Millenials failing job interviews.

[IndyColtsFan]

Fortunately, I found that I had posted a story here a few years ago about the worst interview I had every participated in as an interviewer. It wasn't as hilarious as the new version I typed up a few minutes ago and was lost when the server crapped out, but here you go:

"Now, with that being said, I've interviewed a ton of "experienced" candidates for positions in my day. Some of them were just frightening. One lady was so bad that they STILL refer to her BY NAME at my last company, and we interviewed her probably 10 years ago! We were interviewing for a help desk position, IIRC. For all IT positions (programmer, systems engineer, help desk, etc), we gave the candidate an assessment test along with an interview with technical questions or scenario-based questions.


This girl was incredibly bad. She was a referral from an employee, so we had to interview her, but her resume didn't look bad so we thought "what the hell." She couldn't answer any of our questions. One question I asked was "Let's say Jane Doe from accounting calls and says she can't print to the network printer. What would you do to troubleshoot?" Her answer? "I'd call the network admin." WTF? We poked and prodded and tried to get her to provide detail on what she would do, but even if she did manage to give us something she'd try, step 2 was always "Call the network admin." She answered that for several questions. We also asked her what her career goals were. She said: "I am working on an A+ certification." We said "Good, do you have any plans to look into Microsoft certifications?" She looked at us like we were speaking a foreign language and said "No." No qualifiers, no explanations, just "No."


Because of her, we instituted mandatory phone screens for ALL candidates before bringing them in for interviews. "

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I don't usually ask many questions. If something comes to mind when they're telling me about the work, the area, or the company, I'll ask, but by the end, I'm probably quite satisfied with what I've garnered. So, I normally don't have anything when they say, "Do you have any questions?" Although, I should probably make a list sometime of some of the more fringe benefits that aren't normally mentioned. For example... whether they have any discounts on cellular plans -- can't beat an extra $10-20 off a month.

You should always ask questions. On some interviews, I came prepared with a list of questions I prepared the night before. In others, I just ask standard questions (department size, reporting structure, etc) and I'll typically ask questions about topics they covered in the interview. Don't be afraid to take notes! One question you should ALWAYS ask an interviewer, in my opinion, is the challenges his/her area faces. That will give you insight into their issues and possibly what their departmental roadmap is for the next 6 to 12 months.

In my interview yesterday, I turned the tables and asked the interviewer some of his own interview questions as well. I think that's when I used my "interviews are two-way streets" remark. I think he enjoyed that.

 

[xeemzor]

You should always ask questions. On some interviews, I came prepared with a list of questions I prepared the night before. In others, I just ask standard questions (department size, reporting structure, etc) and I'll typically ask questions about topics they covered in the interview. Don't be afraid to take notes! One question you should ALWAYS ask an interviewer, in my opinion, is the challenges his/her area faces. That will give you insight into their issues and possibly what their departmental roadmap is for the next 6 to 12 months.

In my interview yesterday, I turned the tables and asked the interviewer some of his own interview questions as well. I think that's when I used my "interviews are two-way streets" remark. I think he enjoyed that.

It also shows confidence. As an interviewer you don't really want to hire someone who is scared of his own shadow or avoids questions. You want want to hire someone who is confident enough to work independantly and ask questions as needed. It's a lot harder to do this right out of college as you really don't have the skills or experiance to negotiate most of the time but it's still important.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

It also shows confidence. As an interviewer you don't really want to hire someone who is scared of his own shadow or avoids questions. You want want to hire someone who is confident enough to work independantly and ask questions as needed. It's a lot harder to do this right out of college as you really don't have the skills or experiance to negotiate most of the time but it's still important.

That's correct. I generally cite public speaking as a weakness that I am working on (even though I am pretty good at it), and the hiring manager interviewing me yesterday expressed surprise and commented at how incredibly confident and well spoken I seemed.

Asking questions shows confidence and it also shows you have interest in the position. Remember folks, interviews ARE a two-way street and you need to remember that YOU are interviewing the interviewers as much as they are interviewing you. During my interview question portion, I said to the interviewer: "Ok, now I am going to turn the tables on you a little bit and ask you a question you asked me earlier regarding technology implementation." Sometimes you need to be this direct as it does show confidence and he seemed to appreciate it as judged by the fact he told me they were definitely bringing me back for a final round interview.

