Millenials failing job interviews.

[JM Aggie08]

So, if one works in an office then a shirt and tie is mandatory to you? I guess a lot of those in my workplace should be fired, including some right up to the directors and VPs.

Yep, clearly he was suggesting that all companies are the same.

 

[Jeff7]

I just saw an interesting tip elsewhere. Guy was convinced interviews are pointless and he suggesting taking someone out to lunch and making them drive. You learn a shitload about them that way.

I guess.

Some people are so different behind the wheel of a car - and in my experience, it often tends to be tilted toward being crazy when driving.
Even some of the more conservative, calm, collected, responsible people here can be terrifying on the road.

 

[mkrohn]

LOL I dont even carry a phone with my anywhere important and its always on silent. I have google voice screen my calls though too

 

[Harrod]

My company was looking to hire some network analysts right out of college, they went to a career fair at one school and literally couldn't get anyone to give them a resume. This was pretty much a guaranteed job. One guy was dresses in what they referred to as a hipster suit and tie, messed up hair, and greeted them with some kind of trekkie greeting.

 

[Sheep221]

Something quoted from the 1 page of this thread but I couldn't leave this behind

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.

This is why I hate job interviews, quite alot of questions are completely out of anything regarding to job or field you are going to work in. Interviewers and employment agencies mainly are full-time retards, rude, full of themselves, people lacking anything from basic organization to eye-to-eye contact and attention.
Employers requiring way too specific skills and attributes that cannot be learned in previous job, school, at home...nowhere. Also the full crap like what are your strengths and weaknesses etc, why you even ask that shit? If you are looking for a java programmer, you fucking ask this person about java/coding skills not if he is strongly motivated, resistant to stress and other shit you can't verify during interview because they will tell you just what you want to hear regardless of how they really are in this, you want person who is a good java programmer, not someone who is so proactive he will take your job in 5 years or someone who will be workaholic or someone who is full of own self and worth shit on the workplace.
Their performance won't be rated based on their "said" motivation, they either will be working to complete the tasks as required and kept employed or not and will get replaced, that's all, how much the person is motivated inside is something you should not resolve anyhow. Recruiting is something so simple and yet made complex, annoying, hateful experience for most people looking for a job. This is why alot of otherwise confident people are afraid, or annoyed by the said behavior from recruiters and interviewers, no one acts normal these days anymore.
I know this bro, not all employers are like that but looking for job via internet and attending the interviews, is really something I hate from the bottom and I'm working my ass off to not rely on something like that in the future.
I want to establish my own corporation one day and if it will ever gets created and go into business, I will be treating my employees, customers and future employees with different level of respect and will establish specific motivating and training programs within company so my workforce will be in good mental condition, motivated and will want to work for the success not just for themselves but for company and its success as well. Abusive practices towards own employees, as well towards customers and partners, that's all doesn't necessarily need to cut the revenue at some exact while, but it cuts badly on reputation, on life in the company and hurting the success on the long term.
Beside the first 3 points and sometimes meeting rude candidates who take a call during interview, nothing else you said is anyhow good in recruiting new people to work.

 

[ZaneNBK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Sz0o9clVQu8

This comment on the video cracked me up:

Oh btw. Its not that our generation are lazy and dumb. Daily routine is the killer. We r more excited to spend more time outside the cubical and spend more time for ourselves and for loved ones. I trained my boss to except me as who i am. Most importantly work gets done regardless of my behavior. Just a different approach

 

[Kadarin]

My company was looking to hire some network analysts right out of college, they went to a career fair at one school and literally couldn't get anyone to give them a resume. This was pretty much a guaranteed job. One guy was dresses in what they referred to as a hipster suit and tie, messed up hair, and greeted them with some kind of trekkie greeting.

Sad, just sad. Admittedly I'm at a very relaxed workplace, but you really need to have a certain amount of decorum when you're looking to get hired.

 

[sjwaste]

snip

That's because you don't see the big picture, but it's my job as a manager to do so and make sure the parts fit. I hire people who can think, not people who are proficient in one niche skill and want to be left alone to do just that.

You can go ahead and start your own company as you wish. Nothing's stopping you except a few hundred bucks in filing fees, some accounting and the capital to get rolling.

 

[halik]

This comment on the video cracked me up:
Oh btw. Its not that our generation are lazy and dumb. Daily routine is the killer. We r more excited to spend more time outside the cubical and spend more time for ourselves and for loved ones. I trained my boss to except me as who i am. Most importantly work gets done regardless of my behavior. Just a different approach

The person that wrote that is almost certainly retarded.

 

[Chaotic42]

It's bad, man. I just turned 31 and I'm taking the pre-reqs for a Masters in Applied CS. The students don't even hide their phones anymore. They just text, in the front row no less, then ask the professor to repeat what they missed. Only a couple of us can do our assignments properly without having him do the code in class for us (we're doing things like linked lists right now). It's going to be brutal out there. There are maybe 5 people in the class of 25 who I think actually apply themselves, learn what to do, and actually do it.

