Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with jobinterview

I can do the job, mostly, really

Fee Phi Faux Phumb I Smell t'Socks o' a Puppetman! — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:20:37 -0800

I have a tricky job-application scenario: basically, I can do all the requirements that were advertised, but I have excellent reason to believe they expect the person in the position to semi-regularly do something my health prevents me from doing at all. How do I handle this in the application/resume process? The job description and situation, as advertised, is basically perfect for my skills, interests, and everything else.

The thing is, I know the person who had the job before was on-call 24/7, and sometimes had to drop everything (including sleep) and run off to take care of something (the something - it varied - could happen anywhere in a ~450 mile radius.) This only happened a few times a month at most, and I have no philosophical problem with it at all; in my younger and more foolish years, this would have been a plus, honestly.

Unfortunately, health reasons prevent this from being even a remote possibility for me - this is well inside in "my doctor will make me go see someone else if I sign up for this, because it really is that irresponsible" land.

So! I'm in a pickle. Two questions:

1. Do I bother applying?
2. At what stage do I let them know about my problem?

I don't want to waste anyone's time, but I would love the job as advertised. I'm reasonably confident they will let me interview if I send in a resume & application but do not disclose my issue. I also don't want to burn bridges with these people, because I would really love to do several of the jobs they may eventually have open (it depends largely on folks retiring.) Oh, and I'd really rather not my boss knowing I'm looking for outside work unless there's at least some shot I can get the job (and she will know if I apply - she knows all these people much better than I do, and they will call her, quite possibly before the interview stage.)

There are, as far as I can see, three options other than not applying at all:

1. Disclose in the cover letter,
2. Disclose in the interview, or
3. Disclose the first time they say "oh and by the way, here's the pager" (which might be during the interview.)

What are the pros and cons? As a hiring manager or HR person or other employer type, what would you recommend? Is it foolish to even try this?

I have talked with someone I know in the office (not the hiring manager, but someone who helped advertise it,) and she's pretty sure the position will still include the on-call stuff.

Possible inappropriate job interview question?

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 06:08:37 -0800

Had a job interview over a week ago and can't get a couple of the questions out of my head The job was for a telephone crisis counsellor. It was with a prominent mental illness organisation in Australia.

Questions at hand:
1) Have you been exposed to or experienced mental illness in the past? (Opened ended question where a response other than yes/no was required)
2) What is the hardest mental experience you have faced? (Opened ended question that was followed up with more questions about the experience after I answered it)

-I don't take much issue with question one - I understanding their reasoning for this question, I just would have preferred it to be a yes/no answer, but I do understand it's value.

- I do take issue with question two. I didn't want to answer it, but because I was in an interview setting I felt pressure to answer the question. I lost a friend to suicide six months ago - I don't talk about it regularly, but when I do it's because I want to - not because I have been forced to discuss it. Once I answered the question the interviewer asked three more questions about my friend and how I coped afterwards.

I don't think my reluctance to answer the question makes me any less capable of performing the job. I believe that I have a right to keep my personal life personal. If anything, I believe a distinction between personal information and work information is highly valued in this field of work. I think the reason why I feel so uncomfortable about it, is because I felt like my personal (and painful) experiences are being used as some form of commodity - I know that may sound irrational, but that's what it felt like.

So,
1) Were these questions OK? (particularly the second question)
2) Are these questions something I will face on a regular basis (working in mental health)?
3) If so, is there a way I can answer these questions without getting too personal and without limiting my performance in the interview?

It may be important to note - I am very new in the field - I completed my psychology degree at the end of last year and have only been doing interviews for the last three months or so. Although I have been asked by other organisations about my dealings with mental health they have been yes/no answers and even more general than the ones asked in this interview. The point is, I don't know whether this was appropriate, I didn't feel good about it after the interview, and I need to know if I need to suck it up and get used to it.

I promise I'm actually a good employee!

