Millenials failing job interviews.

[Hugo Drax]

Why some job candidates flunked their interviews:
• Taking calls and texting. A male graduate student seeking a managerial position in Avery Dennison's research and development unit took a call on his smartphone about 15 minutes into the interview. The call, which lasted about a minute and wasn't an emergency, ruined his near-certain chance for a job offer, Singel says.
"If he thought that was OK, what else does he think is appropriate?" he says.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/100684583


Helicopter parents swooping in, poor socialization and more. I wonder how common this is.

 

[theevilsharpie]

No generation prior to the Millenials has ever had a poor job interview. This is completely unprecedented and totally newsworthy.

 

[Leros]

Had a guy interview at my company for a software developer position. He was a total douche and referred to himself as a "bro-grammer". He got a phone call in the middle of an interview, pulled his phone out, looked at us sorta confused like he was considering asking us if it was ok, then walked out the room without saying a word to have a 5 minute phone call. It was rather odd. He was really smart and we probably would have made him an offer if he had a better attitude.

 

[Smartazz]

This is unthinkable, I don't know anyone that would do this. If you're too dumb not to know this then you seriously don't deserve a job. I guess it's good for those of us that can interview half decently.

 

[Slew Foot]

I hire a lot of doctors, even the older ones can do and say stupid shit. Like, "Just ignore that conviction for child porn I have on my record, that was years ago."

 

[zCypher]

lol wtf.

 

[bigpimpatl]

what would possess someone to bring a freaking cat to an interview....total wtf

 

[Fingolfin269]

Helicoptering parents. A man in his late 20s brought his father into a 45-minute interview for a material-handling job on an assembly line, says Teri Nichols, owner of a Spherion staffing-agency in Brooksville, Fla. At Cigna, a health insurance provider, the father of a recent grad who received an offer for a sales job, called to negotiate a higher salary, says Paula Welch, a Cigna HR consultant.

Why am I not surprised...

 

[shortylickens]

I'm not a millennial.
I dont do anything stupid in interviews.
Havent had a job in 5 years.

 

[Anubis]

my boss takes personal phonecalls in the middle of our meetings

i honestly want to kill him when he does this

 

[1sikbITCH]

I'm not a millennial.
I dont do anything stupid in interviews.
Havent had a job in 5 years.

Abstinence is the key!

 

[Triumph]

I'm 34 and don't consider myself a millenial. I feel quite different than the people graduating college today. Why in my day, we only had 1 ethernet port per dorm room, let alone having 4G cell phones!

 

[sourceninja]

I've had candidates show up dressed in t-shirts (knowing before hand we were business casual attire) with neck beards.

If you can't be bothered to put on a shirt and tie and trim your beard you don't need a office job.

 

[shortylickens]

my boss takes personal phonecalls in the middle of our meetings

i honestly want to kill him when he does this

Boss's privilege.
He still doesnt wanna see that from a potential employee during an interview.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm 34 and don't consider myself a millenial.

Thats because you're not.
You are GenX with me.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I am involved in the hiring and selection process of three different positions in my office at the moment. I swear, for many of them I wish I could go into the interview coaching business or something.

People just don't get the basics!!!

This actually applies to young and old, Americans and non-Americans.

1. Read the job description and re-read it again.
2. Read the employer's website, backwards and forwards. KNOW their mission!
3. Relate point #1 to how it fits within point #2.
4. Do some additional research into current events about the employer's industry. Know some competitors. Get an idea for what the challenges and opportunities are.
5. Learn to sell yourself!!! Let your "selling points" as related to #1 be your stepping stones throughout the interview.
6. For God's sake don't self-deprecate. The competition is stiff enough without you having to fight yourself.
7. Part of marketing yourself does have something to do with eye contact, posture, and tone of voice!
8. Take notes damn it. What I say as the interviewer is important enough for you to note!
9. Be ready for the standard questions: What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in five years? Describe a specific challenge or opportunity when you had to...
10. Be ready for the non-standard questions too. Be prepared to be calm and think on your feet.

 

[shortylickens]

11. ASK questions!
it makes you look interested.

 

[Tweak155]

11. ASK questions!
it makes you look interested.

Or, you know, be interested!

 

[kranky]

Those anecdotes are astounding. What I see more often than blatantly poor social skills is a complete lack of preparation for the interview. Do people not know what the point of the interview is? You have to sell me that you are potentially the right person for the job! A job that YOU applied for and indicated that YOU wanted.

So why do they show up for the interview and communicate like a Neanderthal? Speak in sentences. Enunciate your words. Have a clue what the company does. There are times I listen to candidates and think if they had spent even ten minutes researching the company they would have done so much better.

It's a competition and frankly the bar isn't set that high to stand out. Are you looking for an entry-level, foot-in-the-door type job? Your resume and schoolwork is going to be 90% similar to every other candidate. Find a reason to differentiate yourself. Show a little passion. I can't fathom why candidates spend no effort to prepare or try to engage during the interview. Maybe they are so afraid of saying the wrong thing they try to say as little as possible.

I once brought in a co-op engineering student who had by far the worst GPA of any co-op who applied, but the guy was interested and had enthusiasm, and when I asked how he could perform better than the other dozen candidates who had better grades, he had an answer.

 

[shortylickens]

Or, you know, be interested!

No one will ever know whats going on in your head unless you show it, outside.

 

[vi edit]

8. Take notes damn it. What I say as the interviewer is important enough for you to note!

Just have a problem with that one. I've never been a note taker. If I'm paying attention to a converstation I'm going to remember that conversation. Notes are for addresses, phone numbers, ect. The more I write, the less I'm paying attention to you. But otherwise, good, if not totally common sense list. Sadly common sense seems to be in rare supply these days.

 

[waggy]

Boss's privilege.
He still doesnt wanna see that from a potential employee during an interview.

that's bullshit.

I have worked as manager and with some high level people. NOT one would take a phone call in a meeting (unless a emergency dealing personal or business).

just because you can be rude does not mean you should or can.

 

[shortylickens]

that's bullshit.

I have worked as manager and with some high level people. NOT one would take a phone call in a meeting (unless a emergency dealing personal or business).

just because you can be rude does not mean you should or can.

I agree thats how it SHOULD be, but lots of bosses are less than perfect.

 

[Zargon]

Thats because you're not.
You are GenX with me.

word.

31, 32 in September, I am not a millenial. Non POS digital cell networks came out while I was in college, and texting was not a thing right away either



I do some interviewing and I see horrid shit from all ages



50 year olds that are 100% totally unprepared for an interview, as seemingly lied their ass off on their resume to get in the door and then cant answer simple questions about the what would be day to day job duties


or you have the moron that knows the person he is replacing(who took a job elsewhere) on the panel and then goes on to say how shitty of a job was done on some of the projects and that you are looking forward to fixing all those mistakes, that was classic(also in his 50's)



or tell us how agile you are at learning technologies, then the answer to every questions is "well I am not familiar with that language program etc, but I know this one, so I would migrate it to that'


interviews are great for killing any hope you had in mankind

 

[HamburgerBoy]

I remember in a senior seminar (chemistry/biochemistry) class last year, one student got an interview for medical school. She said that she thought it was bullshit as they asked her "weird science questions" that she was clueless about, and that she wasn't prepared because she thought the purpose of interviews was just to make sure that the interviewee "isn't a creep". Pretty hard to contain my laughter.