Golem Technologies: I will be very honest with you in this post. Most interview articles only show obvious mistakes, as if most people don’t know showing up late is bad form. I will tell you the things I didn’t really know about until I was the one interviewing, and interviewing for a variety of positions and person-types. No interview prep article ever prepared me in the right way for how interviewers really think. That is what I will be sharing with you today.
When you first walk in to my office, I am expecting you to be one of the 99%+ people who I know I won’t hire in the first 5 minutes. I am hoping I will be proven wrong, because I really want to hire you and be done interviewing. Unfortunately, most people looking for jobs don’t deserve them. Here are the most common ways I know you don’t deserve any job I have to offer.
7 comments:
Yes, this article is extremely negative, but it is also very truthful. I, personally, love to hear what those doing the hiring really want to see or hear. Most of this is common sense if you really think about it. Of course you should have a solid reason as to why you're applying for this specific job. Of course your resume shouldn't be a novel. The lovely author of this article simply told it like it is and I commend them for it.
I don't know if I believe this article is truly as inherently wrong as the people commenting on it are led to believe it is. Although it may be harsh, it must be realized that this is a real employer who is hiring people and may be representative of a pool much larger than only himself. And no, these people will not hire you if you have certain attributes they don't desire. That's the way it works - this article could even be valuable. There is a certain amount of skill in impressing a potential employer, twisting words to sound positive and interesting while still being truthful. And it's important, even if you don't believe it's right.
It's great to see an article of this nature going into some specific areas instead of just repeating the same advice (don't show up late, firm handshake, etc).
These points might not be universally truer for all interviewers, but it at least gives someone like me (who really has no interview experience other than college admissions) an idea of how someone interviewing me might approach the situation. Obviously, this writer picks their team very thoughtfully. A different company might not put as much consideration into picking their employees. Each company has different needs, and that's fair.
What I can take out of this post (besides some great, cut-the-bullshit, interviewing tips), is that if an interviewer doesn't think you're right for them, that company might not be right for you. If you think that this writer is supremely rude, then you probably wouldn't enjoy working for them, despite how much you needs the job.
I'm surprised by how many negative comments the post got, not only on the original blog but also on Hacker News.
Thank you, Mr. Golem man, for actually giving us some insight into the failures of interviewees because, let's face it, if almost every other article I've ever read is unquestionably true, then I'm sure there would be more successful job interviews and interviewees out there. His tips did echo more pc versions I've read on lifehacker and other websites, but he answered questions that I had that literally NO WHERE on the internet seems to address, such as: What happens if I'm not the most qualified candidate? do you actually care more about education or experience? and of course, how do I not piss you off? All these things seem like perfectly reasonable things to want to know, and I personally think that the negative commenters need to grow a thicker skin.
The five bullet points at the end of the article are concise and well justified, but it really depends. I appreciate the writing style of the article and its facts, but for people looking for less-than-senior positions, like we college students, I think that passion about the work and excitement to be working there go a lot further than having a particular skill set, particularly in theatre where we often need to learn new skills for each project. Passion doesn't take you that far without the intelligence to figure things out and to learn on the job; getting things done and skills come from the experience that you earn with passion and intelligence.
I really appreciate the portion of the article that discusses how to "win" the interview. I feel like their are some extremely helpful insights into how to approach topics when you discuss them in an interview. I also feel like their are, naturally, a few exceptions. I feel like in a sense you can be bored of your current work if you are ready for new challenges and to grow as a person. I guess that coincides with the employer being apart of your vision and future. In addition I feel that a lot of his complaints have been covered in various classes so far even as a first year student... so I am very grateful that we are not only being exposed these issues but being taught how to avoid them altogether
I love how blunt this author is. Everything he mentions has a lot of truth to back it up, and there really is no better place to get this information than from someone who is the one doing the interviewing. I find that asking why you like your current job is a unique approach to finding out more about the candidate for the job and wouldn't have considered that to be a relevant question until he explained it. I can't imagine that someone applying for a job wouldn't have a vision, because then why would they be applying for a job in the first place? This information and perspective is extremely useful and beneficiary to anyone applying for a job.
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