Being a hiring manager is interesting

[Exterous]

So I've been filling several positions on a new team we've formed. I've filled positions occasionally in the past but this is the most hiring I have done and in a fairly compressed time line. Some of the interactions have been surprising. Even for softball questions:

From some of the different positions I've filled:

Sometimes IT needs to make changes that are not always popular with users. Please tell me about a time you had to notify people about an unpopular change
"My boss didn't want to make the change so we got in a huge argument, both said things we shouldn't have and it ruined my relationship with my boss and the company."

(In the job description it outlines the job will require collaborating with researchers and vendors to design and configure unique setups) Describe your ideal work environment.
"I actually don't work well with other people. So I prefer to work alone and not have to interact with people"

What specifically about this job interests you?
"I'm not that interested in it but I was talking to my neighbor and he said I should apply"

I mean I guess it's great that people feel the freedom to be that honest in an interview.

(For better or worse we put salary ranges on our position postings)
"What's the salary range?"
$65k-70k
"Oh I make $95k now and have for a couple of years"
Ok. (And yet still didn't have the experience necessary for the job)

This doesn't cover the really bad technical question answers.

Also 7 page resumes should not be a thing. Your cashiering responsibilities at Target for 3 months in the summer of 1988 has no bearing on you getting this job

 

[purbeast0]

I never understood why so many job postings don't post salary ranges. It would save a lot of people a lot of time.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

So I've been filling several positions on a new team we've formed. I've filled positions occasionally in the past but this is the most hiring I have done and in a fairly compressed time line. Some of the interactions have been surprising. Even for softball questions:

From some of the different positions I've filled:

Sometimes IT needs to make changes that are not always popular with users. Please tell me about a time you had to notify people about an unpopular change
"My boss didn't want to make the change so we got in a huge argument, both said things we shouldn't have and it ruined my relationship with my boss and the company."

(In the job description it outlines the job will require collaborating with researchers and vendors to design and configure unique setups) Describe your ideal work environment.
"I actually don't work well with other people. So I prefer to work alone and not have to interact with people"

What specifically about this job interests you?
"I'm not that interested in it but I was talking to my neighbor and he said I should apply"

I mean I guess it's great that people feel the freedom to be that honest in an interview.

(For better or worse we put salary ranges on our position postings)
"What's the salary range?"
$65k-70k
"Oh I make $95k now and have for a couple of years"
Ok. (And yet still didn't have the experience necessary for the job)

This doesn't cover the really bad technical question answers.

Also 7 page resumes should not be a thing. Your cashiering responsibilities at Target for 3 months in the summer of 1988 has no bearing on you getting this job

Yes - people are fucking stupid. You have something like... 3.8% unemployment - you're left with the shit of the shit as far as available people. Put up the big bucks for a decent hire or stfu

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I never understood why so many job postings don't post salary ranges. It would save a lot of people a lot of time.

Same reason companies tell you not to discuss salary with your fellow coworkers... knowledge is power - and they don't want you to have power.

 

[Exterous]

Yes - people are fucking stupid. You have something like... 3.8% unemployment - you're left with the shit of the shit as far as available people. Put up the big bucks for a decent hire or stfu

Oh we've gotten good applicants i was happy to extend offers to

 

[ImpulsE69]

That sounds more like a 'meeting application quota' for that persons unemployment rather than a real application. My wife gets some like that all the time. They apply but have no actual interest in taking a job.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Interviewer asked me once ... how I cope with a workload that I can't complete in time, or on schedule ... actually can't remember how it was worded.

I just told the truth. There was a single occasion in the past I could recall. I got a teammate to handle some of the items on my plate. Spread the workload. May not be the answer the interviewer's hoping for, or the answer that makes me look best, but it's definitely how it went down.

Load balancing makes sense from a throughput standpoint. Coworker had the time to share my workload.

Is it the course of action I'd take every time? No. But you (interviewer) asked for a report.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I mean, is it really that complicated in how to answer an interviewer?

No matter what it is - any subject - It's FUCKING EXCITING.

No matter what "hardships" you might experience, you LOVE working CHALLENGES!

You're EXCITED to learn and coordinate with coworkers all the time - Even if it means working into the night.