 

[halik]

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.

wtf is a millennial?

 

[child of wonder]

That's correct. I generally cite public speaking as a weakness that I am working on (even though I am pretty good at it), and the hiring manager interviewing me yesterday expressed surprise and commented at how incredibly confident and well spoken I seemed.

Asking questions shows confidence and it also shows you have interest in the position. Remember folks, interviews ARE a two-way street and you need to remember that YOU are interviewing the interviewers as much as they are interviewing you. During my interview question portion, I said to the interviewer: "Ok, now I am going to turn the tables on you a little bit and ask you a question you asked me earlier regarding technology implementation." Sometimes you need to be this direct as it does show confidence and he seemed to appreciate it as judged by the fact he told me they were definitely bringing me back for a final round interview.

Excellent advice.

Often people approach interviews with an Oliver Twist mentality: "Please, sir. May I have a job?" They should approach them with the following in mind: "Why should I work here? What does this company have to offer me? Will I feel challenged here? Can I succeed at this company and in this environment?"

That kind of confidence and attitude is noticeable and gets people hired.

 

[Jimzz]

my boss takes personal phonecalls in the middle of our meetings

i honestly want to kill him when he does this

Find out his phone number and call him during the next meeting. :sneaky:

 

[Mixolydian]

Yep, let's generalize an entire generation. Not only is it accurate, it's productive.

 

[Mixolydian]

wtf is a millennial?

Same as Generation Y. (born between ~1980-2000ish)

 

[MaxPayne63]

It's surprising to me that there are so few interviewees asking questions.

I always make it a point to give them a chance to ask some questions. It's sort of surprising that this isn't more common since I think you can tell a lot more about a person's thought process by how intelligent their questions and followups are. It's certainly a lot better than the same stuff that every employer has to ask and every employee can prepare for.

 

[Kaido]

Most worthless article I've ever seen.

Plus, I guarantee this stuff happened with older generations too, there just wasn't twitter to spread the news of weird interviews quickly across the country.

Yeah, I think it's nothing really new. New toys, maybe, like cell phones, but I bet people still did stupid stuff years prior.

I was always so nervous going to interviews - I'd usually dress up in a suit & tie (Timberlake shoutout), have extra copies of my resume just in case, get there pretty early so I wouldn't risk being late, etc. Now that I've had a chance to see how hiring works on the flip side for a few years, I can see that it was almost like shooting fish in a barrel...we have people all the time come in super late, come in the wrong day, come in at random times and demand the HR person's time, not have a resume, not fill out the application form completely, have no idea what the company does, etc. It's utterly unbelievable at times - that's just the light stuff I've seen, the common stuff you'd do to show respect to your potential employer.

And it's the little things that tip you off right away - like, HR understands when you can't make it, but you need to call them and reschedule. Missing your appointment, with no contact, and then showing up 2 days later and pestering the receptionist for an interview is almost like a slap in the face to the hiring person, in terms of wasting their time. They've missed an opportunity to interview someone else and you've missed your chance to get hired.

I think they should really teach this stuff in school, i.e. "life preparedness". It should be required in high school - how to make a budget, how to go shopping, how to prepare for a real job interview. When I moved out from home for the first time, I had no idea how to balance my budget vs. say food shopping...I blew my month's budget on food for a week's worth of food simply because I had never done it before and didn't know how to do it properly.

 

[Drako]

Wearing Jeans and a Dress shirt to the interview thinking its okay.


hahahaha

I've worn jeans and a tee shirt to interviews, and have gotten jobs. Then again, I'm and Engineer working in Silicon Valley.

 

[KlokWyze]

Abstinence is the key!

lol

 

[Vdubchaos]

Most worthless article I've ever seen.

Plus, I guarantee this stuff happened with older generations too, there just wasn't twitter to spread the news of weird interviews quickly across the country.

Of course it does and has been happening for decades. Every generation has it's idiots.

I remember back in the 90s we had a guy come in for an interview with a sweater. We kept him around for a while just for laughs and made him think he might actually get a job.

 

[KlokWyze]

I've worn jeans and a tee shirt to interviews, and have gotten jobs. Then again, I'm and Engineer working in Silicon Valley.