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:41:37 -0800

I have an upcoming job interview for a fairly sales-oriented position in business. Putting aside that I'm not sure I want the position yet and that in my eyes it counts against the company that they put stock in this sort of thing, the company is about to send me a personality test which they use as a strong hiring indicator. I would prefer to ace the test, whatever that means, and have my actual interview and position discussion determine hiring. How should I go about answering a test that I don't believe will be reflective of my personality? If memory serves when I was a teenager I failed a Subway sandwich-assembly part-time job's personality test. I don't think I'll scale up well. I know that when I answer OKC questions and the like, I overthink everything. If a question asks me if I ever could see myself _________, I almost always can come up with an instance where yes, in this specialized circumstance I've concocted, I could. It appears other people usually just answer their right now answer. Should I keep answering the literal wording, which is what feels accurate, or try to answer the right now way?

I also do not know how to answer generalized preference questions (do you prefer spending evenings at parties or at home reading a good book?) as the answer is variable given actual context. I want to answer BOTH, DEPENDING in this instance; often that is not an option in this type of test. I genuinely don't know what to do with this sort of question when the real answer isn't available.

I could also answer what the questions are driving at from an employer's point of view, but don't know if intentionally answering them in a manner that appears to align with my understanding - which at this early stage is limited - of the job duties is dishonest or what you as the candidate are supposed to be doing. I'm also scared that my guess at what I think the employer wants to hear might not be accurate particularly since this is a job opportunity gained through networking and I only have a vague idea of what they'd want me to be doing. (So say a question asks if I work better independently or in groups, and I know the position is group-dependent, do I say groups? But then what if later on promotion-wise I'd be independent? Or do I just say what's true, which is independent?)

Basically, I'm lost with this whole pre-job-interview personality test business. I've had several professional jobs before (though none have previously been sales-oriented) and this is the first job-associated personality test since the Subway one. Please advise.

Ack!

silly me — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 06:43:29 -0800

I have a job interview this afternoon and I'm more nervous than is healthy. Is taking a Klonopin a good idea? I have a prescription at home for a very low dose (I think 15 mg? I don't have access to it right this minute.) I've had it for over a year and only taken it a couple of times, and don't remember much about its effect on me one way or another, except that it made me incredibly tired and depressed the next day. I'm fine with that in this case, but am also worried that it will make me even more spacey than I feel at the moment. I didn't sleep well last night, so am a lovely combo right now of jittery and foggy-brained.

The times that I took it before were for lower-key social events such as a family member's wedding, rather than for situations where I'm supposed to be intellectually "on."

Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks.

phone interview follow up?

jvilter — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:52:28 -0800

My son had a phone interview for an internship at a STEM center a couple of weeks ago. It went well and the person told him she would follow up with an email about setting up an in person meeting. He got the impression that she would be contacting him in the next couple of days, and when he didn't hear back from her, sent her a follow up email giving her a little bit more information about himself and contact info for another reference who was late in replying to his request.

So far, he's heard nothing more from her.

Should he send another email, and if so what sort of stuff should it say? Or should he just assume that he didn't get the job and move on?

Interview Outfit Help

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:57:56 -0800

I have a job interview next Friday. Yay! But I have questions about what is a setting-appropriate choice. I am thrilled to have scheduled an interview for a creative position at a startup company. I am conflicted about what to wear. Two options I'm considering are:

A chic ponté knit dress in a solid color with a vintagey, complementary blazer and riding boots or cute shoes
Said vintagey blazer with a matching skirt (so, a suit) with a shell and cute shoes

Do either of these sound appropriate? Any other suggestions? I want to dress professionally and respect the formality of the occasion without seeming stuffy.

Should I tell my coworker/friend about my upcoming job interview?

eleanor_of_aquitaine — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:55:47 -0800

I just landed an interview for a job I really want, and I'm very excited about it. I'm seeing a coworker, also a very good friend, for dinner tonight. Should I tell her about it? We became good friends a few years ago and have lunch/dinner or do other fun things together about once or twice a month. We've shared quite a lot with each other, and in the past she has mentioned looking for other jobs. I generally don't share this information with anyone except close friends and family. But she is a close friend at this point, and I worry that if I don't tell her and she finds out, she'll wonder why I kept it from her. She's pretty understanding, but I don't want her to feel betrayed or anything. Plus, I want to talk about it and hear her thoughts and advice.

