]

SOoooooooooo, Mr Rice, Can you tell us about the circumstances where you left your last place of employment?

[Iowanian]

Your first questions should not be about salary or benefits.

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by scho63

I've interviewed well over 200 people in my lifetime and I always have a simple checklist to start;

1. Be on time or even better, 15 minutes early. Unless you are in a car wreck or had a heart attack I probably won't hire you.

2. Don't have on a ton of cologne or perfume or worse yet, smell like you just played 5 hours of tennis.

3. You better not have monkey breath!

4. Your shoes better be shined and for women you better not have open toed shoes or flats like those ballerina slippers.

5. I don't want to see your bra straps hanging out or your sports jacket hugging you like a sausage casing.

6. I expect you to know a few basic facts about our company and if you find any obscure info about me or our company you get big points for that.

7. If you sit back and cross your legs like you are in a restaurant or lounge relaxing, negative points. I like people who are on the edge of their seat and make great eye contact.

8. Don't ask me stupid questions like "What are your long term goals?" Worse interview question ever and employers always give a bullshit pie-in-the-sky answer that amounts to nothing more than a guess.

9. Ask me a pointed tough question to put me on the defensive like, "How do you plan on growing your business greater than your top competitor ___________?"

10. Don't ask me about how many vacation days you get 10 minutes into the interview.

Those are just the first 10 that come to mind......

Excellent list!!

Any other pitfalls to avoid?

[scho63]

Originally Posted by Halfcan

Excellent list!!

Any other pitfalls to avoid?

For potential employees:

1. Don't be afraid to pause and think of your answer before blurting out what you think I want to hear or worse yet, NEVER give an answer that is made up or you are guessing and then stating as fact. A good interviewer will ask a question to see if you will lie or make something completely up. It is never a bad idea to tell the person who is interviewing you that you must double check or validate because you are unsure.

2. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS focus on what you have ACCOMPLISHED, not your damn daily to-do list. Your previous tasks are worthless to me.

3. Ask what process or evaluation steps are used when determining promotions and other incentives.

4. Ask about continuing education or training

Always show you are trying to better yourself.....

[Halfcan]

Originally Posted by scho63

For potential employees:

1. Don't be afraid to pause and think of your answer before blurting out what you think I want to hear or worse yet, NEVER give an answer that is made up or you are guessing and then stating as fact. A good interviewer will ask a question to see if you will lie or make something completely up. It is never a bad idea to tell the person who is interviewing you that you must double check or validate because you are unsure.

2. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS focus on what you have ACCOMPLISHED, not your damn daily to-do list. Your previous tasks are worthless to me.

3. Ask what process or evaluation steps are used when determining promotions and other incentives.

4. Ask about continuing education or training

Always show you are trying to better yourself.....

Wow good tips- I have an interview on Friday. First one in many years. I was not looking for a job, but this kind of fell in my lap. I have been going through the process for a few weeks.

1. Long job application-done
2. Created a new resume-done
3. Passed long series of test including math, English, word problems and character questions (2 sets)
4 Interview on Friday.

Normally I wouldn't worry about it- I own my own business and don't really need it. But my ex wife quit her job and now two of my kids don't have health insurance. Even though it is in the divorce decree-she decided screw it-I don't want to work anymore.

It will be for a huge salary and amazing benefits-so getting kind of excited to see what happens.

I appreciate all the suggestions- havn't interviewed in a decade.

[TLO]

1 and 2. The last one as well.

[Mennonite]

Something else NOT to say:

Originally Posted by The_Hound

I'll take a shit wherever I want

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Rain Man,
Did you ask said interviewee his/her excuse for being late? I think I would have made it a point to comment on that.

He misread the transit schedule.

He misread.

The transit.

Schedule.



I understand that things happen. But you don't get up on the day of your interview and then start problem-solving things like, "How am I going to get to the interview?"

A good job is like winning a million-dollar contest if it ends up being a place where you stay for a long time. If you know that you're in a contest with that sort of potential prize, you train for it. You practice. You run to the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps and psyche yourself up that you're the best person in the world and you're going to destroy the interview.

Sorry for ranting. It just bugs me to see someone not take this stuff seriously.

[Start Croyle]

I was late for a job interview once, sort of.

First, I was an experienced traveller (moron) who didn't realize that you can just bring a backpack on board the plane instead of putting it in checked luggage. And, the airline sent my luggage to the wrong destination. So, it meant that I would have to buy new interview clothes ASAP before the interview in the morning. It was scheduled at 10:00am.

Well, I had just finished buying the new clothes and it was about 8:30. I noticed that I had a voicemail on my phone. It was from the recruiter. It was just a customary call saying that she hoped I made it in alright and good luck on the the interview...which was scheduled for 8:00.

I couldn't believe I had made such a stupid mistake. I was on a job search and had been doing a lot of interviews and had others scheduled, so I must have gotten the schedule mixed up. I decided that, since they had paid for my airline ticket and my hotel stay that I'd still better show up. I gave a call, which also went to voicemail, and said that I was very sorry for being late and that I was on the way. I raced over to the office as fast as I could.

But I ended up at the office about an hour early. It turned out that the recruiter worked out of an office on the west coast. So, I wasn't late at all. It was just 10:00 my time and 8:00 her time.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Start Croyle

I was late for a job interview once, sort of.

First, I was an experienced traveller (moron) who didn't realize that you can just bring a backpack on board the plane instead of putting it in checked luggage. And, the airline sent my luggage to the wrong destination. So, it meant that I would have to buy new interview clothes ASAP before the interview in the morning. It was scheduled at 10:00am.

Well, I had just finished buying the new clothes and it was about 8:30. I noticed that I had a voicemail on my phone. It was from the recruiter. It was just a customary call saying that she hoped I made it in alright and good luck on the the interview...which was scheduled for 8:00.

I couldn't believe I had made such a stupid mistake. I was on a job search and had been doing a lot of interviews and had others scheduled, so I must have gotten the schedule mixed up. I decided that, since they had paid for my airline ticket and my hotel stay that I'd still better show up. I gave a call, which also went to voicemail, and said that I was very sorry for being late and that I was on the way. I raced over to the office as fast as I could.

But I ended up at the office about an hour early. It turned out that the recruiter worked out of an office on the west coast. So, I wasn't late at all. It was just 10:00 my time and 8:00 her time.

Those time zone things can get messy. When I'm traveling to a meeting, I never know whether to put the time down as my local time or their local time.

So did you get to go out and buy clothes, or did you do the interview in your sweats?

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

We do this shit all the time for internals. Post the job company wide for HR purposes. It's really shitty and why I'll never apply for another internal position without having been mentored for it.

It sucks, but sometimes the political consequences for not interviewing someone that a higher-up recommended for a job are worse than the idea of interviewing someone who has no chance.