:thumbsup:

Impressing people goes well beyond wearing nice clothes. People have cared less and less what people wear and look like (minus being unhygenic or crazy clothes) for years now. Nerds get full sleeve tattoos and shit. It's all about work experience, skills and personality.

 

[CPA]

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.

11. Make sure to ask relevant questions about the company and position.

 

[Drako]

:thumbsup:

Impressing people goes well beyond wearing nice clothes. People have cared less and less what people wear and look like (minus being unhygenic or crazy clothes) for years now. Nerds get full sleeve tattoos and shit. It's all about work experience, skills and personality.

Yep, it's a bit different for highly skilled technical people in SV.

I interviewed a barefoot guy once - the guy looked like a bridge troll. D: We did hire him - he was a very good UNIX Sysadmin.

 

[Slew Foot]

i was wearing a t shirt and boxers in the locker room when i got recruited for my current job.

 

[purbeast0]

At my current position I interviewed with 5 people. The last one was the CEO. He asked me flat out "what is your destiny?" It totally caught me off guard and I asked him if he meant career wise or personal wise. He told me to answer it as I feel fit, so I did.

Then after that he told me to ask him anything about him, and we ended up talking about cars and golf for like 15 minutes.

Had an offer the next day.

 

[crabbyman]

if you are just out of college and had like 1 or 2 summer jobs in HS im not supprised that people have poor interview skills. its not like college teaches them. they did not when i was in school

I am a terrible interviewer. Call me a nerd but I am taking notes from this thread for future reference.

For my current position my admin said I am terrible at selling myself but knew my work ethic and style from talking with my coworkers and boss (position in same building) and hired me over someone else just knowing what to expect from me.

Now I had an interview a few years back with another entity where I botched it. I could not sell myself.

I am a shy person until I get to know you. If I were interviewing with people I knew personally (or at least worked with) for a while, I could probably sell myself better. I have always been the thinker and doer behind the scenes (the workhorse) and not the extravert (or the mouth) of work groups.

 

[Aikouka]

Same as Generation Y. (born between ~1980-2000ish)

Eh, I would say that the people in question were probably born starting at about 1990 or maybe as far back as 1988. I take the term to mean that they spent their formative years during the new millennium. I was born in 1984, but I grew up during the 90s.

You should always ask questions. On some interviews, I came prepared with a list of questions I prepared the night before. In others, I just ask standard questions (department size, reporting structure, etc) and I'll typically ask questions about topics they covered in the interview.

I've always found that good interviewers also tend to cover a lot of the things that I might want to ask them. For example, depending on where you work, you might want to inquire about recent budget constraints and how that would affect you. Well, in my experience, interviewers have been rather forthcoming with that information, and I haven't had any reason to ask.

I find that I usually dazzle them enough with my answers. One guy asked me that usual, "Where do you see yourself in five years?", and I answered rather calmly, "Working here." He just laughed, and I'm glad because I hate that question! :| Of course, I didn't get that job because I knew one of the other guys going for it, and he was more qualified than me. Although, that guy passed my resume to someone else, and that's how I am where I am now!

...and ask questions as needed.

By not asking questions when I really don't have any, aren't I just demonstrating this?

 

[Zargon]

That's correct. I generally cite public speaking as a weakness that I am working on (even though I am pretty good at it), and the hiring manager interviewing me yesterday expressed surprise and commented at how incredibly confident and well spoken I seemed.

I always get comments about how confident I sound at intervies, but all I really want to do is puke in the trash can in the corner while I am sitting there

 

[clamum]

I was born in '83, please don't lump me in with Millennial retards answering their phone or texting during an interview.

 

[Hacp]

Always been bad at interviews. I don't like selling myself. I guess you can say that the generation before the millennials are expert salesmen. I avoid salesmen at all costs and can always tell when someone is trying to sell me something. I know what I want, I don't need some idiot trying to tell me what I want.

 

[piasabird]

It is really silly when you go to an interview and they expect every computer technical candidate to know every possible programming language and interface that the company is involved in. It is just unrealistic. They think every employee should come with years of experience in every miniscule technology they are using. That does not happen in the real world unless the person changes jobs every time he finds another job making more money. Do they really want someone who will leave as soon as they find a better job? Sometimes there is an advantage to hiring a person right out of college. They havent learned all the wrong things yet.