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So about a week ago i fucked up an interview by being honest. How you might ask? Well about two years ago i was "asked to leave" a part time job i held while being in college at a sports store. This came to me out of nowhere, i was completely blind sided and the reasons given were complete BS in my opinion - i was 2-3 min late twice in a week and there were some very minor differences in money in my cash drawer(-1 euro to +4 euro). This happened to all of my colleagues at least once a week per person as well for the entire time i worked there, yet i was the only one fired over it. Full story here if you want it: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=207028 - this is shortened for the sake of the blog, i wasn't stealing or anything.
Any way i am at an interview for an entry level IT position that involves mostly basic windows 7 support. I have a semi-IT bachelors degree and i am also taking a certification on just the thing i was interviewing for(CompTIA A+) so i figured i had this in the bag. The interview goes along fine for about ten minutes and i sit through the usual bullshit questions(describe your weaknesses, strong points, describe yourself and your qualities etc) and then she asks me without paraphrasing: Have you ever had any conflicts with any previous employers?
Since she asked me directly i didn't feel like lying to her face and that since i technically wasn´t fired i'd tell her about it. In the end i view this as a big mistake and my downfall.
After i tell her this her demeanor completely change. Suddenly i feel like a convict and this is an interregation. Every time i have to mention something negative about myself she goes through it, every angle, every aspect "Don't you think this might be problematic working with X if you sometimes are too much of a perfectionist?" stuff like that.
Then she looks at my grades "Oh the way you presented yourself i expected them to be better" and then mention some stuff i wrote in my application. My grades are slightly above average with an A on my bachelors.
She asks if i have a drivers license, i say i don't, she asks if i have been taking any lessons and i say i´ve been driving privately with my fiancée and i am well underway - she responds "Well your fiancee can't drive you to work every day". The office is like 15min away by bus, wtf?
She then asks for letters of recommendation(not really letters where i live, more like "X worked here for Y time, did his job well and quit on his own behalf") and i give her the ones i have. Then she asks for references and i give her the ones i have. Except she isn´t satisfied, she want´s a reference from all of my previous employers. I have checked prior the the interview, most i worked with have quit and the ones remaining don´t remember me since these are jobs 2 - 5 years ago with a lot of people coming and going. She isn´t satisfied and still wants references, even from the places i have letters of recommendation from. She doesn´t trust me for a second.
After this she starts questioning my competence, she´s having doubt's about my ability to do this job it would seem and it just goes on. She ends the interview claiming it went well but, yeah no it didn't.
- How do you deal with HR people like this? Had there been a person in the room with some IT knowledge i'd be hired within 15min since he could just ask me some technical stuff and he´d see i´m competent enough. In other words how do you get people that knows nothing about IT to understand that you do?
- How much crap can you actually take? I felt many questions were dumb and told her nothing about me(the neg positive one is tbh completely useless. If i have nothing negative i'm a lier, if i have too much i look bad etc) and she was very condescending after i told her. Is it ever ok to take note of such things, mention them?
- I felt that mentioning this was wrong, i shouldn't have, especially since i do not have a reference from there anyway. Was it?
The scrutiny felt very odd since the job doesn't require much knowledge at all since it's just very basic Windows support but i felt like saying "anyone can do this job really" wouldn't of been very appropriate. Any other interview tips for someone looking for their first job out of college would also be much appreciated.
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Get a driver's license, seriously. In Germany you couldn't find a good job without one, I have no clue as to why.
I think the way to told her about leaving that sports store could be improved, because tbh it sounds like you stole money and you justified it with 'everyone was stealing' (I didn't read the full story though, but that's what it sounds like to me). Therefore I can understand that she doesn't trust you. You should tell the story and show how this has helped you become better or something..that's the whole point of the negative part - you have to know what your weaknesses are and that you are reflective of this and are working on it - not seem like a whiney pussy that bitches about their problems and blames other people.
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Hong Kong9179 Posts
move on and find other opportunities, to me it sounds like it is a mix of not having the best answers and the HR person not really liking you in the first place
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On June 28 2013 21:30 drsnuggles wrote:
Get a driver's license, seriously. In Germany you couldn't find a good job without one, I have no clue as to why.
