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  • Job Interviews SUCK

    Hi, I'm Misty. You may remember me from such threads as "Step Away From the Tip Jar" and "Health Nuts Drive Me Bananas." I'm here today to talk about how much job interviews SUCK. Last August I moved back to the U.S.A. after spending four years teaching English in Japan. FYI, I was an administrative assistant for several years before I went abroad, and I'm looking to get back in the game. I thought my experience in Japan would grab the attention of employers and land me a job quickly; as it turns out, I was only half right.

    On Monday I had an interview for an admin position at a veterinary clinic. The woman who interviewed me flipped through my resume, asked me a few questions about what Japan was like, explained the job details, and then asked me if I had any questions. It took less than five minutes. I asked her a few questions, and then talked about my job experience in greater detail. Basically, I interviewed myself; either this woman had no idea how to conduct an interview, or she had made up her mind before the interview even began. Sure enough, I got an email from her saying 'thanks for your time, but we're going with someone with industry experience.'

    I am an Administrative Assistant. The job description is identical no matter what the industry is (believe me, I know). BUT in today's job market, employers will hold out until they find someone who has 20 years of experience, knows every computer system that has ever existed, speaks five languages fluently, and craps blueberry muffins every morning.

    This is just the latest in a string of lousy interviews. I had an interview with a recruiter who, after being told that I worked at a frozen yogurt shop part-time, exclaimed, "Oh, how nice!" in a high-pitched voice and a big smile, the kind one does when they're trying really hard to hide their disgust. The interview itself lasted about 5 minutes, and she barely looked up from her paperwork. To get to and from her office cost me $20 and over 2 hours round trip. Gee, that was money well spent

    Sadly, she's not even the worst interview I've had. One guy called me up for a phone interview, and we spent the first few minutes talking about Japan; he and his wife had been on vacation in Tokyo when the tsunami hit, and he was curious to know about my experience during that time. Then he went on to explain the job and talk about the owners/founders, and what they were looking for.

    Then he said: "They won't consider hiring anyone who doesn't live in New York. Do you understand that?"



    I live in Connecticut. It says so on my resume. From our conversation I know that this guy knew that before he called me. So WHY did he call me? Because he wanted to chat with someone about Japan; on that pretense alone he was willing to make me jump through all sorts of hoops knowing full well I would never get the job. The word to describe this particular ahole hasn't been invented yet.

    Anyway, thanks for reading. I just needed to vent. Feel free to do the same.

  • #2
    I fully understand what you mean about the job market and employers having ridiculous standards. When they will only hire people with 10 or 15 years specific experience in a niche field, all they do is ensure that no one will be there to take the place of workers when they retire. Companies used to understand you had to hire some people out of school or with no experience to train so your industry would have a work force in the future; now, all they care about is the present.

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    • #3
      It's one of those vicious cycle things... companies don't have loyalty to their employees, so employees tend to jump ship the moment a better position opens up elsewhere. So rather than training people who will just leave anyway, they want to be the one stealing already trained people. Only if everybody does that, there won't *be* any.

      Plus the whole business about only considering people who are already employed...
      Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

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      • #4
        Quoth Misty View Post
        On Monday I had an interview for an admin position at a veterinary clinic.

        Basically, I interviewed myself; either this woman had no idea how to conduct an interview, or she had made up her mind before the interview even began. Sure enough, I got an email from her saying 'thanks for your time, but we're going with someone with industry experience.'
        Maybe she meant someone with veterinary training. Which (as I understand it) isn't absolutely necessary for admin/front office. I once got the same brushoff for what would have been a nice city gig; turns out (I knew someone in that office) they wanted someone with experience with a particular type of custom system--the only way to get experience with it was to work there.

        It seems that 'industry experience' can mean whatever an employer wants it to mean.
        "I am quite confident that I do exist."
        "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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        • #5
          Sorry to hear that Misty. It has to be the same for all fields, because that's what has been happening to me as well. I only have about a year and a half of experience since I graduated and cannot find a better gig anywhere else. Every employer is looking for 5+ years exp.

          In a lot of places you'll find "older" folks (in their 50s I'd guess) doing jobs that a college grad should do. It's sad to think this is the best they could get with all their experience and education

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          • #6
            At Game Store, for a short period of time, we were forced to interview at least 5 people for each 1 that we hired.

            This practice did not last long, since we would end up interviewing people and would have no non-discriminatory reason for not hiring them. We would literally get sued because we had no reason to choose applicant "x" over applicant "y" based on the interview. I can imagine that it would suck being interviewed by someone who has already decided 3 interviews ago that they have found the right person for the job.

            Instead, we switched to finding all kinds of nitpicky reasons to never interview people. Which is a challenge at a place where over 100 people apply a week, even without a "now hiring" sign up.

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            • #7
              Interview? What's that?

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              • #8
                Quoth Misty View Post
                I am an Administrative Assistant. The job description is identical no matter what the industry is (believe me, I know). BUT in today's job market, employers will hold out until they find someone who has 20 years of experience, knows every computer system that has ever existed, speaks five languages fluently, and craps blueberry muffins every morning.
                And will do all that for minimum wage and no benefits. Yes, I agree, job hunting bites the big one, especially in today's horrible job market.
                I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                My LiveJournal
                A page we can all agree with!

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                • #9
                  Which is why I have been blessed enough to start my own business. Starting Monday, I will run a breakfast stand with a man from my church. Hopefully, it pays the bills.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth Raveni View Post
                    At Game Store, for a short period of time, we were forced to interview at least 5 people for each 1 that we hired.

                    This practice did not last long, since we would end up interviewing people and would have no non-discriminatory reason for not hiring them. We would literally get sued because we had no reason to choose applicant "x" over applicant "y" based on the interview.
                    Why isn't "you were both qualified, but we only had one position to fill" a good enough reason?
                    Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth HYHYBT View Post
                      Why isn't "you were both qualified, but we only had one position to fill" a good enough reason?
                      Because someone will wonder why you chose one candidate and not the other. When HR asks, you've got to have a reason why you didn't hire this person or it sounds even worse.

                      I literally had one person complain that I wouldn't hire them because of their religion, and it was the same as mine.

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                      • #12
                        The title of this thread definitely caught my eye because I recently had a similar experience, Misty ("I've heard of speed dating ..." posted under General Work Chat). Mine was for a minimum-wage job and I frankly wouldn't care if it went *poof* in six weeks because school starts then - yay! - so while I wouldn't call it depressing, it was certainly bizarre.

                        You've definitely hit a string of idiots in your job search. I hope things pick up for you soon.

                        Quoth Barracuda View Post
                        I fully understand what you mean about the job market and employers having ridiculous standards. When they will only hire people with 10 or 15 years specific experience in a niche field, all they do is ensure that no one will be there to take the place of workers when they retire. Companies used to understand you had to hire some people out of school or with no experience to train so your industry would have a work force in the future; now, all they care about is the present.
                        This is dead on. They don't see a "potential" employee, only somebody who doesn't have exactly the specifications they want ... as if the potential employee has to fit exactly like a part for a particular car.

                        Quoth Barracuda View Post
                        Which is why I have been blessed enough to start my own business. Starting Monday, I will run a breakfast stand with a man from my church. Hopefully, it pays the bills.
                        Congratulations, Barracuda, and good luck!

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