You LOVE the work culture of X and find the Y industry fascinating! You've been studying the company in your free time over the last 5+ years and following along on social media.


Don't these fucking retarded millennial know how to bullshit? What morons.

 

[Exterous]

Don't these fucking retarded millennial know how to bullshit? What morons.

I'd love to blame it on millenials but some of these examples were from people in their mid 40s

 

[purbeast0]

Same reason companies tell you not to discuss salary with your fellow coworkers... knowledge is power - and they don't want you to have power.

I've never been once told not to discuss my salary with coworkers at the 4 companies I've worked at in my career.

Whether the company has the power or not, they are wasting a ton of their time as well as possible candidates.

 

[purbeast0]

Interviewer asked me once ... how I cope with a workload that I can't complete in time, or on schedule ... actually can't remember how it was worded.

If I was asked that in an interview, I'd know immediately that I don't want to work for that company. Basically they are asking you how you handle their piss poor project management.

I'd be cordial until the end of the interview probably, depending how much time was left in it. If there was still like multiple people left to interview with, I'd just flat out tell them that I'm not a good fit and don't want to waste anyone's time, give them a handshake, and leave.

 

[lxskllr]

I mean, is it really that complicated in how to answer an interviewer?

No matter what it is - any subject - It's FUCKING EXCITING.

No matter what "hardships" you might experience, you LOVE working CHALLENGES!

You're EXCITED to learn and coordinate with coworkers all the time - Even if it means working into the night.

You LOVE the work culture of X and find the Y industry fascinating! You've been studying the company in your free time over the last 5+ years and following along on social media.


Don't these fucking retarded millennial know how to bullshit? What morons.

 

[jpiniero]

Yes - people are fucking stupid. You have something like... 3.8% unemployment - you're left with the shit of the shit as far as available people. Put up the big bucks for a decent hire or stfu

The unemployment rate is "3.8%" but it's pretty fake and the "shortage" only really applies to crap min wage retail jobs. I know I've done phone interviews with companies who weren't serious about filling a position. I'd be willing to bet at the average Fortune 500 company a large portion of the job postings are 100% fake.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Interviewer asked me once ... how I cope with a workload that I can't complete in time, or on schedule ... actually can't remember how it was worded.

If I was asked that in an interview, I'd know immediately that I don't want to work for that company. Basically they are asking you how you handle their piss poor project management.

I'd be cordial until the end of the interview probably, depending how much time was left in it. If there was still like multiple people left to interview with, I'd just flat out tell them that I'm not a good fit and don't want to waste anyone's time, give them a handshake, and leave.

If I was interested in the company enough to want the job I'd try this instead:

"If I've been given too much work to complete by some deadline, I'll explain the situation to our program manager. If someone else can take over some of the work we can do that, otherwise we'll need to decide what work items to push back to a later release."

If that conflicts with some idiotic culture of sleeping under your desk so you can work 80-hour weeks, then I don't want the job.

I'm a software developer at a small company, and fortunately the people I work with want a decent work-life balance too. We'll answer an email or even fix some little server problem after normal hours if we happen to be online and checking mail, but people don't work late just to show how "dedicated" they are.

 

[Lanyap]

I’m retired IT so I don’t have to deal with this stuff anymore, unless they keep increasing health insurance premiums then I’ll start working for Publix as a bag boy.

 

[deadlyapp]

The unemployment rate is "3.8%" but it's pretty fake and the "shortage" only really applies to crap min wage retail jobs. I know I've done phone interviews with companies who weren't serious about filling a position. I'd be willing to bet at the average Fortune 500 company a large portion of the job postings are 100% fake.

Uhh I think that's pretty cynical. If you have any sort of marketable skill you can find a pretty good job right now in most industries, especially energy. My company alone has something like 500 postings worldwide open and I promise you they aren't fake. Yes, a decent number of them will be filled by internals if they are well qualified, but we interview internal and external equally.

 

[highland145]

Your cashiering responsibilities at Target for 3 months in the summer of 1988

Are you really job shaming me?

 

[Zeze]

I got hired for a pretty nice senior PM job (six fig) in Jersey City with a great salary & amazing view (hudson river, NYC & statue of liberty). The company and culture is pretty 'formal' & ritzy.

