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.

[Marcellus]

A few things I have dealt with -

Don't wear a shirt that says "Whoever said a little hard work never killed anyone lied" when filling out an application.

Don't ask how long you get for lunch during a interview.

Don't ask if there are any good looking women that work here during an interview.

Don't dress like a homeless bum at an interview even if it is entry level production.

[Stewie]

It's funny. I worked 25+ years for the same company only to be let go in June. Management offered a "new and exciting pie-in-the-sky" opportunity that would pay me very well until retirement. Well, the $300 million contract was cancelled in June and there were hundreds of people let go, including me. Stupid me!

I now find myself unemployed (and unemployable due to my age). I'm the guy stuck in the middle. Too young to have worked for a company that offered a pension, too old to have a decent opportunity. AND I KNOW EXCEL INSIDE AND OUT!

[Pilsner]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I suspect that some hiring people don't care and others do. It probably matters more on some jobs than others.

In my field, I value native intelligence and work ethic, and I think that gpa is a good measure of the combination. A high GPA in a hard major really impresses me, and a low GPA will pretty much knock a person out of the running.

If I don't see a GPA, I'll ask, and then I'll be skeptical about whether you're telling me the truth. If you're young and you say something like, "I don't remember exactly, but it was around a 3.0", I'm going to assume it was a 2.5. So I'd rather see a GPA on the resume.

If you're 30 years out of school, other things may be more important, but I still like to see it because I think it measures a lot.

Also, I don't care about grad school GPA because I don't think I've ever seen one under a 3.7. I wish the grading in grad school mattered more.

I'm genuinely curious, and this goes for all interviewers here: Are you actually going back and corroborating GPA by asking for a transcript? If you wanted to independently certify that the GPA is legitimate, do you even have an avenue for that? Certainly a university or college isn't going to release a transcript to someone other than the student.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Pilsner

I'm genuinely curious, and this goes for all interviewers here: Are you actually going back and corroborating GPA by asking for a transcript? If you wanted to independently certify that the GPA is legitimate, do you even have an avenue for that? Certainly a university or college isn't going to release a transcript to someone other than the student.

Good question. In the past we've asked for transcripts, but that was more when we hired new graduates. We do that less now, so we generally take people's word for it if they're several years out. We probably should ask for transcripts every time.

There are some third-party services now that seem kind of cool. As a job seeker, you give them your information (with official documents), and they act as a neutral repository. Employers can then request verification from them and it's faster. I just found out about them and haven't talked to anyone who has used them yet, though.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Stewie

It's funny. I worked 25+ years for the same company only to be let go in June. Management offered a "new and exciting pie-in-the-sky" opportunity that would pay me very well until retirement. Well, the $300 million contract was cancelled in June and there were hundreds of people let go, including me. Stupid me!

I now find myself unemployed (and unemployable due to my age). I'm the guy stuck in the middle. Too young to have worked for a company that offered a pension, too old to have a decent opportunity. AND I KNOW EXCEL INSIDE AND OUT!

But do you know the rest of the Office Suite? Can you use Outlook and Word?

Bummer for the problem. Working 25+ years for one employer is rare these days, and it's hard if they let you go. You have to convince people that you can navigate a new employer and new job requirements.

[Start Croyle]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Also, I don't care about grad school GPA because I don't think I've ever seen one under a 3.7. I wish the grading in grad school mattered more.

But isn't graduate school more about research? You could ask how many papers they wrote and in what conferences/journals they were published. This is fair game for Ph.Ds for sure. For MS students, maybe half will have published a paper and the very best might have more than that. But some MS students may have just taken courses and not done a thesis and wouldn't be expected to have written any papers. It also depends on the degree area, of course.

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

But do you know the rest of the Office Suite? Can you use Outlook and Word?

Bummer for the problem. Working 25+ years for one employer is rare these days, and it's hard if they let you go. You have to convince people that you can navigate a new employer and new job requirements.

I never thought I'd be here. I'd just like a chance... an interview at least. I met with a Kansas Employment representative. She told me to revamp my resume to conceal my age. WTF?

Home Depot is the winner! Here comes an engineer to ring up your mulch purchase!

[Iowanian]

You sound like a consultant who doesn't know he's a consultant yet.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Start Croyle

But isn't graduate school more about research? You could ask how many papers they wrote and in what conferences/journals they were published. This is fair game for Ph.Ds for sure. For MS students, maybe half will have published a paper and the very best might have more than that. But some MS students may have just taken courses and not done a thesis and wouldn't be expected to have written any papers. It also depends on the degree area, of course.

Yeah, maybe that's the difference. It just makes me nervous that I don't have any way other than testing to see if their grad degree adds value for me.

My grad school was the same way, though. There were a few people with GPAs under 3.5 and they were universally people that I would never want to hire. But the ones above 3.5 included some great people and some who were less impressive, and you couldn't tell the difference on their resumes.

[mr. tegu]

Most grad schools have graduation requirements of around 3.0 to 3.5 so a high GPA is simply a requirement of having the degree so the GPA doesn't really say anything that having the degree doesn't already say.

[Rasputin]

Am starting my new job Saturday. Friday will be my last day working for the shitty city & on to better days.


I did show up to my interview on time and it went great. I also got to go out last Saturday to give it a go see how I do. Driving an Oil tanker truck was a bit tricky shifting gears but I think I will get the hang of it pretty quick. Just finding all the places I need to go out in the boondocks is also going be tricky. Don't think I will be on my own for a while but I'm hoping I can show I can do a good job and get on my own right away. Hard work and determination will get me where I need to be. I got to keep pushing myself, tired of being broke & not getting anywhere.

[AndChiefs]

Originally Posted by Stewie

I never thought I'd be here. I'd just like a chance... an interview at least. I met with a Kansas Employment representative. She told me to revamp my resume to conceal my age. WTF?

Home Depot is the winner! Here comes an engineer to ring up your mulch purchase!

The rep is correct on concealing your age unfortunately. Most reps are saying to have about fifteen years on your resume as that's what is going to be relevant anyways. They can find out how old you are in the interview (at least guess how old you are since they can't ask).

[kc rush]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

Your first questions should not be about salary or benefits.

I've been asking for salary requirements up front just so I understand whether or not its worth my time to interview someone. I've told people right off that we can't meet their needs so they understand why I'm not bringing them in.

I had one person say that they needed $20K more than were offering for an entry level position. When I told them we couldn't do that, they tried to negotiate a salary with me, all before we've ever had a conversation about interviews. I let them know that I had 15 resumes on my desk for people in my budget range. Never heard back from them.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by kc rush

I've been asking for salary requirements up front just so I understand whether or not its worth my time to interview someone.

I don't even talk to recruiters unless they answer the salary question within 30 seconds or so. Most of these guys have not been recruiting professionals and miss on matching the experience/salary ratio. It just wastes my time if your not even in the ballpark.

[Discuss Thrower]

Got an interview Monday morning for a job I'd applied to over the summer and didn't get.