I should mention the whole "coworker" thing is a bit fuzzy. We used to work together in the same office, but she was moved to a different unit within our company. Now, she works in a different location with different people entirely. But we know a lot of the same people--people I do still work with and wouldn't want to know--and though I trust her, I worry that somehow it would get out (these things do happen, and she's in still in relatively close contact with many of these people).

Should I keep this information to myself, or do you think it's okay if I tell her, as long as I ask that she'd keep it to herself? Would I be opening up a can of worms, or is this really not a big deal? I've been in this situation before, and always kept it to myself, but this time it's a much closer friend.

Best questions to pose to the interviewers in a programming interview?

kitcat — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:19:45 -0800

What are some really good questions to pose to the interviewers at the end of a programming interview? I'm looking for ones that make the interviewers feel good about you (great question!) but ALSO make them feel good about their organization - so that everything ends on a happy note. For example, I would like to ask "Do you have a semi-formal mentoring system in place for your junior developers?", but if they don't, then I've possibly ended things on a sour note...

How to study for a programmer job interview exam?

kitcat — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 11:00:10 -0800

There will be an exam as part of my interview for my first programmer/developer job. It will be on J2EE and PL/SQL. Can anyone advise on what to expect and what to focus my studying on? I am going to study my ass off for this. The exam will be an hour long and will be multiple choice. I have never seen or taken this sort of 'programming aptitude' exam. In fact, in the program I have just graduated from, we rarely wrote exams; everything was lab-based (so, hands on).

I just took a J2EE course and took an Oracle course the previous semester. But I am worried because my head is jumbled with numerous syntaxes (C#, Objective-C, PHP, various SQL versions). For J2EE we focused on the Hibernate API as well as Spring Framework for a lot of things and I am afraid of mixing stuff up. We didn't do EJB - we did Spring beans.

On the plus side, my school is the preferred one for hiring junior developers and employers in my city are generally very familiar with our curriculum.

In a nutshell, I am worried. Any advice for studying and what kind of questions to expect would be greatly appreciated.

How to handle a job interview when the interviewer doesn't ask questions?

secretdawn — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:50:40 -0800

I have had interviews that consisted of the interviewer briefly explaining the position and then asking me if I have any questions. These have not gone well for me. An example from this morning:

(The company provides sports and arts programs for youth. The position involves handling all the paperwork and such that come with renting spaces for these classes.)

After filling out their application I meet with the interviewer in her office. While looking over my information she says something nice about the university I attended and I agree. She asks what happened at my first job that I was at for 7 months. I say I was looking for somewhere to grow. She asks why I left my most recent job, and I tell her it was a temp position.

She describes the position and the benefits. She mentions that the kids have competitions on the weekends, and that I am not required to attend. I say that I might enjoy attending since I used to be a cheerleader (one of the sports they offer), and she says something like “oh good so you can appreciate the value of sports for kids.” Would it have been appropriate to also mention that I liked that this organization offers classes at such affordable prices since I had to drop out of cheer as a kid due to costs?

She then asks if I have any questions. Since the ad for the job and her description were short I did have some questions (expand on certain aspect of job, how they manage data, if it's a new position due to growth, who this person works with).

And then I ask if she has any questions for me. (Was that weird?) She looks down at the papers with my info and says she thinks she has everything she needs.

So she only asked me why I left my last positions.

Should I have then just started talking about how some of my past duties align with the duties of this position? It seems awkward to me to just start talking, especially when it felt like the interview was wrapping up already. Should I have said awesome things about their organization? That seems brown-nosey to me.

But I am obviously wrong since I'm getting a decent amount of interviews but no offers.

I go into interviews having examples prepared for questions that might come my way, but I can't see myself randomly saying “so let me tell you about this one time I had this one challenge and how I totally solved it!”

