Odd Phone Interview

TeKniques

A little background -- I'm an IT Manager for a smaller company (~70 employees) that recently passed the CISSP exam and have begun to look for opportunities that will allow me to grow my skills within information security governance (compliance, audit, risk management). My current job deals with a little bit of that, but most of that type of work I'm doing at my own discretion and is not required per my boss (however, I have his full support). I applied for a IS management position with a local company that within the job description had the type of work I was looking for. I was contacted for a brief phone screen to discuss the salary range and the current state of the IT department. The salary range was quite a bit more than what I make now so it seemed like a decent opportunity and I agreed to a phone interview with the Director of IT.

Day of the phone interview arrives. Right off the bat the person informs me that the position is 70% technical and 30% management ... completely opposite of what the job description indicated. So, already 'red flagged' I just say "okay" and he continued to tell me they were looking for someone to take care of their whole Cisco infrastructure (Routers, Switches, ASA's, VoIP) and at the same time manage 3 employees (help desk personnel and a junior network admin). At this point I thought I was interviewing for the wrong job and it almost seemed as if the person interviewing didn't even know what the original job description indicated. Needless to say, I finished the interview and basically told the guy that I'm not a Cisco expert and that the job description did not indicate that's what was needed ... I told him that I'm in a current role that's about 80% management 20% technical. Anyways, sounds like what they were looking for was a Senior Network Engineer that could mentor/coach juniors.

I guess the only reason I'm sharing this story is that the question comes to mind: Does this happen quite often? I was literally kind of shocked when this interview started, because honestly if the requirement was a Cisco expert I wouldn't of even applied because that's not in my skill set, nor is it something I really want to do. I actually like my current position aside from the low pay; I just want to expand on the experience I've gained over the past 5 years of management into a more info sec role.

Thanks for reading.

olaHalo

That sounds awkward. I dont know if I would have waited until the end to ask him about the job description vs what he's asking for.

I had a similar experience. Job description asked for a web developer (basic php, javascript, html/css) and during the interview I found out it was a Helpdesk job that occasionally helps the primary web developer during downtime. At least you didn't get all dressed up for an in-person interview.

Anyway good luck with your search for a new opportunity.