It's like an Ayn Rand novel.

 

[Sheep221]

That's because you don't see the big picture, but it's my job as a manager to do so and make sure the parts fit. I hire people who can think, not people who are proficient in one niche skill and want to be left alone to do just that.

You can go ahead and start your own company as you wish. Nothing's stopping you except a few hundred bucks in filing fees, some accounting and the capital to get rolling.

I know that I must have some starting capital, and pay some fees, it's not ready to be launched yet.

And how you hire someone who "can think"? Please tell me that because I don't know how those intrusive questions meant to exploit one's personal traits, can find you someone who thinks extraordinary.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Something quoted from the 1 page of this thread but I couldn't leave this behind

This is why I hate job interviews, quite alot of questions are completely out of anything regarding to job or field you are going to work in. Interviewers and employment agencies mainly are full-time retards, rude, full of themselves, people lacking anything from basic organization to eye-to-eye contact and attention.
Employers requiring way too specific skills and attributes that cannot be learned in previous job, school, at home...nowhere. Also the full crap like what are your strengths and weaknesses etc, why you even ask that shit? If you are looking for a java programmer, you fucking ask this person about java/coding skills not if he is strongly motivated, resistant to stress and other shit you can't verify during interview because they will tell you just what you want to hear regardless of how they really are in this, you want person who is a good java programmer, not someone who is so proactive he will take your job in 5 years or someone who will be workaholic or someone who is full of own self and worth shit on the workplace.
Their performance won't be rated based on their "said" motivation, they either will be working to complete the tasks as required and kept employed or not and will get replaced, that's all, how much the person is motivated inside is something you should not resolve anyhow. Recruiting is something so simple and yet made complex, annoying, hateful experience for most people looking for a job. This is why alot of otherwise confident people are afraid, or annoyed by the said behavior from recruiters and interviewers, no one acts normal these days anymore.
I know this bro, not all employers are like that but looking for job via internet and attending the interviews, is really something I hate from the bottom and I'm working my ass off to not rely on something like that in the future.
I want to establish my own corporation one day and if it will ever gets created and go into business, I will be treating my employees, customers and future employees with different level of respect and will establish specific motivating and training programs within company so my workforce will be in good mental condition, motivated and will want to work for the success not just for themselves but for company and its success as well. Abusive practices towards own employees, as well towards customers and partners, that's all doesn't necessarily need to cut the revenue at some exact while, but it cuts badly on reputation, on life in the company and hurting the success on the long term.
Beside the first 3 points and sometimes meeting rude candidates who take a call during interview, nothing else you said is anyhow good in recruiting new people to work.

Questions like "Your strengths and weakness" are stupid. At best the employer gets a feel good response by the applicant delivering a well-crafted stock answer prepared in advance and it still doesn't say anything about the applicant's ability to do the job.

IIRC there was an academic study done back in 80s that concludes interviews were only 2% more effective in getting a better hire than a flip of a coin, and I think that has everything to do with filtering out outright douches, retards and liars than genuine attempts to find out the actual working ability of applicants.

 

[shortylickens]

It's bad, man. I just turned 31 and I'm taking the pre-reqs for a Masters in Applied CS. The students don't even hide their phones anymore. They just text, in the front row no less, then ask the professor to repeat what they missed. Only a couple of us can do our assignments properly without having him do the code in class for us (we're doing things like linked lists right now). It's going to be brutal out there. There are maybe 5 people in the class of 25 who I think actually apply themselves, learn what to do, and actually do it.

It's like an Ayn Rand novel.

34.
I see it all the time. This summer semester is bad. Professors usually yell at students for texting or playing games. This guy just goes over it once and if they miss it, their fault not his.

I see a lot of them set up their phone as a voice recorder and just surf the web on their laptop.

And after 5 weeks there are still the same 3 or 4 people who havent figured out a schedule to get to class on time.

Also, ProTip:
If you are going to be late dont stroll in the door casually with coffee or food. It makes you look like a piece of shit slacker. The best way to be late is to show up sweaty and distraught, looking like it almost killed you to get there and you had to sprint the last quarter mile with coyotes on your ass.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I'm a millenial. Going into an interview, I am SHITTING BRIX. Seriously. I am horribly awkward. I am bad at coming up with stuff on the fly from nervousness.

However going into that interview I am preparing as much as I humanly can.
Spiff up my suit + tie - regardless if they wear casual or not.
Go over common interview questions
Research the firm
Re-read the job description over and over and over and over to the point where I know everything they are asking for on it.
Arive to the location so early I have to sit in the car for 10-15 minutes in order to not be considered insane.

Yes, my generation is a piece of shit. No, there is no hope for them. Everyone thinks that high unemployment is from a bad jobs economy? No, it's from complete morons.

 

[sjwaste]

I know that I must have some starting capital, and pay some fees, it's not ready to be launched yet.

And how you hire someone who "can think"? Please tell me that because I don't know how those intrusive questions meant to exploit one's personal traits, can find you someone who thinks extraordinary.

