4 ms·

Job Search: Interview Disasters Revealed By Employers

16 points by eroach 17y ago

pw0ncakes 17y ago
-- Candidate used Dungeons and Dragons as an example of teamwork. That's a negative? WTF? There's a hell of a lot more interesting in the way of teamwork, management, etc. in role-playing games (especially MMORPGs) than in most corporations.
- sounddust 17y ago
  On the flip-side, I once had an interviewer ask me to solve a problem where several hurdles/criteria were introduced randomly based on rolling a 20-sided die.
  - wlievens 17y ago
    That's pretty awesome. What kind of company was it?
CoryOndrejka 17y ago
Pretty clear BigCo corporate bias in these results, as this would likely be a positive in SF/Bay: -- Candidate used Dungeons and Dragons as an example of teamwork. The meeting for drinks also cracked me up, as Linden ended many a job interview with drinks at the end of the day!
jacktasia 17y ago
I am curious how many of these became "disasters" for the interviewer because the interviewee had already reached a point where they considered the interviewer/company/etc. a disaster (no longer wished to work there).
xenophanes 17y ago
-- Candidate wore a business suit with flip flops. God, who cares? -- Dressing inappropriately - 57 percent If dropping your dress code expectations will increase your potential hire pool by over 50%, that is a serious competitive advantage over more stodgy companies.
- ShabbyDoo 17y ago
  Yeah. Either (1) this company actually requires suits in the workplace or (2) the company failed to tell its candidates that they could dress more casually. Or, sadly (3) the company enjoys making candidates dress up in suits as a way of showing who has the power. When I worked at a Jeans & T-shirt sort of place, I always told candidates that they too could dress casually. Many found the idea scary and dressed up a bit anyway.
- radu_floricica 17y ago
  It's not about the suit, it's about the message. As an employer you want to hire people who make an effort, and want to avoid people who can't be bothered to. Dressing well for an interview is so obvious it's actually a pretty good way of sorting candidates. This may apply less for programmers and high-end technical positions, but this is the exception not the rule.
  - xenophanes 17y ago
    If you hire people that make a relevant effort, and don't punish people for failing to make an irrelevant effort, won't that give you a competitive advantage? Shouldn't we hire people who know what actually matters, and what doesn't matter, and prioritize?
    - francoisdevlin 17y ago
      If they can't bother to do something as simple as dress nice for something as formal as an interview, I don't want to have anything to do with the candidate.
      - deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
      - xenophanes 17y ago
        You don't want to hire me. And I don't want to work for you. You should be glad that I'm willing to signal in such a way that we find that out quickly, instead of pretending I think more like you and possibly getting hired even though I'd be a bad fit working for you.
vital101 17y ago
The author made a point about researching the company before the interview. I always thought this was common sense (why are you applying with this company anyways?), but apparently it isn't.
warfangle 17y ago
Funny, the most common thing I've seen in candidates getting rejected promptly is not being able to answer basic questions about things they've listed on their resume. Example: listing Java and not understanding what an interface is.
radu_floricica 17y ago
I wish there was a way to link to my younger acquaintances just this part: -- Dressing inappropriately - 57 percent -- Appearing disinterested - 55 percent -- Speaking negatively about a current or previous employer - 52 percent -- Appearing arrogant - 51 percent -- Answering a cell phone or texting during the interview - 46 percent -- Not providing specific answers - 34 percent -- Not asking good questions - 34 percent Edit: This and not re-reading the CV 3 times before sending it.
angelbob 17y ago
This is an excellent summary of the kind of things a company should worry about only if they can't actually measure performance. Though "appearing disinterested" should still be a huge turn-off.
boredguy8 17y ago
We're going through panel interviews right now, and a lot of that article is rubbish, as others have pointed out. But I want to tease out the "don't be negative" because it's got the reasons wrong. "Also, no matter how tempting it is, don't say negative things about a previous employer, regardless of how the job ended - hiring managers may fear that you will say the same things about their organization." That's not why you don't say negative things. You don't say negative things because it means you blame other people or you're a negative person. You say, "I don't like my current job because they don't listen to me," and all I hear is that you don't have very good ideas, you're very bad at explaining those ideas, or your disconnected from the people you work with. And on top of that, you don't understand how to solve interpersonal problems. None of that make me super excited about you. Instead try realizing that you might bear some of the blame for the things you don't like, and realize the other party might have good justification. So instead: "I find myself getting excited about very different opportunities than my current coworkers. They have a real passion for solving the immediate problem whereas I'm far more interested in solving the underlying cause. So while I appreciate their desire to provide a quick solution, and have even learned when that can be appropriate, I'm really looking for an environment that emphasizes long-term thinking while still making sure customer needs are met as quickly as possible."
lucifer 17y ago
And at this late stage the realization comes that reciting poetry in interviews was the silent assassin of my career! Just the other day I was asked to explain a concurrent design and I just couldn't help but recite the immortal words of Halyna Krouk: Two couplets and a refrain a carousel of non-stop passing at each turn one more door closes before us with a rusty whinny legless horses tear into the prairie – racing two couplets and a refrain eyes gaping two couplets and a refrain catching up from hind to front reach out to me throw me the lasso of a glance who made us so hopelessly distant who conceived us such irreparable losers on this overplayed record – two couplets and a refrain – where even love leaves only scratches

16 points by eroach 17y ago

-- Candidate used Dungeons and Dragons as an example of teamwork. That's a negative? WTF? There's a hell of a lot more interesting in the way of teamwork, management, etc. in role-playing games (especially MMORPGs) than in most corporations.

sounddust 17y ago
On the flip-side, I once had an interviewer ask me to solve a problem where several hurdles/criteria were introduced randomly based on rolling a 20-sided die.
- wlievens 17y ago
  That's pretty awesome. What kind of company was it?

