Interview #6

I was going to call this job dude for a status report today. I'm glad I did not as he sent me an email of his own volition telling me he would call me to discuss "next step." Not "steps," but "step."

Uh, OK. How many steps do we need to have here? It was easier for Alito to get a seat on the bench.

I am perilously close to losing interest in this place. It just seems to me that so many employers are so mired in process that they lose sight of the objective.

The funny thing is, I have interviewed with the three people I would report to and:

The one I would report to primarily seems concerned that I am over-qualified,

while the one I would report to least seems concerned that I an under-qualified,

yet the one I would report to occasionally is the only one who seems secure that I am simply perfectly qualified.

Anyway when I met with the person who thinks I am under-qual, he just came out of the gate and ambushed me. I was very surprised but held my own, remained calm and did not get snotty in the least. The conversation went something like this:

Me: I work well with limited supervision.

Under Qual: Limited supervision? Do you mean that you like to work alone and are not a team-player?

Me: No. I mean I am seasoned and realize how busy everyone is and if I need something from you I will not sit around and wait for you to call me but will "manage-up" and call you.

UQ: Oh. Good. We've had some people here who just lock themselves up and work alone.


UQ: Are you serious about working here? I want to make sure you're not just fooling around here.

Me: This is my fifth interview. I would make better use of my time if I was not serious.

UQ: You say your business unit was the top producer and carried the company and then the office closed? There's a disconnect there. What happened?

Me: We had dot-com clients. There was a boom and a then a bust. We had two round of layoffs then ultimately an economic decision was made to close the office. It made more sense than the expense of moving to a smaller space and operating with a skeleton staff. I was invited to move to HQ but did not want to relocate. You can speak to the CEO if you wish.

(This exchange in particular was fascinating. It was as if he had no idea what went on economically in this country from 2000-2004. Who today could be so sheltered?)

Overall, that interview exhausted me. It was like boxing. Maybe he is just an aggressor and likes to see if he can tip people over. Maybe there is more back office politicking than I am aware of. Maybe he had a bad day. But ultimately, it amazes me that someone would be so hostile.

People do not know how to interview. I am constantly amazed by friends who tell me that potential employers did things like showed the desks where they would be working and discussed what their annual bonus would be as it was September and they would not qualify for the whole thing.

Then they never heard from these people again.

As I have said time and again, HR people suck and instead of sending out memos about diversity training and the location of the annual picnic and complicated packages regarding changes in the health plan, they should pull back and begin giving training sessions on how to interview people.

Anyway, I still have high hopes for this job. We’ll see…