Please don't be this sort of interviewee...

[Drakkon]

So interviewed this dood today who seemed to just be clueless when it came to interviewing. He said he had a degree in business marketing and entrepreneurship which i seriously question what they taught him. The funny thing is this guy had all the skills we wanted but was such an idiot at the interview theres no way I'd hire him.

For starters I can't say enough how important first impressions were and the one this guy gave off was creepy guy...like one of those doods who you expect to see at a strip club staring at the women not putting any money down. Didn't wear any sort of tie, just plain ol khakis and an even plainer (not nice) sweater.

Secondly the job he was applying for was listed as "web developer" and listed at an hourly rate...somehow he turned it into "contract" work and kept referring to our position as "contract" work where he could work from home and wouldn't have to interact with anyone. Then on top of this he starts mentioning his experience as management and how great of a manager he would be (I would have been his manager, job was listed as being part of a "team").

Finally the thing he did that most pissed us off is he acted like he read up all about our company yet he referred to us as a "start up" over and over. Funny thing is on our home page it shows that the company is 15+ years old and has a revenue of over 12 million, so we are kinda far from a start up. Then he goes on to say he doesn't see himself as a "start up" kinda guy and he thinks a company like IBM would view him as management material. Good luck with that dumb ass.

Luckily later that day a more realistic guy came along and renewed our faith that there are people out there who "get it"

Drakkon's rules for interviewing:
1) Wear a tie and dress shirt, or at least a nice sweater/polo/etc, and attempt to at least look normal
2) Don't tell the manager you would be good at his job, unless your interviewing for his job
3) Don't call a company a "start-up" regardless of if thats what they are, but ESPECIALLY an established company with a product line that has been active for 15 years.

 

[Pepsi90919]

stupid morans :|

 

[TheWart]

enough to make you lose faith in people...

 

[Rogue]

Perhaps one should learn how to spell a word properly before using it. Just a thought.

 

[Drakkon]

obviously the humor of the word moran eludes some

f$@! the spelling nazis one and all!!! Thats why my degree is in math

 

[StageLeft]

I'm always glad to read these threads and know I was NOT that guy and never would be. As always, as long as people like him exist in this world I can probably stay mostly employed for the rest of my life I would say the greatest attribute in an interview is _normalcy_. Don't be a nut job. Don't twitch or look like you live in a cellar or can't wash and don't have any friends. Maybe you live in a cellar, can barely wash, and indeed have no friends, but if you can pretend that those are all false then the interviewer will be none the wiser. Eye contact, smiles, talkative, don't be a dick, etc. all help!

 

[MazerRackham]

Moran makes beef that is cheap.

 

[glenn1]

If you've done any interviews before, you know how someone acts or behaves during an interview has exactly zero relationship to what they'll be like if they're hired. The "clueless" interviewee you talk about in your post may have been a better pick than the "more realistic" guy you talk about later but you never know until after the fact. Although I agree that it's pretty lame that he confused the identity of your company with someone else and his personality was obviously not a good fit for you.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: glenn1
If you've done any interviews before, you know how someone acts or behaves during an interview has exactly zero relationship to what they'll be like if they're hired. The "clueless" interviewee you talk about in your post may have been a better pick than the "more realistic" guy you talk about later but you never know until after the fact. Although I agree that it's pretty lame that he confused the identity of your company with someone else and his personality was obviously not a good fit for you.

If intereviews were so useless companies wouldn't still be doing them. A sociable guy in an interview who knows his stuff may be an axe murderer, sure, but a first impression is better than no impression. If you've got a guy, for instance, who's just saying the wrong things all the time (like this guy) then it's terribly unlikely that he's going to mesh well in a team environment.

 

[Drakkon]

Originally posted by: glenn1
If you've done any interviews before, you know how someone acts or behaves during an interview has exactly zero relationship to what they'll be like if they're hired. The "clueless" interviewee you talk about in your post may have been a better pick than the "more realistic" guy you talk about later but you never know until after the fact. Although I agree that it's pretty lame that he confused the identity of your company with someone else and his personality was obviously not a good fit for you.

I've took part in about 20 interviews (5 which lead to actual jobs) so far in my career and i totally dont agree with what you say about how there is zero relationship. I try an interview in more of the "your in the role what would you do" sitting them down at actual computers or giving them actual problems and using casual conversation to ask the typical interview questions. Its lead to 3 relatively good guys, and 2 guys whcih i could tell from the interview were gunna end up being annoying to work with but were hired by the hire ups anyways and turned out to be annoying as could be, and 1 even ended up being fired. If your getting zero out of an interview you need to reevaluate what you are doing cause i think the interview can establish more than you give it credit for.

 

[daveshel]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I'm always glad to read these threads and know I was NOT that guy and never would be. As always, as long as people like him exist in this world I can probably stay mostly employed for the rest of my life I would say the greatest attribute in an interview is _normalcy_. Don't be a nut job. Don't twitch or look like you live in a cellar or can't wash and don't have any friends. Maybe you live in a cellar, can barely wash, and indeed have no friends, but if you can pretend that those are all false then the interviewer will be none the wiser. Eye contact, smiles, talkative, don't be a dick, etc. all help!

But it is the interviewer's job to see through the pretense. Otherwise they hire people with interview skills instead of job skills. (Still reeling from seeinf a former colleague bluff his way into a new position for which he is grossly unqualified, a feat that will soon bite him in the butt I'm sure.)

 

[glenn1]

I've took part in about 20 interviews (5 which lead to actual jobs) so far in my career and i totally dont agree with what you say about how there is zero relationship. I try an interview in more of the "your in the role what would you do" sitting them down at actual computers or giving them actual problems and using casual conversation to ask the typical interview questions. Its lead to 3 relatively good guys, and 2 guys whcih i could tell from the interview were gunna end up being annoying to work with but were hired by the hire ups anyways and turned out to be annoying as could be, and 1 even ended up being fired. If your getting zero out of an interview you need to reevaluate what you are doing cause i think the interview can establish more than you give it credit for.

Sure, you can determine if the interviewee is going to get on your nerves or have other personality conflicts. But I can deal with anti-socials, the social skills impaired, oddballs, and other miscellaneous misfits as long as their work ethic is high, keep up high production numbers, don't need me to babysit you, and don't make my life miserable in other ways (e.g. accomodating you on the 15-20 days a year you end up needing to leave early to pick up your kid from daycare, don't know what a chain of command is, spending more time talking about your upcoming marriage and looking at wedding dresses more than the work you're supposed to be doing, etc), none of which ever gets revealed during an interview.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

one nice thing about the people who don't know how to give good interviews is they make the rest of us look BRILLIANT.

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

Originally posted by: Rogue
Perhaps one should learn how to spell a word properly before using it. Just a thought.

Originally posted by: Drakkon
obviously the humor of the word moran eludes some

f$@! the spelling nazis one and all!!! Thats why my degree is in math

morans.jpg

 

[OulOat]

In your eyes, how bad is nervousness? I get pretty nervous at serious situations like interviews; it's not like I got anything to hide, it's just how I am.

 

[SearchMaster]

Nervousness isn't bad as long as you keep your cool, seem interested, etc. I interviewed a guy a few months ago that absolutely could not look me in the eye and couldn't answer a question with much more than a "yes" or "no". He came with excellent references and is seemingly very bright, but I just couldn't see him fitting in with our corporate culture.

 

[jjones]

What a maroon.

 

[Crazymofo]

Originally posted by: OulOat
In your eyes, how bad is nervousness? I get pretty nervous at serious situations like interviews; it's not like I got anything to hide, it's just how I am.

This is my problem as well... wish I could counter it some how...