APoX #4 -- Job Interviews

[Xero]

So
good

bad
ugly
etc

I personally think interviews are nearly useless for 2/3 the jobs out there today. I've been turned down only to watch them hire someone with less skill or education than me over stupid things like wearing nice cloths rather than a suit I can't afford. Or because their standard list of technical questions haven't been updated in over 5 years(How do you do this in M$ Access, how do you use Lotus notes to open an email without it sending a confirmation)

[Lulujayne]

I think it depends on the job.

As a prospective employee, personally, I would prefer an interview, mostly because my resume is pretty unimpressive when compared to what I am actually capable of doing.

I lost the opportunity for an amazing job earlier this year, was told I was perfect for the position, then rejected because of an "unticked box" in my resume.

As a prospective employer it's slightly different. I think you need a balance of both. We relied mostly on interviews and less on the resume for foreigners we've hired in BKK and without an exception all of them have been less than succesful (we are not the only company here to have this problem) in our situation a good reference can make or break a new employee's chances.

I can tell you some real horror stories about people hired from overseas and how they have basically imploded on landing in BKK.

EDIT: I'd just like to note that we rely on the interview mostly to see if you're sane, we couldn't give a shit what you look like, so long as you can deliver. Basically, you can have the most wonderful resume in the world, and have the gift of the gab, but if you can't deliver, we don't need you.

[Xero]

BKK?

I do agree with you, my current Resume looks like poo due to no 'Relevent' Experiance AKA I havn't worked in a tech support before, yet if you give me the specs you want I could build your entire enterprise's network from IPs to servers to firewalls, and do it happily
ask me how outlook express is configured and I'll press f1 for you

[Lulujayne]

BKK = Bangkok.

I share your pain darl'.


Incidentally the worst interview I ever had was when I had to "make the boss hard without touching him." Sick fuck. I think I've blocked out most of that memory

[Xero]

my worst one was for an HR agency
they had an old battle axe for a secritary pull out a questionnaire and give it to me, I corrected 3 spelling mistakes a blantent fucking 'CRT PORT'
told them the photocopy copy was of poor quality and it needed to be in colour
turns out I was only 1 of about 2% that actually got that question
then the old hag marks my 'two popular internet browsers' wrong
MSIE, Mozilla FireFox

then the oral interview was: how do you flush the dns in a windows environment
how do you change your password
if a user can't check their email and phones you...

and yeah I hear you
we got a lot of asian in Vancouver, most of them can't even speak english fluently, yet they job over me when speaking clear english is an asset

[RevChris77]

These days, if I ever need to find a new job, I'm fairly sure I'm unqualified for nearly anything.

I'm a generalist. I can drive a forklift, unjam a copier, troubleshoot your network, clean your pipes, fix electrical, shingle a roof, write basic HTML, parfocalize optics, and a host of other stuff.

No certifications for any of it, and very little formal training. I also really prefer a job where I can do as many different things as possible (I get bored easily).

Today, however, everyone wants either someone who doesn't know anything, so that they can be trained the "company way," or someone who is an expert at something specific.

Years ago when I got my current job (at the University department where I got my Bachelor's), the Department Chair and I wrote the job requirements so that if you weren't me you'd have a hard time getting the job. There were only two other applicants, so we disqualified the other two, one for applying late and the other for having the wrong degree, and then did the required interview over coffee at the McDonald's across the street.

My job description currently is only 6 sentences long, and by the current standards is incredibly vague. I started converting it to what the University now wants for format, and I'm currently at 17 pages and climbing - this is part of the problem with being the only technical person on staff, and, as such, doing everything.

[Swordsman3003]

I've only worked in family businesses, so nobody ever needed to interview me.

Ha, I don't think anybody interviews you to be a day-laborer.


However, I have had an interview before. When I applied to Harvard, I was interviewed by an alumnus. It went really well...but he told me some sad news off the record. He said it was really unlikely that a white guy with no connections would get into the school.

[Lowky]

I think it very much depends on the job and lets you find things out about the employer, them to find things out about you, and lets you show them how you are right for the position. Now if I could just get one of the damn things.

going on 5 months now with no job. I have even started applying at fast food places just so I can have a job, so I can find a place to live I am 8 days away from homeless. Do any of them call you back or hell even look at your application when you turn it in? Of course not.

[Aeridus]

I'm usually fairly genial when I actually do get an interview, it's just a matter of whether they choose to give me a call after they see my resume. All the same, I would much prefer it if the interview were done via email, so that no judgments can be made based on how you sound or appear, and I could actually understand most of what is said (though a couple jobs have been nice enough to show me a printed sheet of questions before asking verbally). Though there is something to be said for the employer picking up on micro-expressions and also how much you respect your future employer (yes, wearing a suit/polo shirt is a good idea, even if you're dressed more nicely than the security guard. you can always find out the dress code later and wear what you please accordingly).

Honestly, a face-to-face interview should pose no problems unless the employer is an asshole, in which case you wouldn't want to be working for them anyway.

[Squidflakes]

I havn't worked in a tech support before, yet if you give me the specs you want I could build your entire enterprise's network from IPs to servers to firewalls, and do it happily

Provide me the following:

config line for VIC2-MFT-T1 card on a 3825, use the T-1 as the clock source, standard North American line coding and framing.

Anti-spoofing ACLs

Configuration for a switch port used to connect to another switch

Configuration for a switch port used to connect to an IP phone that is connected to a PC

command line switches to set Active Directory to automatically prune unused OU's that are over 30 days old.

Zone file entries for SOA, A, MX and CNAME for squids.com with an IP of 169.254.10.50/24

What's wrong with the IP I just listed?

---------

Now, to get back on topic. I used to conduct interviews for the webhosting department of a large local ISP.

