Interview Rant

neocybe

I just interviewed (round 2) with the CIO of a company, most awkward conversation I've ever had - he asked the most irrelevent off the wall questions I've ever encountered. (what make you happy, when was your darkest hour etc, the guy gave me his business card, here is a rant I'm tempted to send.


Hope all is well. I thought I would take you up on your offer to send you a quick email if I felt insipired to continue our conversation from yesterday.

I have to be honest, companyXYZ may in fact be the first position I've ever applied for that I've genuinely pursued with interest rather than just chasing my next paycheck.

I still haven't figured out what makes me happy but I'm always plesantly surprised when the kid running the Dunkin Dounuts window actually gets my order right. I'm the only person I know who manages 3 monthly budgets. I'd rather stab myself in the face with a rusty screwdriver that spend ten minutes telling management what I 'think' they want to hear. You asked me what was my darkest hour. I would have to say that was my drive home from my mothers house when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but not so much because of the diagnosis but because I realized how little time we have and that I'm pushing 35 and really have nothing to show for it in the traditional american dream point of view that we all subconsiously measure our own self worth based on material posessions, square footage etc, etc.

I think if I were offered the position I would happily accept and do my best to work hard every day. . . (blah blah blah, thats what everyone says) But I would also have a great sense of guilt to think that I capitalized on someone elses misfortune. I say that because it was brought to my attention that the last candidate who was offered the positon was subsequestly rejected because of some form of credit snaffu due to some prior life event. It bothers me that a great candidate with the credentials, experience and (most likely) great personality traits can be rejected for seemingly unrelated reasons. Circumstances like these quite frankly cheapen the whole interview process. For all practical purposes skill and credentials really don't matter all that much, that person could have very well showed up in a tutu and gorilla mask and a copy of thier credit report and could have just as easily landed the position. I happen to have a very simular background and skill set but because I have a very severe case of personal finace OCD and a better credit score I will somehow appear to be a better candidate to some paper pusher HR douche. For all mister HR D-bag knows, the candidate could be a wife beating axe murderer.

I found it somewhat obnoxious and a little pretentious to think that I (we) as the candidate should leave job titles and the weight of meeting with the CIO and potential decision maker at the door and pretend as though the interview process is simply a 'conversation' when in reality as all is said and done you the interview go back to your cube and life goes on while we the potential candidate replay the conversation over and over until we hear the inevitable yay or nay. I can't help but appreciate the fact that outside the context of these conversations, neither party really cares how the other really feels about global warming or bird watching. What really matters is the bottom line.

All in all, we the lowly candidates will continue to play the employment lottery until we land our next position and fine some sense of normalcy.


I'm just sayin-

on to the next one.

I'll laugh my nuts off if they offer me the position - then accept of course!

TimTheEnchantor

So you are ranting at this gentlemen for society's issue of implementing an interview process? It seems you have more of a beef with how the system works rather than with the company.

RobertKaucher

Those supposedly off the wall questions mean that heis more interested in finding out about your personality than your technical ability, which should have been established in the first interview. And the poor dude who was rejected previously - sucks but financial issues are a predictor of internal information theft and life stress which can lead to degraded performance.

certhelp

neocybe wrote: »

I just interviewed (round 2) with the CIO of a company, most awkward conversation I've ever had - he asked the most irrelevent off the wall questions I've ever encountered. (what make you happy, when was your darkest hour etc, the guy gave me his business card, here is a rant I'm tempted to send.

Looks like this interview itself was an awkward conversation if not the most akward conversation.

Hypntick

RobertKaucher wrote: »

Those supposedly off the wall questions mean that heis more interested in finding out about your personality than your technical ability, which should have been established in the first interview. And the poor dude who was rejected previously - sucks but financial issues are a predictor of internal information theft and life stress which can lead to degraded performance.

