10/08 - the work JD

Good night… :-)

None of them except one girl (which I subsequently hired)

i hate when ur getting interviewed and the person interviewing you never cracks a smile or doesn’t change facial expressions. they just sit there staring at you or i had one interview where there was 4 ppl interviewing me and all they did was right notes, so i was talking to a group of ppl that wouldn’t even make eye contact.

you don’t know who you should look at. So you end up looking crazy trying to look at them for similar amounts of time.

one was a breeze, the second was disaster. I went unprepared and got annihilated by 3 guys asking technical questions (which I should have known anyway). It served as a good wake-up call and for the third i did my homework and went ok.

On a side note, yesterday i watched “El secreto de sus ojos” (The Secret in Their Eyes, for you non-Mexican speaking yahoos). Best film of the year so far. FFA, do yourself a favor and go check it out.

sheed got his first technical as a C…. in a preseason game lol. He is going to have some fun with the new refs.

Blake and Outlaw for Conley and Hunter. Just throwing it out there….

Only good girls from now on…I promise.

good night everyone

• Being prepared really is something that is fairly easy to see and hard to fake. I can tell if someone has at least looked at the website – or talked to someone working at the company. Writing out 1 or 2 pages with key facts about the company or organization helps, even if you can’t use your notes in the interview, like for a test. Have some idea about what the company does, where it might have problems or advantages, have a “ballpark” idea about it’s financial statements, look in the paper or website for news. If the CEO recently changed, it might help to know that.
• I’m not a very punctual person and don’t think productivity gets measured in hours sitting on your butt behind your desk – except for occasions like this. It’s wasting the time of everyone and throwing off the timetable for the day for the interviewer to be late, and very likely to not get you the job.
• The physical space where you sit is less important for organizational culture than most people think. Still it’s not a bad question to ask to see if the company has put any thought into you already. I know someone who got lead into a back-office where they had lockers, the interviewer ripped off a name tag from the previous person, and said that’s where he could store his stuff, and that he would be on the road a lot anyway. Top 5 accounting company. Not much into the people business.
• Honestly I don’t really care sometimes if I’m not qualified for a job. Trying doesn’t cost me much, and as a wise man once said “the safest way to never get something is to never try to get it or ask for it”. Same with companies. It’s hard to find the courage, but can be really worth it. I have a few dream companies and jobs I have yet to apply for. But I did already get a few jobs that in hindsight I was woefully unprepared for yet that were awesome. You learn quickly on the job.

Anecdotes:

• Someone interviewed with me wearing a Looney Tunes tie. I couldn’t focus on anything else. I wasn’t with Warner Brother’s at the time, the only place where this might have been fitting.
• I get annoyed when people start reading my resume while I’m already sitting across from them and about never look up. Preparation goes both ways to some extent.
• I once didn’t get a job with a consulting company because between a long series of interviews I had picked up some of their research reports, and told somebody while I found them very interesting, no manager in my previous very big company that was one of their clients read any consulting reports except maybe Gartner and McKinsey quarterly. They found that insulting, like I didn’t value their precious research. If they can’t handle the truth…
• You have to make a good impression to everyone you meet while doing interviews. Clever companies don’t just decide based on the opinion of one person doing the interview. They might even ask the receptionists for their opinion…
• “My biggest weakness – I’m a perfectionist”. Next!
• However I found it doesn’t hurt to say that you will work hard, especially if you can back that up by explaining how you prepare for the week, have stories, etc. Surprisingly few people say that. Or that they are willing to travel, which is a must for a number of positions – and while sometimes tedious often a lot more fun than being stuck all the time at your desk.
• I don’t have a very high opinion of assessment centers, especially cookie-cutter versions that aren’t adapted to a specific company.
• At a pitch for a marketing account, two people from rival firms who hated each other started throwing fists. Was a scene like out of Entourage.
• Someone brought his mother. True story.

I interviewed for a job with the main guy I’d be working with and a little with the head boss lady. They axed me to bring in some of the proposals I wrote at my last job and they wanted me to meet someone else the next day.