I was already planning on sending a thank you email/letter so maybe I can help my chances with this job. However, I have another interview with a different company tomorrow, and I really don't want to ruin another one.

I know I'm not great at holding conversations, but I also know I can get shit done at work. I guess I just don't know how to communicate that to people I have just met.

How can I better prepare for these types of interviews and other interviews in general?

Job interview role-play tips please

laumry — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 07:18:01 -0800

Can you give me some job interview role-play tips on: (1) how to manage an underperforming employee, and (2) how to manage a team meeting/huddle? Hello there. I have a job interview coming up where I'm going to be called on to do a couple of assessed role-plays. In one, I'll be managing an underperforming employee (I don't know if this is a specific instance of underperformance, or an ongoing pattern of underperformance). In another, I'll be managing a team meeting or team huddle.

Can you give some tips on how to ace these? General tips on managing such meetings would of course be very useful. In addition, if there are specific things that I can do to beat these tests in the artificial situation of a job interview, so much the better. Bonus points if you can point me to videos that show me people doing these things well.

Walking the line between job and informational interview

schroedinger — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 01:36:08 -0800

What to do in the not-quite-an-informational-interview, not-quite-a-job-interview situation? I have one of these tomorrow and I'm confused about how to approach it. (OK, "terrified of failing" is a better way of putting it.) I'm graduating, and out of the blue a colleague of a close friend of mine told him to let him know if I could use connections or experience. He then followed up to say he doesn't personally have any positions available, but could introduce me to his colleagues (without making it clear whether they have any positions available).

Tomorrow I'll be speaking with him for the first time and meeting with his colleagues. I don't want to be a job-grubber, but I'm not sure this is quite an "informational interview" situation either. I'm also kind of familiar with the answers to the questions they would give for informational interview-type questions anyway. I can think of questions to ask them about their work, but I'm not sure how far I can take that conversation as their knowledge of their field is obviously a lot deeper and more complex than mine--I couldn't carry an entire conversation with them on "talking shop" without it turning into a bunch of relatively simplistic questions on my part. (for what it's worth, they would not expect me to hold their depth of knowledge, but I also don't think they are planning to waste their time giving mini-lecture sessions on their work)

Originally I thought I would wing it: discuss opportunities the field, ask a few questions about their work, hopefully impress them. But I tried that with a phone jobish-informationalish-interview recently and completely blew the whole thing. The conversation was stilted and awkward and I could tell early in the person I was interviewing wanted to leave as soon as possible.

I do fine with straight-up job interviews. I can do a straight-up informational interview. This straddling thing is what's weird and I am not sure what the expectations are for the questions I'm should ask. Any suggestions for how to approach this? Because of the prior failure I'm having some anxiety about this.

How to handle this situation professionally?

foxy_hedgehog — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 10:19:51 -0800

I'm job hunting in a particular industry and doing a lot of informational interviews. I managed to arrange one with the Principal at a firm whose work intrigues me for the 21st of November. Yesterday I noticed that this same firm has a position that I'm qualified for, and I'd like to submit my resume and cover letter today. If I make it past the initial screening, will it appear that I scheduled the informational interview under false pretenses when I was really trying to score a job interview? How would I handle the question of my application in the interview, which I arranged weeks ago? Please give me your advice on how to handle this professionally. This is a small enough firm that my guess is that candidates would likely be interviewed by the Principal in a second round interview, but large enough that their resumes are unlikely to be reviewed by him when they come in. I corresponded with the principal directly when I first contacted him, but all scheduling back-and-forth has been done by his assistant, and he probably won't remember me contacting him until I show up in his office.

Grateful for any and all advice!

Help me avoid hiring Patrick Bateman.

the foreground — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:53:15 -0800

HR filter: What are some good questions to ask a job candidate during a final interview before extending an offer? We are a small firm with no formal HR department. I have been tasked with hiring a person who will serve as something akin to my deputy. It is a highly focused, skilled position, which will also involve a substantial level of training. We have gone through the first round of interviews with about 10 people, and have identified one candidate who is clearly head and shoulders above the rest in terms of overall fit, attitude, logical career progression, is seemingly very mature and in our salary range.

