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On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 13:35 heyoka wrote:
I had a job where my boss didn't like doing interviews so I would occasionally do it. I thought it was kind of fun, but I never had to train or actually work with most of them so if I fucked up there wouldn't have been any consequences. I know it sounds like I hate the whole process, but I actually don't! I just get annoyed at times haha. Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 13:38 SuperbWingman wrote:
I love the ones that respond to "What made you interested in applying for our company?" with "Because i need a job." Just no effort or thought put into it whatsoever. laughably weak. Ugh! I hear this SO MUCH too. : / You'd think people would know better. It's common sense, right?!
It's common sense to think up a detailed and mature response to that question but at the same time you have to recognize how much of a loaded question it is. No one wants to work in retail because it's an intriguing and satisfying experience - they're in it for the money. They know that and you know that and asking them to tell you something different is just worthless.
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On October 25 2011 23:46 Myles wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 13:38 SuperbWingman wrote:
I love the ones that respond to "What made you interested in applying for our company?" with "Because i need a job." Just no effort or thought put into it whatsoever. laughably weak. Ugh! I hear this SO MUCH too. : / You'd think people would know better. It's common sense, right?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here. It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'. I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job.
What you're selling is everything. How can you ignore a very important factor?
I'd rather sell video-games than children's clothes (no offense). That alone is plenty of reason to say why you'd like the job.
Types of consumers, I like being in a job where I can talk comfortably about the product with people who are familiar with ______.
etc. etc. You dismiss things too quickly.
I'm not saying the make a cheer and jump for joy when prompted the question, but lazily listing the obvious is just fucking stupid.
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On October 25 2011 21:29 Inori wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 14:11 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 14:08 IronMonocle wrote:
You are awfully picky about who you hire for a seasonal position in a minimum wage dead end job. All business-owners or managers are because they are worried about the overall health and growth of their business. You're viewing it from a poor, dismissive and misunderstood position. Still, you get what you ask for. Want well written resumes with plenty of good referrals and etc etc? Then make the position interesting for people willing to provide them. It's like buying some cheap chinese smartphone wannabe and then complaining that it aint iphone.
This is very much spot on.
I realize all your merely asking for is an all around respectful individual, but listing what type of job your offering back at them, I wonder how you can be surprised at the applicants applying.
I normally have found HR to be the section that is sub-optimal in a lot of companies. I assume you know it's a two way street here with the interview process. Your my direct first impression of the company that I'm trying to work for. You need good workers to prosper. And if I'm a smart guy and a great worker, I know what I'm worth. If the job description is up to par with my expectations, your the next step. Hence why great employees will likely snicker at the application on the inside and move on. HR should really just be a filter for the slobs interviewing imo, but sometimes I wonder if this is even true.
I'm not saying I think the couch potato who walks in with a mustard stain on his dirty white wife beater top and jeans with holes in the knees is a pretty good representation comparison to the type of job that's on hand (or am I?...) but it's definitely not something that a normal person would go after. Really, its all about getting back what your putting out there.
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I remember how bad some of the applications were when I worked in retail. Some of the ones that I can remember off the top of my head:
- There was one girl who filled out the entire application in pencil. On top of that some of her credentials were exaggerated to say the least. That's okay, I figure I could just potentially erase those off her app since you know, it was written in pencil!
- Another girl turned in an application with the "previous employment" box blank when I pointed that out she responded "Well I worked at McDonalds for like 40 minutes. Do you want me to put that down?" I don't even want to know what it takes to get fired from McDonalds that quickly.
- One guy thought he was being cute and filled out every box like a complete smartass. Desired pay: "One million dollars." Geographical location: "Boston is nice this time of year but I suppose Florida is okay also." Useful skills you have to contribute: "sense of humour." Really now...
- The geographical location question is because there were multiple nearby stores in the chain and sometimes we would send applications to other stores that were hiring. This was lost upon one person who decided to answer this question with "indoors".
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Some of the attitude and excuses in this thread are straight-up laughable. I'm the first person you'll hear birch about how it took me 30 minutes to apply for a job, but I do it anyway. If you aren't willing to give a company that time, why should they expect you to give it day after day? This is all information they need to gauge thundreds of applicants, and if you think you can get away with just handing them your resume, more power to ya - it's worked for me before - but don't be confused if you can't seem to catch a break when you're giving every company a glance and hope they think you're a swell-lookin' guy.
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Love HR especially when it comes to hiring/training people like you describe. A lot of people don't know how to write a proper resume; it's pretty sad. I learned a lot when I was doing that.