People used to bitch and bitch and bitch about who they couldn't afford a suit, or couldn't bother to look nice, or whatever, but truth be told, when I've got 10 interviews with 10 identical candidates, first impressions make a HUGE difference.

I didn't care if some smelly, slovenly, half-baked teenager could write machine code in his head, or code a device driver for a non-IP enabled toaster. If s/he was going to join my team, I needed to know that they were interested in doing a good job.

Your mouth can lie, your resume can lie, but 99% of the time, your body language, style of dress, and mannerisms under pressure do not lie.

[Xero]

Provide me the following:

config line for VIC2-MFT-T1 card on a 3825, use the T-1 as the clock source, standard North American line coding and framing.

Anti-spoofing ACLs

Configuration for a switch port used to connect to another switch

Configuration for a switch port used to connect to an IP phone that is connected to a PC

ohh time to phone up cisco

command line switches to set Active Directory to automatically prune unused OU's that are over 30 days old.

Zone file entries for SOA, A, MX and CNAME for squids.com with an IP of 169.254.10.50/24

What's wrong with the IP I just listed?

APIPA

---------

Now, to get back on topic. I used to conduct interviews for the webhosting department of a large local ISP.

People used to bitch and bitch and bitch about who they couldn't afford a suit, or couldn't bother to look nice, or whatever, but truth be told, when I've got 10 interviews with 10 identical candidates, first impressions make a HUGE difference.

I didn't care if some smelly, slovenly, half-baked teenager could write machine code in his head, or code a device driver for a non-IP enabled toaster. If s/he was going to join my team, I needed to know that they were interested in doing a good job.

Your mouth can lie, your resume can lie, but 99% of the time, your body language, style of dress, and mannerisms under pressure do not lie.

student, 400$ to my name that has to last me till the end of the month + moving expenses, I can't afford a suit, I've got nice interview cloths but not suit, you know how expensive those fuckers get when you've got 52 inch shoulders and tall?

anyways, out of all the interviews I've had one were the interviewer even knew what the hell questions he was asking me, the rest generic secretaries/manager with a sheet of standard outdated questions and a 5 minite: why did you apply here, what do you bring the company, how long to plan on staying with the company

[Bustertheclown]

In general, I'm a good interviewee, but I still hate interviews. More HR hoops, adding to the overall stressful unpleasantness that is unemployment, a state I actually currently find myself in. I'm not looking forward to buying new clothes to wear to interviews, using money I would rather be saving. I'm not looking forward to trying to impress people I will only meet a total of once, and will never see again, in order to gain the job. I'm not looking forward to cold calls, setting appointments, and follow-ups. I'm not looking forward to driving all over town, and taking away valuable time I could be spending drawing, which is actually something that I can make a little bit of money. (In the immediate future, however, the money is too little for me to live off of, so I need a day job.) I'm not looking forward to doing all of this backwards bending in the hopes of gaining employment for a job I'll just end up grinding through on automatic, anyway.

So, all in all, interviews are not fun for me.

[Halo299]

i like them.

i am a serpent in person and i have the social skills to BS my way around most questions that are a step or two above my knowledge level.

so if the guy doing the interview isn't asking me specific questions about technical issues, or doesn't understand them himself. I pretty much got the job. I have only lost one interview in my life and that was for a Hot Topics in the mall.

do i think it is fair? hell no it isn't fair, but that is the hand i've got and i'm going to play it for all its worth. If someone has a PHD in smart and is up for the same job, you bet he's gonna play up his advantages, so if i want the job i am going to have to do the same thing.

-halo

[Squidflakes]

student, 400$ to my name that has to last me till the end of the month + moving expenses, I can't afford a suit, I've got nice interview cloths but not suit, you know how expensive those fuckers get when you've got 52 inch shoulders and tall?

Nice try, I wear a 58 long and I'm 6' 4".

Srsly. Thrift store.

[Xero]

student, 400$ to my name that has to last me till the end of the month + moving expenses, I can't afford a suit, I've got nice interview cloths but not suit, you know how expensive those fuckers get when you've got 52 inch shoulders and tall?

Nice try, I wear a 58 long and I'm 6' 4".

Srsly. Thrift store.

pretty much the same size as me then
try living in vancouver, ~40% asian population, hard to find cloths in your size, anywhere

[Squidflakes]

So tell me, what does APIPA stand for?

[Xero]

So tell me, what does APIPA stand for?

automatic private IP Address
its a microsoft thing that they made back when no-one understood IP networking and when bootp was still in use
its pretty useless now that we have dhcp

[Squidflakes]

So tell me, what does APIPA stand for?

automatic private IP Address
its a microsoft thing that they made back when no-one understood IP networking and when bootp was still in use
its pretty useless now that we have dhcp

D-

BOOTP is still in use, and was used regardless of people's understanding of the protocol.

True, it is a Microsoft thing, but they implemented the autoconfiguration address as a substitute for having a DHCP server in smaller networks. DHCP has been around since the mid-80s, and was originally released as a package with BOOTP. DHCP is older than the MS Autoconfiguration address feature.

[Indigo Violent]

I hate job interviews, but for the jobs I've had so far, I understand their importance. When you hire someone to work with the public, you want to make sure that they know what to wear to look respectable, whether they can smile and look people in the eye, be polite, think on their feet, etc.
But as I said in the other thread, I think too much importance is placed on them for jobs where it doesn't matter if the person has the grooming sense of a dead skunk as long as they've got the skills you need. I've known plenty of people who could look perfect after a tornado blew through the area, smile like supermodels and still couldn't figure out a zipper. Conversely, there have been others who can cook or write software or build a bike from parts but use grunts and growls as their normal means of communication.

[Aeridus]

Fashion sense is inversely proportional to intelligence?

Okay, maybe not always, but still.