I think the way to told her about leaving that sports store could be improved, because tbh it sounds like you stole money and you justified it with 'everyone was stealing' (I didn't read the full story though, but that's what it sounds like to me). Therefore I can understand that she doesn't trust you. You should tell the story and show how this has helped you become better or something..that's the whole point of the negative part - you have to know what your weaknesses are and that you are reflective of this and are working on it - not seem like a whiney pussy that bitches about their problems and blames other people.
Yeah i just shortened it for the sake of the blog, would've been too long. I explained it in full and i guarantee it didn't sound like i was stealing shit. And i don't have a drivers license because i simply can´t afford one, it's expensive as hell to get in Norway.
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Bearded Elder29905 Posts
Never be honest on job interviews - that is my golden advice.
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On June 28 2013 21:32 itsjustatank wrote:
move on and find other opportunities, to me it sounds like it is a mix of not having the best answers and the HR person not really liking you in the first place
Yeah ofcourse, i'm not exactly sitting by the phone waiting for that job. Just asking for general tips since i know most people tank their first interviews until you get more comfortable with it but i'd like to minimize the tanking and learn from the shit ones since i really want a job.
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If you don't interview for your skills you interview for your person. By that I mean that the woman you talked to knew nothing of the technical issues of the job and thus all you have to do is make her like you on a personal level.
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Lie, embellish, exaggerate. "I designed the deployment mechanism for the 36m DoD spy satellite" sounds way better than "I dicked around on Microsoft office and approved drawings"
Never tell the unverifiable truth! And get a drivers license man, its a manhood achievement. If you don't have one its like a sign on your forehead that says "My mommy drives me places"
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Wouldn't recommend lying as it can bite you in the ass, but misleading is highly advised.
In your case, you were not fired and from what I understand you didn't have any strong disagreement with your employer, you should have either said no or that you had to leave your last job for (insert sappy reason here.)
Always tailor your responses to the interviewer, some interviewers want brutally honest answers, some want you to spin a tale about how you love customers or whatever bs. Judge your interviewer and answer the questions accordingly, never volunteer information that might sabotage your job.
Oh yeah and if the interviewer doesn't like you, you won't get the job. Focus on getting along with the interviewer and making a lasting impression, odds are they will be interviewing a lot of people and if you are just a number or a faceless name the odds aren't stacked in your favour.
Depending on where you are trying to work will depend on the importance of a license. If they ask if you have a license it means it is important to them that you do, and if you say no you probably won't get the job, if they don't ask it normally means its a place that has limited parking or they otherwise don't care.
Remember to tailor your responses to what they want, if they ask if you have something odds are they want you to have it.
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Drivers licenses are overrated. As long as the public transport is adequate or you can walk/bike to work there's little to no point. A lot of the people I work with here do not drive.
In general, if there's a workplace conflict question thing, only really go for the ones that you actually resolved properly. That's basically the question: "Have you ever had a conflict at work and did you resolve it successfully?". In the end, even with your openness you're still effectively saying "I was late to work often enough for them to fire me".
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next time say no. worst comes to worst, they call your former employer and if they care enough, theyll say soemthing. that will only shoot you in the foot for that job really.
so a related question, opinions on beards at interviews? if it is neatly trimmed is it good
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On June 28 2013 21:37 739 wrote:
Never be honest on job interviews - that is my golden advice.
Reminded me of this:
http://imgur.com/09yxEpE
But its true...I dont recommend outright lying... but you can be selective with the information you're giving in an interview.
Too much info can be like giving enough rope to hang yourself
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Why did you just say: No, I haven't had any conflicts with former employers?
I mean, even if she finds out that you got fired, you can say that you did not have a conflict just a difference of opinion and that you did not mind. I mean, who cares. Just. Lie.
Everything that happened in the job interview after that point doesn't matter, you threw it right there.
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The advice I'd like to offer you is: you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.
Not sure where you live, but perhaps it is a employers market as opposed to an employee market.
(employers market: http://www.workuncovered.com/2011/07/what-is-employers-market.html)
As an employee, it can be hard to "interview" your potential boss when you are in an employers market. However, despite how available, or numerous, jobs are in your area, you should still interview your potential employer based on their interaction with you in the interview and on what type of info you get about the company while you are interviewed.
It sounds like your interview completely failed her interview(!!!), so to speak.