During the first interview we focused on the candidates' motivation, enthusiasm, commitment to holding a long-term position, personality compatibility, intellectual rigor and curiosity. In order to even get to the first interview, the candidate's resume had to pass through a fairly difficult screen in terms of work experience and qualifications, which less than 1% of total applicants did.

I'm hoping someone better versed in HR best practices or the bosses out there can help me come up with a structure and approach for the 2nd (and likely final) interview. How should it differ from the first?

You can assume we will be performing standard due diligence practices such as checking references and some type of background check before extending a formal offer. I'd just like to get some ideas on how to make this interview feel like I have crossed off the appropriate boxes and not overlooked any questions that may identify red flags. After all, it's my butt on the line if this person doesn't work out. Thanks!

How to Manage a Job Interviewer Whose Knowledge is Outdated & Unfocused

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:16:12 -0800

I am presently going through interviews for an IT consulting position with a nationally known firm. I've been through two extended phone interviews. The initial call with the recruiter went great, but I just had a call with one of the main staff members and it was a train wreck. Extra library/MLIS snowflake details... Keeping this anonymous because I need some input while still going through the interview process.

I am one of those library/MLIS folks who have switched over into working with IT, especially with helping organizations do a better job of managing their digital information. Anybody who's got the background but also been working with technology can probably agree that there is a screaming need for better organization/management, but that there is still a lot of jargon and misinformation out there. For the past 2 weeks, I've been interviewing for a job with a well placed IT firm to come on board as one of their specialists in this area, and I'd be pretty stoked to be in a position where I could use my library/organization skills to actually make systems work.

My first interview was with the main recruiter from HR and it went really well. I went through the job description and wrote up notes for each bullet point as examples of my work experience and education that related to it. We had a good conversation and she said I was a strong candidate for the position. The next step is to do more interviews with their staff and after the first one, I'm wondering what my take-away should be from that meeting.

If you went to Library School (or have worked in a library), did you have tech guys whose experience is based in 1960s/mainframe computing? These were the professors that my advisor told me to avoid because their knowledge was based on a completely different worldview and model than what's happening in technology during the present day. Well, the interview I had yesterday was with a senior staff member who is that guy. And who this position would report to until he retires in a few months and would be expected to mentor. My concern is not that somebody is old or that they cut their teeth in technology 40 years ago. It's that his knowledge of the actual area of expertise and specifically the standards/practices that come out of the Library/Information Science appears to be zero. Instead a 45 minute phone call turned into a 90 minutes of him asking me details like why I had my undergraduate major in X topic, what year I graduated from high school, why I had taken a certain job not related to the position, "let's do role playing," and absolutely nothing about the specific topic at hand. I tried to politely ask him when it was my turn for questions what his knowledge/experience was in the area and got the story about how he was "an old hand" because he's worked on an ANSI standard related to it back in the early 1980s. Oh and when I was asked about a specific technology I'd managed for a project, he kept interrupting me with "Is that the Cloud?" and when I tried to politely say no and steer it back to the more relevant details, he kept trying to push the point.

So far I've been told that they'll be scheduling more calls and I'd at least like to talk to the other staff members. But after that call, I'm wondering how this guy is going to evaluate me given his behavior and lack of actual knowledge as was stated in the job description. Also if he's that bonkers in his approach (which surprised me because it's a reputable firm), what can I expect for the rest of the calls? Or was this just a courtesy situation where he's retiring anyways, but has to be included in the process?

I have a job interview. I'm getting sick. Help!

Fister Roboto — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:52:46 -0800

I have a very important job interview on Monday. I feel like I'm getting sick (sore throat, warm forehead, etc). If I'm sick on Monday, do I call and ask to re-schedule or soldier through? I don't want to seem like a flake, but I also don't want to infect anyone else. This is a very important interview. Help!