I reported to a VP. She told me prior to hiring me, even at this posh job, she'd get some ridiculous interviewees.

Some showed up in a t-shirt (wtf). Some was a no-show, and some did some awful interviews - (i.e. "I want to be a manager like Michael Scott).

 

[Darwin333]

That sounds more like a 'meeting application quota' for that persons unemployment rather than a real application. My wife gets some like that all the time. They apply but have no actual interest in taking a job.

Ugh that would drive me absolutely batshit crazy. I have to deal with enough stupid people in a days time already but some stupid asshole actually purposefully wasting my time. Are you expected to sign something as proof or do they just say that they showed up?

 

[Genx87]

So I've been filling several positions on a new team we've formed. I've filled positions occasionally in the past but this is the most hiring I have done and in a fairly compressed time line. Some of the interactions have been surprising. Even for softball questions:

From some of the different positions I've filled:

Sometimes IT needs to make changes that are not always popular with users. Please tell me about a time you had to notify people about an unpopular change
"My boss didn't want to make the change so we got in a huge argument, both said things we shouldn't have and it ruined my relationship with my boss and the company."

(In the job description it outlines the job will require collaborating with researchers and vendors to design and configure unique setups) Describe your ideal work environment.
"I actually don't work well with other people. So I prefer to work alone and not have to interact with people"

What specifically about this job interests you?
"I'm not that interested in it but I was talking to my neighbor and he said I should apply"

I mean I guess it's great that people feel the freedom to be that honest in an interview.

(For better or worse we put salary ranges on our position postings)
"What's the salary range?"
$65k-70k
"Oh I make $95k now and have for a couple of years"
Ok. (And yet still didn't have the experience necessary for the job)

This doesn't cover the really bad technical question answers.

Also 7 page resumes should not be a thing. Your cashiering responsibilities at Target for 3 months in the summer of 1988 has no bearing on you getting this job

Heh I was filling a helpdesk\network admin role 14 months ago. Found a good candidate already doing much of the same. I asked him what his salary range was and he tells me he is currently making 95k with the county. So something at that or a little higher. I am almost asked him if there were any openings with the county.

 

[jpiniero]

Ugh that would drive me absolutely batshit crazy. I have to deal with enough stupid people in a days time already but some stupid asshole actually purposefully wasting my time. Are you expected to sign something as proof or do they just say that they showed up?

Have you ever been unemployed? They make you fill out a form that mentions interview activities/attempts to get a new job. In theory they could contact the person mentioned to see if this actually happened.

 

[Genx87]

The unemployment rate is "3.8%" but it's pretty fake and the "shortage" only really applies to crap min wage retail jobs. I know I've done phone interviews with companies who weren't serious about filling a position. I'd be willing to bet at the average Fortune 500 company a large portion of the job postings are 100% fake.

There is a youtube video out there discussing fake job postings. It lists reasons why but I can not imagine saving money on job postings by buying more of them is cheaper than paying somebody to perform fake interviews. But what do I know?

 

[Retro Rob]

Same reason companies tell you not to discuss salary with your fellow coworkers... knowledge is power - and they don't want you to have power.

Yep. They want to keep all the negotiating power.

 

[Exterous]

I got hired for a pretty nice senior PM job (six fig) in Jersey City with a great salary & amazing view (hudson river, NYC & statue of liberty). The company and culture is pretty 'formal' & ritzy.

I reported to a VP. She told me prior to hiring me, even at this posh job, she'd get some ridiculous interviewees.

Some showed up in a t-shirt (wtf). Some was a no-show, and some did some awful interviews - (i.e. "I want to be a manager like Michael Scott).

Heh. One guy can in in a button down shirt that was too small and no undershirt. I could tell he had a hairy stomach and could benefit from some crunches (I could too but I also dont go around showing off my abs or lack thereof in interviews)

 

[Insomniator]

IT (and maybe other fields) are filled with the useless and the not useless -- and many make similar money/have similar positions. Not sure how various people weasel there way into some jobs, maybe smaller company's that grew, friends of friends, family... who knows, but there is a clear line between people that know what the **** is going on and the ones that can, just barely, follow their exact daily routine that never changes.

As a hiring manager I would assume its pretty obvious who is who, but judging by some of the people at my work... maybe its not so clear.