Make it a positive experience 
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On October 25 2011 13:13 Darkdeath3 wrote:Hey better to do the interviewing than being interviewed its tough out there. In other words where do i send my resume
Wow I had the exact same thoughts while reading this lol.
Although there are apparently endless amounts of jobs out there selling insurance. When I put my resume up on Monster I began to practically get stalked by insurance recruiters. Learned my lesson though, sticking to Dice.
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Be careful of discrimination, you could be sued for saying that you want 'personable employees' if you can't find a statistical correlation between personability levels and efficiency output, you don't want to accidentally create adverse impact and have a possible lawsuit on your hands.
Also, interviews are only good for two things: measuring interpersonal skills and verbal communication. Make sure that these things are NEEDED for the position your trying to fill before deciding from an interview. Conduct good job analysis and you should be set.
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My first job was a "sandwich artist" at Subway when I was 15-16. People would turn in applications all the time, and if they filled them out like an idiot I would just throw it away.
Some people just have no common sense I guess... Almost all job applications ask you the same questions for entry level jobs and its not rocket science.
I guarantee you could Google a guide on how to look good on a job application...
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I need a greencard. I'll do it.
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On October 26 2011 09:30 Endymion wrote:
Be careful of discrimination, you could be sued for saying that you want 'personable employees' if you can't find a statistical correlation between personability levels and efficiency output, you don't want to accidentally create adverse impact and have a possible lawsuit on your hands.
Also, interviews are only good for two things: measuring interpersonal skills and verbal communication. Make sure that these things are NEEDED for the position your trying to fill before deciding from an interview. Conduct good job analysis and you should be set.
I can actually get a lot more out of people than just that from an interview. I guess that's why I used to do them. =)
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Well I guess a better thing to say is to suggest what kind of questions to ask in your interviews. I'm sure you've seen the google interview questions, like "how many pingpong balls would it take to fill a 747." Personally, I don't like this style, I prefer more personal questions. I.e. "Tell me a time that you were in a team and a teammember messed up, and how you responded to their error." Their response could tell you if they're team oriented, what kind of team they prefer, and their style of contingency planning.
I guess I mean just don't ask "do you think of yourself as personable?" or "do you work well in a team?"
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Can I just say, if you don't have the sense to fill out your application properly you probably won't be very focussed on the job. It's all about attitude.
But now I'm really looking forward to hearing about you receiving applications that have:
REFERRAL SOURCE:
x Web site: Teamliquid.net
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Oh by the way, what OP describes happen in other places too. My English teacher said in class once that she was at an interview session for hiring HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS (she wasn't getting interviewed; she was observing someone interviewing other people). A lot of applicants did not have any interview skills whatsoever, including:
Q: Why do you want to become a teacher?
A: I donno. I need a job?
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On October 26 2011 00:21 Torte de Lini wrote:Show nested quote +On October 25 2011 23:46 Myles wrote:On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 13:38 SuperbWingman wrote:
I love the ones that respond to "What made you interested in applying for our company?" with "Because i need a job." Just no effort or thought put into it whatsoever. laughably weak. Ugh! I hear this SO MUCH too. : / You'd think people would know better. It's common sense, right?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here. It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'. I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job. What you're selling is everything. How can you ignore a very important factor? I'd rather sell video-games than children's clothes (no offense). That alone is plenty of reason to say why you'd like the job. Types of consumers, I like being in a job where I can talk comfortably about the product with people who are familiar with ______. etc. etc. You dismiss things too quickly. I'm not saying the make a cheer and jump for joy when prompted the question, but lazily listing the obvious is just fucking stupid.
I disagree with this. It's a minimum wage shit job. I'll be surprised if anyone ever woke up excited going "oh boy I get to count inventory, open boxes and stack shelves today!"
I don't even know how you'd BS for a videogame selling job. "I'm an avid gamer and so I'm interested in selling games"? That makes no sense, being a gamer =/= selling games; it's not even remotely related. "Being a gamer, I can suggest good games that customer might enjoy, feel like I'm helping out fellow gamers etc"? This also makes no sense. This might say why you can do this job better, but not why you'd WANT to do the job. Completely different things.
I fully agree with what Myles wrote about candidates just having common sense, promptness and a good attitude.
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What the hell is gymboree? and you aren't by chance in orange county CA are you? Ive been out of work for so long.