How do I handle the salary negotiation discussion to my advantage without blowing it?

mcstayinskool — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 12:57:31 -0800

AskMeFi and other say to never throw out the first number in salary discussions, yet this has backfired repeatedly. Stick to the oft-repeated advice or rework based on experience? Should I keep following the advice of not being the first to throw out a number in salary discussions, when this has repeatedly gone poorly, particularly in HR screening calls?

This is by far the biggest sticking point I have when going through an interview process. Everything I read online, here, here, as well as lots of advice I have read on AskMeFi, states that when the question comes up about compensation, you should never be the first one to say a number because this puts you at a distinct negotiation disadvantage.

I think this is good advice and have tried following it, and have told those close to me to follow it as well. Repeatedly, it has backfired.

This has most often come up with HR screening calls (i.e., prior to speaking to a hiring manager or actual interview committee). The question comes up about compensation, to which the reply of "I'd like to discuss the position further before we discuss salary" or "Can you tell me a hiring range?" or "I will consider any reasonable offer" is met with anything from dismissal to outright disdain. My wife recently did not make it past an HR screen, and she later got some inside knowledge that the reason was "her salary requirements were too vague".

I guess the follow-up question is whether an HR screening call where salary is discussed, prior to any substantive discussion of the work, should be answered in a different manner than an actual salary negotiation. Is it necessary to stick to this advice when speaking to an HR screener?

Should a lawyer sign an NDA for a job interview?

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:09:04 -0800

I'm a lawyer at a large firm. I represent a lot of tech startups and as a general practice, lawyers at my firm don't sign NDAs to avoid potential problems and conflicts of interest. I'm interviewing for an in-house counsel position and they are insisting I sign an NDA. Any advice? I can imagine a scenario where they sue one of my clients and a litigator digs up this NDA, resulting in trouble. I've already explained my concerns about professional responsibility and my obligations to my existing clients and asked that we skip the NDA, and they have replied that all interviewees must sign. Any advice? Am I overthinking this, and it's really not a big deal? Should I just tell them I can't do the interview?

What should I wear for a job interview at Microsoft?

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:07:19 -0800

I have a job interview scheduled at Microsoft, at the Redmond campus. What should I wear? I would normally wear a suit and a tie to an interview, but Microsoft's dress code is so casual that I am afraid it would send the wrong message. So I have narrowed it down to two options:

1) Suit and tie anyway, better to be overdressed than underdressed
2) Jacket, dress shirt (no tie), a pair of high(er) end jeans and oxford shoes.

My interview is for a Product Management position at their marketing group, so I believe being a little dressier would be less of a problem, but I'm not sure how much.

Should I disclose my pregnancy during the job interview process?

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:33:43 -0800

What are my responsibilities when interviewing for a new job while pregnant? Should I tell them I'm expecting? If so, what should I be prepared for? I want to be ethical, but simultaneously am reluctant be at a disadvantage off the bat. I am 4 months pregnant and not showing yet. I have been asked to come in and interview for a job for which I am well qualified. Should I disclose my pregnancy?

The job would start soon, and I am due in late December. I will take full maternity leave but come back. The job does not have a 'busy' season and is in a professional office setting.

Should I Go On This Job Interview Or Not?

thereemix — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:40:56 -0800

I have a job interview tomorrow for a job I'm not really interested in. I currently have a job, but it's a contract position with no guarantee of going permanent, so I've still been applying to other jobs and I feel it is irresponsible and ungrateful for me to not go through with this job interview tomorrow. However, the more I think about it, the more upset I get, because I am not sure I would take the job if it were offered to me, even though it would be a permanent position. I'm not even really sure I'm thinking straight anymore. I could use some perspective and/or wisdom and/or advice. I will try to keep this brief:

My career background is in Industry A, and I like working in Industry A a lot. I was laid off from my last job in January and was lucky enough to score another position in less than a month. This new position is a contract position that is tangentially related to Industry A (but not quite *in* Industry A). The job function is the same as my last job (and the job before that). This contract job is with a very, very prestigious company. It looks nice on my resume.