I came in the next day and figured I had the job, then the head boss lady asked what I would do if a volunteer talked stink about the main guy I’d be working with and said she didn’t want to work with him. I said I’d go to the head boss lady, and then she said, “What if I wasn’t there?” So I said, I’d ask another coworker, and the head boss lady threw me another curve. She backed me into a corner and by the time she was done, what I tried to accomplish in the exercise was all messed up and something I would never do. Then she said, “I want to know why you threw your coworker under the bus and didn’t go to him first?”

The coworker dude walked me out and we talked for another 10 minutes and he pretty much told me it was my job to lose and they’d get back to me the next day. They didn’t call for a week so I got their logo off the internet and wrote them a self addressed stamped envelope to me with a rejection letter I wrote to me, with a sticky that said, “sign here” at the bottom. Two days later I got a real rejection letter from them via priority mail and never heard from them again.

I saw the coworker dude at a bar about 3 weeks later and I kept making eye contact with him so that he’d look away and I kept it up until he left the bar.

O Oden my Oden! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Oden foes lie,
Fallen cold and dead.

Weren’t you hiring your replacement.
Whatcha doing now.

Whatever

Phillies try to rip a 12 year old girl off by giving her an autographed ball instead of a home run ball she caught.

Stay classy, Phillies

Of course still full of stereotypes about the Asian mobs Yanagawa and Yakuza.

AND I THINK IT"S OUR DUTY TODAY TO FIND TRAVIS OUTLAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

when are we going to do another Around the Horn? It’s been like two Kentucky Derbies since we did one.

a) hates kicks pics
b) loves kicks pics
c) is indifferent

The Mountain Goats – No Children

yuk….I hate being sick

A shocking video has been made for pupils in an attempt to stop car crashes caused by the driver texting while driving.

Only about 20% of candidates can pass the basics of being considered a quality applicant: on-time, dressed appropriately, and able to speak about the company and their ability to contribute, even if only in the vaguest generalities.

Some favorite gaffes:

-The lady who spent 10 minutes talking about her latest felony conviction, none of which were disclosed on the application paperwork.

-At the start of an interview, the guy who asked how long it would take because his girlfriend and kids were waiting for him out in the car. I kept it very short for him.

-The guy who kept calling the company by the wrong name.

-The gum-chewing, tongue-studded, inappropriately-dressed cretin who doesn’t really want a job, but is clearly going through the motions because of pressure from mommy/boyfriend/unemployment office/roommate/whoever.

-The guy who is trying to analyze when and where the pre-employment drug screen is going to happen. I can actually see him doing the bong-math in his head to determine the odds of passing it.

-Like Norsk said, people who answer the “your biggest weakness” question with obvious lies: I am a perfectionist, workaholic, etc.

Seriously, only about 20% of applicants are worth pursuing further. I hope this post passes Marvin100’s strict standards of spelling and punctuality.

Have you ever flagged a comment because you thought it was so great that Ben & Dave just had to read it?

Great topic, great quiz, great OP, and best hidden message ever = WIN! (note: that’s WIN factorial, not WIN exclamation point)

I’ll share some of my favorite interview stories later on when I’m not so busy working!

He jumps over a Blazer wearing #52 and the dude doesn’t look like Oden.

when they have no bearing on the job to be performed.

Case in point: My daughter (21…..senior in college) took time off from her regular job this summer to spend much of the summer in an Art and Architecture program in Europe. She’s studying to be an interior designer. Her regular job is a salesperson at a high end furniture store. When she got back from her trip, there were fewer hours available at her company……the economic slowdown had resulted in a cut of hours for all sales people.

So, needing to continue to bring in some $, she applied for a job as a baritsa at a local coffee shop. She has previously been a barista several years prior. She’s qualified….and is a very good people person.

She calls the coffe shop, speaks with the owner….fills out an application. He calls her on a Saturday evening, and conducts a 45 minute interview over the phone. He then emails her a link to a pre-employment questionaire…..which has over 200 questions, often about topics totally unrelated what her job would be. Many of the questions are true/false…..but the appropriate response would be much more nuanced. Some involve financial issues….others are about the process of management. Keep in mind this is to serve coffee in a college town coffee shop.