I worked as an employment coach helping homeless people find work and many of them did not want their employers knowing about their poverty. I would coach them to shy away from any question that might bring up their living situation, but that if the employer did ask a very forthcoming question, to tell the truth and not lie. In the end, some employers understood, and if the candidates skills proved to be adequate enough for the job, they would go forward with giving them a chance and a job. On the other hand, if the employer was uncomfortable, worried about them being a liability for the company, or just a straight up asshole, then the individual would not get the job.
Honestly, it sounds like the lady interviewing you was just a straight up bitch. You dodged a bullet imo.
Bottom line: interview your interviewer, ask lots of questions about the company that you are going to potentially work for, and confidently answer all of the "bullshit" "what are your greatest strengths/weakness" questions because they do give insight to your personality - which is half of the reason why they will hire you.
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On June 28 2013 23:33 SliceAndDice wrote:
Why did you just say: No, I haven't had any conflicts with former employers?
I mean, even if she finds out that you got fired, you can say that you did not have a conflict just a difference of opinion and that you did not mind. I mean, who cares. Just. Lie.
Everything that happened in the job interview after that point doesn't matter, you threw it right there.
Horrible advice! When she checks his references, she will find out and he goes frombeing a candidate to a waste of time in a flash.
Basically you were unprepared, so learn from it, since next interview this will come up again, but this time you can make sure you tell your story about what happened. Arriving late is not good, having been given a warning is worse, but make sure to point out that you were never (?) late afterwards and that you took an earlier commute so it would not happen again. Missing money is not great either, but make sure that you mention that all employees had similar situations and that it was never mentioned to you by your manager.
You also need to spinn this somewhat, so perhaps you mention that you suspect they wanted to hire somebody and that you were the fall guy? You need to come out of this story as the good guy.
Be confident when you tell this story, since it is clear you were unprepared last time and defaultet to honesty, bluntness and perhaps a little insecure?. Aslo make sure you do your homework and have references for everything and that you have asked these references beforehand, so that they know to expect a call.
Good luck.
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If you have no reference from the job you got fired from, then please by all means lie to her.
Total honesty isn't really the way to go in job interviews, everyone has some shit hidden somewhere, the interviewer knows that and will try to find yours, that doesn't mean you have to show it.
Lastly getting crap for an examinator isn't unheard of, it's actually somewhat of a common tactic to see how the aplicant reacts to an unexpected and unconfortable situation
good luck out there
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On June 29 2013 02:13 SagaZ wrote:
If you have no reference from the job you got fired from, then please by all means lie to her.
FFS no, unreferenced job experience can be interpreted as something he just made up. How can they possibly tell? He would be better off saying he did not have a job for that period of time.
Total honesty isn't really the way to go in job interviews, everyone has some shit hidden somewhere, the interviewer knows that and will try to find yours, that doesn't mean you have to show it.
Lastly getting crap for an examinator isn't unheard of, it's actually somewhat of a common tactic to see how the aplicant reacts to an unexpected and unconfortable situation
good luck out there
Yes! The interview is where both parties try to find out if they are a match, it is not an honesty competition..
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When they ask if you've had conflicts, they're interested in finding out how you resolve conflicts. Saying "no I never have conflicts with anyone" is probably better than what you said, but it's still not a good answer. You should have an answer for this question that you prepare in advance where you can describe a real situation where you had a conflict and explain how you resolved that conflict in a mature, professional way.
From the interviewer's point of view: There are always conflicts in every workplace. If you have good people, they resolve the conflicts properly and they don't become a big issue. If you hire a person who can't or won't do this then you have lots of drama and distraction int he workplace. So the best way to answer this question is to give a real example that illustrates that you have the skills and temperament to resolve conflicts in a way that won't cause a problem for management.
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United States24780 Posts
On June 28 2013 21:20 unkkz wrote:
- How do you deal with HR people like this?
First you seem to realize that there were ways you could have handled some of this better. However, based on what I'm reading (assuming you represent it fairly) you look for a different job. If someone is treating you like crap, you shouldn't want to work for them, even if they eventually do offer you the position.
If you really want you can even inform whoever the HR person reports to that you found the interview to be (whatever it was that seemed inappropriate) although it's probably not worth it.
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EPT