As a result of prestigious company being on my resume/LinkedIn, a recruiter from another company contacted me about a similar job at their company - another well known but slightly less prestigious company. This company is in Industry B. Industry B is not even remotely similar to Industry A. The company that is trying to recruit me does interesting work, but generally I am not that enthusiastic about it. However, since I am still technically looking for work since there's no guarantee that my current contract job will go permanent, and since I was a bit curious, I chatted with the recruiter and had a phone interview. They asked me the "what salary range are you thinking of" question during the phone interview. Normally I would deal with that question very carefully, but since I was just sort of playing along I threw out a number that is way, way over what I currently make.

Apparently it didn't faze them, because now they want me to interview with them on site tomorrow. This terrifies me. I agreed, but I have been having second thoughts about it ever since.

My dilemma is as follows:

*I don't want to work in Industry B. The contract position I am in is already a bit of a tangent to my career path in Industry A thus far, but I am able to spin it and make it seem like it's in Industry A. I feel like it is dishonest of me to pursue this job in Industry B when I likely wouldn't take it were it offered to me.

*BUT my current contract position is only till October, with the potential but no guarantee of going permanent. It feels irresponsible for me to not follow through with interviewing for the Industry B job when nothing is certain and the economy is as crappy as it is.

*BUT BUT my current contract position is a really good one, and having the prestigious company name in my resume is a really good thing and sets me up to be in a good place come October when I will need to really start looking after this contract is up. I like the people I work with and I want to make sure that I will have good references. It seems to me like it would be stupid to walk away from a situation like this UNLESS it was for an amazing opportunity in my chosen industry, Industry A. I don't want to burn a bridge this important for a job I'm not that excited about in a completely different industry that I don't really care about, just because it is a permanent job.

*If I go in this interview tomorrow for the Industry B job, I have to take the morning off from work. Because I am a contractor, I'm essentially forfeiting half a days' pay for an interview for a job I don't even want.

*But maybe I should suck it up and go, just to satisfy my curiosity (would they really make me an offer with a salary as high as I quoted?). It's also good practice for future interviews. Also, at this point, wouldn't it be really unprofessional for me to call tomorrow and say "Sorry, I don't want to interview anymore?" How does one do that?

I really honestly don't know what to do, and the more I think about it the more worked up and upset I get. I feel like I should go on the interview because one shouldn't turn down interviews in this economy, but I also feel so strongly that I do NOT want to work in Industry B that this whole process is a big giant waste of my time (not to mention the time of the folks at the Industry B company). But I am freezing up and can't make a decision either way. Please help. I keep going round and round in circles and can't stop.

UK job search: contracts and taking notes

Anonymous — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:37:38 -0800

(UK-based) I've started applying for new jobs and as I'm now getting along in the process, I'm wondering about 1) signing a contract before leaving my current job and 2) taking notes during a job interview. I'm a little nervous about how to actually leave my job if I find a new one. I want to make sure everything is confirmed before I resign. How can I do this? Ideally, I would like to ask to sign my new contract before I give notice at my current job - is this normal, or do employers expect you to give notice as soon as you receive (and accept) an offer? I'm frightened of something going wrong.

Also, I've been reading job interview advice online. One blog I read advised interviewees to bring a notepad to take notes during the interview on points the interviewers bring up you might want to remember. The blog also said the interviewee could bring a written list of questions to ask employers. I would love to do this as I have a list of questions, but I'm afraid I'll forget them. The blog I read was US-based, so: in the UK, will an interviewer think it's strange if I bring in a notepad and/or a list of questions?

Thank you for your help - I am focusing on preparing as much as I can but these little things are worrying me.

