4 ms·

You helped him sharpen the skill of never putting all your cards on the table. Having a convincing answer to that particular question other than "I need to pay

by wffurr 5y ago

You helped him sharpen the skill of never putting all your cards on the table. Having a convincing answer to that particular question other than "I need to pay the rent and think maybe I wouldn't hate this job" is a key interviewing skill.

jeffbee 5y ago
I pretty much always go with a straight answer like I need to pay the rent. Also when people ask where I see myself in ten years, I always say retired. When they ask about career growth I always say I’m already at the top of my game. What you call a “convincing answer” strikes me as ceremonial dishonesty.
- lmilcin 5y ago
  You want to be snarky, it is your choice. But from my experience this is just going to show you don't understand how to behave befitting the situation. When you are meeting your family do you tell them to their face that you don't want to sit with them because you have something more interesting to do, or do you play the game and try to extricate yourself gracefully? It is the same thing, really. Showing you know how to behave. Both sides might be playing a game, but the fact you are playing the game shows you have comprehension and you are a player. If you show you are willing to make problems on such a simple question you may leave impression you are unreasonable and nobody wants to work with unreasonable divas, even if they are highly capable.
  - throwaway2048 5y ago
    A company is not your family, the pretense that you are super interested in working this job instead of doing what you actually want in your life, and if you do anything else except toeing that line you are an unacceptable candidate is frankly nauseating. Nobody is being a "diva" by upfront stating things everyone already knows, but lies about. It doesn't require being an asshole about it either.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - jeffbee 5y ago
    It's not snark at all. It is setting expectations. At this point in my career nobody should hire me because of what I might grow into. They should hire me because they need what I already do. Concocting some flim-flam about my growth goals would be misleading. Anyway, this approach has always succeeded for me, including when I told the fintech company that I wanted to work there because it was the job in my industry nearest to my house. Both sides seemed happy with the outcome.
    - mbauman 5y ago
      There's honesty (which is indeed largely good) and then there's being honest about your overinflated ego, which is what I suspect is earning you the downvotes above.
    - specialist 5y ago
      Those lame questions happen because no one can think of a better way.
  - zepolen 5y ago
    > Both sides might be playing a game, but the fact you are playing the game shows you have comprehension and you are a player. Yeah, except don't think for a minute you're a player in that situation, you're the one being played.
    - hannasanarion 5y ago
      By expressing interest in a professional relationship? By trying to endear yourself to the person you're going to spend 8 hours per day with for the forseeable future? Look, I'm as anticapitalist as the next guy, but trying to make yourself appealing as a coworker in a job interview is not a sign that you're "being played". Having an appealing answer to the question "why do you want to work here?" isn't a symbol of class oppression, it's a common-sense attribute of work life.
- 0xffff2 5y ago
  >I pretty much always go with a straight answer like I need to pay the rent I always find this reasoning confusing. As a reasonably competent engineer, I've always felt like I have many employment options open to me. Yes I need to pay rent, but I always have an honest answer to the question that goes well beyond that. If I only cared about paying my rent, I would go work for a FANNG and triple my salary. I don't, because there are genuinely much more interesting reasons to work for a particular organization than money.
- vikramkr 5y ago
  At least in tech there's a genuine distinction to be made between people who want to keep progressing as engineers and ICs their whole lives and people who want to move into management type roles.

by wffurr 5y ago

jeffbee 5y ago

I pretty much always go with a straight answer like I need to pay the rent. Also when people ask where I see myself in ten years, I always say retired. When they ask about career growth I always say I’m already at the top of my game. What you call a “convincing answer” strikes me as ceremonial dishonesty.

lmilcin 5y ago
You want to be snarky, it is your choice. But from my experience this is just going to show you don't understand how to behave befitting the situation. When you are meeting your family do you tell them to their face that you don't want to sit with them because you have something more interesting to do, or do you play the game and try to extricate yourself gracefully? It is the same thing, really. Showing you know how to behave. Both sides might be playing a game, but the fact you are playing the game shows you have comprehension and you are a player. If you show you are willing to make problems on such a simple question you may leave impression you are unreasonable and nobody wants to work with unreasonable divas, even if they are highly capable.
- throwaway2048 5y ago
  A company is not your family, the pretense that you are super interested in working this job instead of doing what you actually want in your life, and if you do anything else except toeing that line you are an unacceptable candidate is frankly nauseating. Nobody is being a "diva" by upfront stating things everyone already knows, but lies about. It doesn't require being an asshole about it either.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- jeffbee 5y ago
  It's not snark at all. It is setting expectations. At this point in my career nobody should hire me because of what I might grow into. They should hire me because they need what I already do. Concocting some flim-flam about my growth goals would be misleading. Anyway, this approach has always succeeded for me, including when I told the fintech company that I wanted to work there because it was the job in my industry nearest to my house. Both sides seemed happy with the outcome.
  - mbauman 5y ago
    There's honesty (which is indeed largely good) and then there's being honest about your overinflated ego, which is what I suspect is earning you the downvotes above.
  - specialist 5y ago
    Those lame questions happen because no one can think of a better way.
- zepolen 5y ago
  > Both sides might be playing a game, but the fact you are playing the game shows you have comprehension and you are a player. Yeah, except don't think for a minute you're a player in that situation, you're the one being played.
  - hannasanarion 5y ago
    By expressing interest in a professional relationship? By trying to endear yourself to the person you're going to spend 8 hours per day with for the forseeable future? Look, I'm as anticapitalist as the next guy, but trying to make yourself appealing as a coworker in a job interview is not a sign that you're "being played". Having an appealing answer to the question "why do you want to work here?" isn't a symbol of class oppression, it's a common-sense attribute of work life.
0xffff2 5y ago
>I pretty much always go with a straight answer like I need to pay the rent I always find this reasoning confusing. As a reasonably competent engineer, I've always felt like I have many employment options open to me. Yes I need to pay rent, but I always have an honest answer to the question that goes well beyond that. If I only cared about paying my rent, I would go work for a FANNG and triple my salary. I don't, because there are genuinely much more interesting reasons to work for a particular organization than money.
vikramkr 5y ago
At least in tech there's a genuine distinction to be made between people who want to keep progressing as engineers and ICs their whole lives and people who want to move into management type roles.