Odd Phone Interview

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.

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Comments

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.

Mike-Mike

I had a recruiter set me up for a phone interview one time for what I thought was a Networking job, but they wanted a Change Manager. Then when I started trying to figure out what was going on, the interviewer got mad at me.

I had another instance where I thought I was interviewing for an entry level job, but it was a senior level, needless to say I bombed that

Kreken

Odd? The job description for the position I applied stated you had to have Cisco certs and Brocade certs were optional. During the interview, I said I am finishing up my CCNP and they asked me why I am applying to them if I want to work with Cisco equipment. It turned out, out of 600+ network devices they had, only one was Cisco and the rest was Brocade...

dr.who

That is very strange. I too have had a "miscomunication" between what was posted and what they wanted/needed. I even had an in person interview that started you don't qualify for the position you have applied for. I think, more so in years past but with a slight up tick, communication skills between what a person is thinking such as I need to replace my tech for skill set X and HR or Recruiter, internal or external, and the posting fall short. They just assume that if we apply for a "title" which is not always what the job is, then we are good to go. I think that everyone needs to take some communiation skills rather in school, online, on-the-job-training on their own, whatever. That way they feel more sure of what they are saying and what they are asking.

kurosaki00

Kreken wrote: »

Odd? The job description for the position I applied stated you had to have Cisco certs and Brocade certs were optional. During the interview, I said I am finishing up my CCNP and they asked me why I am applying to them if I want to work with Cisco equipment. It turned out, out of 600+ network devices they had, only one was Cisco and the rest was Brocade...

I lol'd