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On October 26 2011 11:42 JeeJee wrote:Show nested quote +On October 26 2011 00:21 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:46 Myles wrote:On October 25 2011 23:40 Torte de Lini wrote:On October 25 2011 23:06 Cuddle wrote:On October 25 2011 13:48 Porcelain wrote:On October 25 2011 13:38 SuperbWingman wrote:
I love the ones that respond to "What made you interested in applying for our company?" with "Because i need a job." Just no effort or thought put into it whatsoever. laughably weak. Ugh! I hear this SO MUCH too. : / You'd think people would know better. It's common sense, right?! While I do agree that "Because I need a job" comes of rather arrogant I believe in answering these questions honestly. The job I am at now asked me during my interview why I wanted to work for them and i answered: "I'm looking for a job in this city, I want to move here with my family, I want to stay in the same business as I'm already in and I heard good things about you." Maybe not an ideal answer to that question to make them want to hire me but I'm not good enough of a liar to pull off some "Oh, this job is sooo inspiring and all I wanted as a child was to work with engineering quality..." so I just go with the truth. There's a fine line between being sincere and still properly representing yourself. The question is a way of finding out why you want the job more than someone else. You listed generalities and although they're not looking for you to lie, they're also not wanting to know your personal reasons why you want the job, but rather what makes this job different from any other job? If there is no difference, then you clearly have find no importance in getting this job over another and the person will probably wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. You don't portray much by saying that you need a job in the city and want to move here. It's a retail job, it's not different from a million others. They want the job because they want/need money. The best answer I can think of without being complete bs is 'get my foot in the door'. I get what the OP is saying, but I feel you're taking this a bit far. If you go for a retail job, and they expect more then common sense to fill out a app, promptness, and a good attitude, well I don't know what to say except good luck finding employees to work your minimum wage job. What you're selling is everything. How can you ignore a very important factor? I'd rather sell video-games than children's clothes (no offense). That alone is plenty of reason to say why you'd like the job. Types of consumers, I like being in a job where I can talk comfortably about the product with people who are familiar with ______. etc. etc. You dismiss things too quickly. I'm not saying the make a cheer and jump for joy when prompted the question, but lazily listing the obvious is just fucking stupid. I disagree with this. It's a minimum wage shit job. I'll be surprised if anyone ever woke up excited going "oh boy I get to count inventory, open boxes and stack shelves today!" I don't even know how you'd BS for a videogame selling job. "I'm an avid gamer and so I'm interested in selling games"? That makes no sense, being a gamer =/= selling games; it's not even remotely related. "Being a gamer, I can suggest good games that customer might enjoy, feel like I'm helping out fellow gamers etc"? This also makes no sense. This might say why you can do this job better, but not why you'd WANT to do the job. Completely different things. I fully agree with what Myles wrote about candidates just having common sense, promptness and a good attitude.
I like how you assume minimum wage = terrible job. Ends =/= means?
As for selling video-games: "I know quite a bit about video-games given it is a hobby of mine, so selling video-games is something I'm comfortable because I know the materials/products and inform myself on my own accord with the products via gaming blogs and/or trying the game myself"
Difficult, I know. You'd want the job because you're in a space you're comfortable with knowledge-wise and you can relate more with the customer.
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I've gotten the job I applied for every time I've gotten up to the interview part. I don't really think they care a lot about what you say in particular. A good handshake alone will carry you far. I think it's more about them just getting a general view of you, since I've given such bullshit answers to bullshit questions.
Stuff like "What do you think you need to improve in yourself?" and I said told him something along the lines of "Finding the motivation to do stuff I don't want to do." Just thinking about his approving expression and the other guy saying "this guy sure has an answer for everything" makes me cringe so hard.
Still had the employer pretty much ask me, if I want to start tomorrow. Now I work there and it's a pretty cool job with decent pay, even if it's customer service and only part-time.
The hardest part is to get them to call you up for an interview and honestly I can't blame the OP for not hiring people who make horrible applications. How can you trust a guy to sell something, if they can't even sell themselves to you?
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On October 26 2011 11:17 Sufficiency wrote:
Oh by the way, what OP describes happen in other places too. My English teacher said in class once that she was at an interview session for hiring HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS (she wasn't getting interviewed; she was observing someone interviewing other people). A lot of applicants did not have any interview skills whatsoever, including:
Q: Why do you want to become a teacher?
A: I donno. I need a job?
I have the opposite problem my interview skills are at least grandmaster but my resume is somewhat lacking.
Hopefully i will get a real job soon.
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EPT