In teh following week, her current boss calls her in and says he’s going to increase her hours back to what they were. Since this is a job that pays above the minimum, with decent commissions, she gladly accepts.

The same day she gets a voicemail from the coffee shop owner wanting her to some in for another interview. She immediately calls the coffee shop owner and politely informs him that she should no longer be considered for the position. She apologizes several time for wasting his time, and explains what happened. The guy goes ballistic, even calling her names. He goes on and on about how he has cost her serious money. To her credit she kept her composure and ended the call semi-professionally.

The positive in this is that all of her future job interviews should be better.

I had a gassy stomach thing going on (nerves) and thought that mid interview I could let off a little bit of, ahem, “pressure” so I could carry on more comfortably.

Bad idea.

It was pretty loud, but not horrible. Very distinct though. Definitely not a noise I could pass off as a car noise from outside, my shoes squeaking on the carpet or the crumpling noise leather chairs make. No. It was a fart.

I don’t mean for this to sound like a YM or Seventeen confessional, but I was mortified. All I could do was say, “Oh. Uh, sorry. Excuse me.” Not a smooth recovery but what, am I supposed to make a fart joke at that point?

The older guy and younger woman I was interviewing with (it was an investment firm that wanted a college student to work part-time as a clerk) kind’ve looked at me and then back down at their papers. It was really awkward. The woman didn’t really look me in the eye after that and seemed a little disgusted, and rightfully so. The man didn’t say much after that.

And to answer your questions before you ask them, no, it didn’t stink and yes, I actually got the job and worked there for two semesters. I never talked about it with the two that interviewed me but I told other co-workers who thought it was hilarious.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3298727936/nm0731490

I have a few simple guidelines:

1. You are never overdressed (people think you really care about life if you wear a tie/blazer and shave, men at least)
2. You can never smile too much (in most jobs, the more positive you are about everything, the more people will want you with their company).
3. Always find a way to tell people what they want to hear, this takes some reading people skills, if you don’t have those, you probably don’t have many friends, so you don’t know how to interact with people, that sucks for you.
4. Always bring up your connection to the company or your experience in it’s field (if you have a connection, some one who knows someone at the company, don’t be shy to mention it, the more they feel like they know you, the more they can trust you).
5. Be a tamer version of yourself (don’t drop all your unique traits just because you are afraid your jokes will shock them, just tone them down, you don’t want to go to work everyday and become a shell of your former self do you?)

Is this stuff obvious? sorry if it is.

Group Interview, (thought it was one on one going in) there hiring 10-11 people.. they interviewed 100+

1. Was best Dressed with the 10 people there
2. Was prepared, and knew my shit.
3. Was the youngest person being interviewed
4. Pretty sure i stuck out and got my point across.

it’s to work for the state of oregon.

Not much to say…glad to be here, wants to help how he can, complimentary towards Oden.

However when Wheels tells him he receives a $50 gift certificate to McComick & Schmicks (remember when they got watches?) he is the first player I have ever, ever, EVER heard say “Thank you”.

Yeah, kinda stupid. That’s my wavelength, though.

Some of these may be specific to my profession, but I’ve never had an interview that didn’t result in a job offer.

1. be early, but not too early. 5 minutes shows your prompt, 15 minutes shows your over-eager
2. dress one level above the job/ company your interviewing for. In architecture this means button down, dress pants and a suit jacket (we don’t wear ties)
3. talk about what you hope to achieve in the coming years. Include things beyond the scope of the job you’re applying for, but still related to the field you’re in. Talk about how you think you can do this in the company you’re applying at.
4. behave as though your at your inlaws/significant others parents house. It’s ok to crack jokes, but you still want them to have a good impression of you when you’re done.
5. casually mention another interview you had recently. Do this in passing, and DO NOT compare the two companies unless asked
6. Be Honest