I'm going to disagree with you on that one. That may be true in a small percentage of cases, but not all of them. Myself for example, it took me a while to get my financial footing in life, in the process of rebuilding my credit at the moment. However, that has never caused an issue with my work performance due to stress nor has it even remotely tempted me to steal information or resources. The only thing it has done is cause me to evaluate what is really necessary in my life and cut my personal costs down to the bare minimum.

Companies do themselves a disservice by excluding perfectly qualified, experienced and personable candidates based on a credit report. You prevent people from trying to better themselves and actually repair their lives by not providing them an opportunity. By doing so you actually promote stress as well as an inclination to turn to crime in some fashion, the mindset being if I know I have no chance otherwise, i'm going to do what it takes to survive.

/end social commentary

networker050184

Sounds like your basic HR interview to me (a bit odd coming from the CIO). Get used to it. Don't send in that rant if you want any kind of shot at getting the gig.

ehnde

networker050184 wrote: »

Sounds like your basic HR interview to me (a bit odd coming from the CIO). Get used to it. Don't send in that rant if you want any kind of shot at getting the gig.

Definitely! If you want to come off as professional, avoid being personal as much as possible in an interview. Try to keep your responses under 30 seconds. That CIO gave you a chance to get personal. You were thrust into an awkward situation and your reactions tell the CIO if you would make a good fit with the company, or if you'll be argumentative or maybe excessively chatty with your co-workers.

Something we went by frequently in the army - "Be polite, be professional, be prepared to kill." But maybe you could skip on the prepared to kill part and interpret that more as just be confident and alert.

eansdad

RobertKaucher wrote: »

Those supposedly off the wall questions mean that heis more interested in finding out about your personality than your technical ability, which should have been established in the first interview. And the poor dude who was rejected previously - sucks but financial issues are a predictor of internal information theft and life stress which can lead to degraded performance.

So my 10 years of exp and military background fall short of the fact that I got screwed over by a builder and had to file bankruptcy? I'd look out for those who have the most to lose then those that have already lost.

rsutton

Some of you are looking at this from a narrow viewpoint. While you personally may be a better fit despite your credit problems, the employer does not know this, which is why they have these types of screens.

There are valid reasons for choosing a candidate with a good credit history (Robert K listed a few above), even though it may eliminate some good candidates, the general thought process is that it will eliminate more negative candidates.

To the OP, I would recommend not sending the rant. You never know what the future holds and it is better to have as many bridges available in your network as possible.

pitviper

I had a buddy send in a similar rant to an ex-employer. The IT guys got ahold of it and posted it on public website with his actual name. For years if you googled his name, you got to see to see a snapshot in time of how he might react under adverse conditions. I'm sure it burned him at least a few times after that.

I would fold that bad boy up and keep it in your back pocket!

Akaricloud

Sounds like a typical interview to me.

If you've ever been on the opposite side of an interview you might understand it a bit more. Everyone is prepared to answer job related questions but the questions that really catch the candidates off guard reveal a lot about their thought process and personality.

If a candidate can't handle some fairly simple questions when under interview and emotional stress then you can bet I'm going to toss them aside.

It sounds like this interview got the best of you.

ChooseLife

Akaricloud wrote: »

Everyone is prepared to answer job related questions but the questions that really catch the candidates off guard reveal a lot about their thought process and personality.

My view on this is that questions like the ones listed by the OP are not even meant to catch one off-guard, but rather to give the opportunity to talk about personal motivating factors and such... I usually take on this opportunity to honestly (and briefly) explain what makes me happy or sad in a work environment, what motivates me, and so on. This allows the interviewing person better judge how well I'd fit into the existing team. For example, one manager may be looking to hire an ambitious person who would take on additional roles, while another may be protective of his position and prefer quite the opposite...

neocybe

Thanks for your responses - I landed the position - Start next Monday Yippeee!

Lord Nikon

I've seen various CIO do this. They have their reasons behind it.

mikej412

neocybe wrote: »

I landed the position

Congratulations!!

So does that mean you decided not to send the rant to the CIO?

neocybe wrote: »

I'll laugh my nuts off if they offer me the position - then accept of course!

Did you have a good laugh?