How? By asking them questions and listening to how they respond. I do a whole lot of listening. It may sound like a benign question about a strength, a project, whatever, but how you walk me through it tells me a lot about how you think, react and communicate.

This may help you as well - I evaluate writing because it's important. At least half of our daily interaction is over email, so I'm not hiring someone who can't write clearly and professionally. I don't need someone to sit there with a style book, but the basics are important.

 

[sjwaste]

I'm a millenial. Going into an interview, I am SHITTING BRIX. Seriously. I am horribly awkward. I am bad at coming up with stuff on the fly from nervousness.

However going into that interview I am preparing as much as I humanly can.
Spiff up my suit + tie - regardless if they wear casual or not.
Go over common interview questions
Research the firm
Re-read the job description over and over and over and over to the point where I know everything they are asking for on it.
Arive to the location so early I have to sit in the car for 10-15 minutes in order to not be considered insane.

Yes, my generation is a piece of shit. No, there is no hope for them. Everyone thinks that high unemployment is from a bad jobs economy? No, it's from complete morons.

Relax. Be confident. That might mean wearing a suit more often than just for a job interview, just so you feel confident and comfortable wearing it.

You have the right idea on the job description, interview questions and all that, but you forgot one important thing. Your resume. Seriously, know it. Anything you write on there is fair game for me to ask about, and if it looks interesting, I'm probably likely to want to talk about it.

Now, have you done a phone screen with HR for this position already? If so, it means you did well enough to move on to the next round and interview in person. That's a big step, so take that as a victory.

I'm not sure what line of work this is, but be ready for the following:

1. Walk me through a past successful project
2. Walk me through a time where you helped resolve conflict that could have impacted a project
3. Tell me about yourself

#3 is the all time worst interview question on the receiving end, but I do use it. It's basically asking you to tell me what's important to and about you. If you're just coming out of college, telling me about how you became interested in your field of study, how it applies to the job/company and how it led you to this conversation are some good bullet points.

All I really want to know is that -

1. You can think critically about what I'm asking
2. You can communicate succinctly on the topic
3. You are capable of actually answering my damn question
4. That you are driven, enthusiastic and motivated to do whatever it is I'm interviewing you to do
5. That you have some sort of personality, preferably one that fits well with your potential coworkers

Obviously, the higher level or more specialized the position, the more we might get into the weeds on specifics. I don't think that applies to you yet.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Relax. Be confident. That might mean wearing a suit more often than just for a job interview, just so you feel confident and comfortable wearing it.

<snip>

1. You can think critically about what I'm asking
2. You can communicate succinctly on the topic
3. You are capable of actually answering my damn question
4. That you are driven, enthusiastic and motivated to do whatever it is I'm interviewing you to do
5. That you have some sort of personality, preferably one that fits well with your potential coworkers

Obviously, the higher level or more specialized the position, the more we might get into the weeds on specifics. I don't think that applies to you yet.

Oh you misunderstand. As much as I sweat and worry - I've somehow manage to do just fine in my career life Thanks for the tips, but hopefully my work experience will shout louder for me going forward.

I was comparing myself to other millenials, as our retarded nation wonders "WHY are kids fresh out of college at a 12% unemployment?!"

 

[mmntech]

We've been trying to hire an on-call presenter since our previous one left to pursue a movie career (LOL). Problem is we can't find people who are available between 5am and 9pm any day of the week. Most just expect evenings and weekends.

Mind you I do understand where they're coming from. On call doesn't put food on the table. Unfortunately, that's the reality for a lot of fresh grads. Underemployment is a bigger problem than unemployment. A lot of jobs being offered now are either part time, short term contract, or on-call. So you have to get a second job to fill in the gaps.

I also don't think schools really teach kids how to handle a job interview. It's a lot harder today than it was say 10 years ago. Instead of competing with 5 or 10 others, you're up against 100 or more with similar qualifications. So there's a lot of pressure to wow the interviewer. There's a lot of millennial in my department, myself included. For the most part, they work just as hard as everyone else. There's only a couple I've ever had to crack the whip on. "Come on, get off the phone, time to update the videos". Though put them in a time sensitive environment (on TV) and they're fine.

 

[Black Octagon]

34.
I see it all the time. This summer semester is bad. Professors usually yell at students for texting or playing games. This guy just goes over it once and if they miss it, their fault not his.

I see a lot of them set up their phone as a voice recorder and just surf the web on their laptop.

And after 5 weeks there are still the same 3 or 4 people who havent figured out a schedule to get to class on time. .

Wow, I'm really glad that smart phones hadn't yet taken off when I was still in uni 10 years ago.

Professors should probably become even more strict and flush out all the dead weight. Universities could once again become places where only an elite few attend, to nurture their abilities via collaboration with other highly intelligent and disciplined beings.

Oh wait, universities are run like businesses these days and need students as cash cows

We're screwed.

 

[Saint Nick]

This comment on the video cracked me up:

Why does that crack you up? Is that not the truth?

 

[ZaneNBK]

Why does that crack you up? Is that not the truth?

The truth is frequently hilarious.