Is there a tactful way to let a job know that their interview style turned you off and made you not want the job?

cedly — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:20:16 -0800

Is there a tactful way to let a job know that their interview style turned you off and made you not want the job? I had a second-round interview for a job that on paper sounds very much like what I want, but getting to meet the people who work there, in particular the executive director, made me very sure that this is NOT a place I want to be a part of. I want to let them know that I am not interested in working there at this point in a way that is polite and professional, but also gives them an indication that I felt like their interview style was very off putting.

This is a non-profit organization whose mission I care very much about, and I want them to succeed. But I can't imagine they'd be able to keep good candidates with their attitude. Everyone I met with was foreign, so I'm wondering if it was partly just a matter of them not understanding what a typical interview in this market would be like? For example, in two rounds of interviews that have taken a collective 3 hours, I've barely been given any opportunity to ask questions or even given any description of the job and expectations beyond the written job ad. I felt like at no point did they try to win me over or make the smallest effort to recruit me -- it was all just about grilling me.

Is this typical in some countries? To me it just seems like poor form. (For what it's worth, the job ad was pretty standard -- descriptive but still left a lot of questions unanswered.)

I've often likened job interviewing to dating -- and this would've been such a spectacular turn off that if it were a date, I'd probably try to gently let him know when he was inappropriate. Is there a way to do this in a tactful, professional way for a job? One of the things the ED mentioned was they struggle "to get the right people" and I felt like I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying "Of course you do, good people wouldn't want to stay here with this attitude."

Would just emailing them to say "Thanks for bringing me in for the interview. It's been really informative, but I don't think the organizational culture is a good fit for me and I wish you the best of luck filling the position" give them enough pause to realize they were off? (I realize that's not a terribly damning condemnation, but I would imagine that a candidate abruptly withdrawing after an interview would at least imply that they were unimpressed.)

There is a part of me that feels like maybe I want to be a little petty and do the 'they didn't dump me, I dumped them' sort of thing (I honestly have no idea if they'll bring me on to the next round -- there's definitely a good chance they could) but I've never left a job interview feeling so thoroughly frustrated. I wanted so badly to like them, but I just... couldn't.

How could I convince you that I'd make a great financial writer

orange swan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:30:48 -0800

I have a job interview for a junior/intermediate financial writer position with a financial services marketing company on Friday. This is a bit of a career jump for me as my background is mostly in legal editing with one stint at an educational publisher. Are there any MeFites with some sort of experience in financial writing who have some advice for me on how to ace the interview, or on what kind of research and prep I should be doing? To give you a little more background, the company is a start up, three or four years old, with a roster of blue chip clients. I've spoken to a friend who has done some freelance for them as well as for a friend who is a very, very experienced and well-connected editor and gotten their advice.

Consulting Filter: How do I justify leaving my first project significantly earlier then completion?

lpcxa0 — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:25:28 -0800

Consulting Filter: How do I justify leaving my first project significantly earlier then completion? I'm the same person that asked this question.

Well, I took the position and am about 6 months in, and things could be better. The project is a mess, I was originally told it was going to be a year contract, within 3 months, it was extended out to 3 years, now it's looking like 5 years minimum. There is a significant disconnect between the executive management of the client to our project managers, and there are competing consulting firms on the project (one firm that failed the project, the software firm, and my consulting company). Additionally, there has been significant turnover including consulting project managers, and the stress on myself is high (working 6 days a week minimum, including travel).

I've tried to cut down on my travel which would help, but due to the high turnover and communication mess of the project, I have not had much success. For the record, I'm pretty much a specialized UI and SQL programmer, so 99% of what I can do can be accomplished remotely. There has been a very similar position open up in my home city through my recruiting company, which I emailed my recruiter about but am waiting to hear back from her. There are also 75% travel positions open that would cut my travel time down to less then a quarter of what I'm traveling now. So pretty much, the work week can be cut down significantly.

I hate the area, hate the politics of this gig, but can manage to suck it up for a couple of months; but I cannot see this project to completion due to the unknown timeframe and stress. I'm technically a W2 sub contractor for a consulting company who in turn is employed by the client. So how can I justify to both her, and future employers, why I bounced from my first consulting gig before project completion?