Thanks for the job offer, but…

Posted on June 30, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Finding a Job, Interview | Leave a Comment

One of my friends recently informed me that he had fantastic news: his dad, after almost a year of sifting through vacancy announcements and shuffling to and from interviews, had been extended a job offer. As he shared the news, I could sense a “but” coming. He continued that although his dad had received a job offer from an employer of whom he was not particularly fond, he had received three more offers for positions for which he had interviewed during the preceding week. While my friend’s dad never could have known that after receiving the one job offer he would receive a flood of offers, and the proposition that he should have declined that job offer seems rather outrageous given today’s employment environment. Nonetheless, it is important that job seekers carefully consider possible job offer before and after receiving them. Read more

“If you were a superhero, who would you be and why?”

Posted on June 13, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Finding a Job, Interview | Leave a Comment

What if, in the middle of an interview, you were thrown the following curveball question: “Would you rather be Superman or Bizarro Superman? If the latter, why?” What would your response be? Would it be: “Notwithstanding Bizarro Superman’s origin story, the character of Bizarro Superman can be understood as embodying the notion in theoretical physics of many worlds. Within this context, one could legitimately claim that neither is the real Superman, making neither legitimate nor illegitimate; thus, I would be both and neither.” While this response may be novel though evasive, it might not get you the job. The truth is employers are injecting such absurd lines of questioning into their interviews as a means of learning how an applicant’s mind works and forcing the applicant to push his creative envelope. Answering such seemingly ridiculous lines of questioning is no easy task. Read more

Learning how to dress the part

Posted on June 2, 2011
Filed Under Attire, Employment, Finding a Job, Interview | Leave a Comment

Recently, a friend of mine attended an interview for a practicum placement for her doctoral program. As a doctoral student with well-developed interests in forensic psychology and over a year of working at the U.S. Probation Office, she knew that the interview for the practicum placement—which was at a maximum security state prison—would be unlike most. For good reason, each of the interviewees were instructed long before the interview to wear something “casual”, insofar as part of their interview would include a tour of the prison. Imagine my friend’s surprise when she discovered that the person with whom she was carpooling to the practicum site not only categorically dismissed this advice, but decided to wear a sheer top with a low cut front and back into a maximum security prison. Unfortunately, her carpooling buddy learned the hard way that while dressing-up may impress your interviewers and project an air of professionalism, her decision to attend an interview in such garb in this instance actually demonstrated a lack of professionalism and judgment. However, her choice of garb, even in another context, would have been interpreted as unprofessional. Read more

Five warning signs that you may not want the job

Posted on May 2, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Finding a Job, Interview | Leave a Comment

Have you ever walked into an interview and known immediately that either you didn’t belong there or that you would pass on the opportunity to work there if extended an offer, or both? A few years ago, one of my friends—looking for a job with a software development firm—had such an experience. Upon entering the building, he knew something was wrong—the atmosphere seemed dull, and his immediate impression was that nobody enjoyed working there. He saw employees lethargically trudging around the office emotionless; stained ceiling tiles; and even saw that one employee had fresh “key face,” a clear indication that that employee had been napping on his keyboard. Not only this, but he plainly sensed the overwhelming smell of beer emanating from his interviewer. While some interviewees may have taken the introduction of this scent into the interviewing space as a positive sign—an indication that their prospective boss knows how to cut loose—my friend saw it, combined with his other observations, as a warning flare—gigantic letters spelling “Keep Away!” Read more

More things you may not want to say or do in an interview

Posted on April 7, 2011
Filed Under Employment, Finding a Job, Interview | 1 Comment

Each year CareerBuilder releases a list of shocking yet hilariously entertaining interviewing gaffes made by job seekers the previous year. Even though only a small proportion of job seekers are bound to commit such gaffes, and what’s below constitutes the crème de la crème of interviewing blunders, it goes without saying that what follows should neither be repeated nor attempted…by anyone. Those hiring managers polled reported the following as the “most outrageous blunders they had encountered interviewing candidates”: Read more

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