CoryOndrejka 17y ago

Pretty clear BigCo corporate bias in these results, as this would likely be a positive in SF/Bay: -- Candidate used Dungeons and Dragons as an example of teamwork. The meeting for drinks also cracked me up, as Linden ended many a job interview with drinks at the end of the day!

jacktasia 17y ago

I am curious how many of these became "disasters" for the interviewer because the interviewee had already reached a point where they considered the interviewer/company/etc. a disaster (no longer wished to work there).

xenophanes 17y ago

-- Candidate wore a business suit with flip flops. God, who cares? -- Dressing inappropriately - 57 percent If dropping your dress code expectations will increase your potential hire pool by over 50%, that is a serious competitive advantage over more stodgy companies.

ShabbyDoo 17y ago
Yeah. Either (1) this company actually requires suits in the workplace or (2) the company failed to tell its candidates that they could dress more casually. Or, sadly (3) the company enjoys making candidates dress up in suits as a way of showing who has the power. When I worked at a Jeans & T-shirt sort of place, I always told candidates that they too could dress casually. Many found the idea scary and dressed up a bit anyway.
radu_floricica 17y ago
It's not about the suit, it's about the message. As an employer you want to hire people who make an effort, and want to avoid people who can't be bothered to. Dressing well for an interview is so obvious it's actually a pretty good way of sorting candidates. This may apply less for programmers and high-end technical positions, but this is the exception not the rule.
- xenophanes 17y ago
  If you hire people that make a relevant effort, and don't punish people for failing to make an irrelevant effort, won't that give you a competitive advantage? Shouldn't we hire people who know what actually matters, and what doesn't matter, and prioritize?
  - francoisdevlin 17y ago
    If they can't bother to do something as simple as dress nice for something as formal as an interview, I don't want to have anything to do with the candidate.
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
    - xenophanes 17y ago
      You don't want to hire me. And I don't want to work for you. You should be glad that I'm willing to signal in such a way that we find that out quickly, instead of pretending I think more like you and possibly getting hired even though I'd be a bad fit working for you.

vital101 17y ago

The author made a point about researching the company before the interview. I always thought this was common sense (why are you applying with this company anyways?), but apparently it isn't.

warfangle 17y ago

Funny, the most common thing I've seen in candidates getting rejected promptly is not being able to answer basic questions about things they've listed on their resume. Example: listing Java and not understanding what an interface is.

radu_floricica 17y ago

I wish there was a way to link to my younger acquaintances just this part: -- Dressing inappropriately - 57 percent -- Appearing disinterested - 55 percent -- Speaking negatively about a current or previous employer - 52 percent -- Appearing arrogant - 51 percent -- Answering a cell phone or texting during the interview - 46 percent -- Not providing specific answers - 34 percent -- Not asking good questions - 34 percent Edit: This and not re-reading the CV 3 times before sending it.

angelbob 17y ago

This is an excellent summary of the kind of things a company should worry about only if they can't actually measure performance. Though "appearing disinterested" should still be a huge turn-off.

boredguy8 17y ago

We're going through panel interviews right now, and a lot of that article is rubbish, as others have pointed out. But I want to tease out the "don't be negative" because it's got the reasons wrong. "Also, no matter how tempting it is, don't say negative things about a previous employer, regardless of how the job ended - hiring managers may fear that you will say the same things about their organization." That's not why you don't say negative things. You don't say negative things because it means you blame other people or you're a negative person. You say, "I don't like my current job because they don't listen to me," and all I hear is that you don't have very good ideas, you're very bad at explaining those ideas, or your disconnected from the people you work with. And on top of that, you don't understand how to solve interpersonal problems. None of that make me super excited about you. Instead try realizing that you might bear some of the blame for the things you don't like, and realize the other party might have good justification. So instead: "I find myself getting excited about very different opportunities than my current coworkers. They have a real passion for solving the immediate problem whereas I'm far more interested in solving the underlying cause. So while I appreciate their desire to provide a quick solution, and have even learned when that can be appropriate, I'm really looking for an environment that emphasizes long-term thinking while still making sure customer needs are met as quickly as possible."

lucifer 17y ago

And at this late stage the realization comes that reciting poetry in interviews was the silent assassin of my career! Just the other day I was asked to explain a concurrent design and I just couldn't help but recite the immortal words of Halyna Krouk: Two couplets and a refrain a carousel of non-stop passing at each turn one more door closes before us with a rusty whinny legless horses tear into the prairie – racing two couplets and a refrain eyes gaping two couplets and a refrain catching up from hind to front reach out to me throw me the lasso of a glance who made us so hopelessly distant who conceived us such irreparable losers on this overplayed record – two couplets and a refrain – where even love leaves only scratches