Discussion on:

Three interview behaviors managers don't like

Everything said here could have been pulled from my career services employment guide! I was privledged to be able to sit in on mock interviews of other students, and I can tell you first hand, the bad behaviours itterated here are exactly what I see so many of my fellow students doing. Especially the "slouching" posture wile sitting for the interview. They looked like they were watching their TV in the living room, and not in a job interview. Some of the students actually took offense when they were graded poorly for their posture. That's OK! I am glad they did...I know I will have a big advantage over those students when the time comes for my interview!

The job-hunter MUST understand that he or she is vetting the company, as much as they are vetting him or her. I've seen so many workplaces where the management style has been abysmal and depressing; where the manager has been only out to step on people on their way up the corporate ladder. Trust me - you do not want to work for someone like that.

As PsiFiScount suggested: there are some clues to watch out far. It all comes down to respect, from both sides. Just as chewing gum or wearing a blue-tooth headset during an interview shows the manager that this person might not respect him or the workplace - the job hunter can also determine that if he's cut off in mid-sentence, or the manager doesn't look him in the eye or (worse) if the manager speaks disrespectfully about his current employees, the job hunter will want to high-tail it out of there.

I think, for the job hunter - that last question of the interview - "do you have any questions you'd like to ask" - is his chance to shine. The proactive job hunter will have done some research prior to the interview and will arrive armed with some key questions about the business itself. Avoid the "what's in it for me" thing if you can (unless the really important personal interest questions haven't been answered in the interview), and shoot for industry-related questions. "Can you tell me about your future expansion plans? Do you hope to increase the scope of your business?" etc. etc. That kind of question can show initiative and interest, and let them know that you're keying into what *they* are all about.

Trust me on this - I've been on both sides of that interview table.

I wonder how it would be to interview Bill Gates (just before MS) or to interview John Lennon (before Beatles) their behavior was not a conventional one, not "normal" but I'm sure they'd show two things: Attitude - for the job, and respect - for the interviewer besides a lot of creativity in the process.

Early in my career, for a job that I was interested in I had been interviewed firstly by HR and then the IT Manager. Finally I was before the CIO. I simply had run out of questions by then. When he asked me if I had any questions I said. "no I have been drained by 3 interviews I simply want to know if you socialise after work on a Friday?"
He responded "boy do we ever get pissed on Fridays, the social club puts on free drinks and after that we hit the town".
I got the job and fitted their culture very neatly.

I'm a little puzzled by the comment that you "simply had run out of questions." If you have some of your questions lined up prior to the interview, you should have 1 or 2 that are suitable to ask more than one interviewer. Depending on the level of the interviewers, you may get different answers, especially as it relates to the company's culture.

There's nothing wrong with recycling questions as long as they are appropriate to the person you are asking.

I do like your final question for the CIO and judging from the response, I'm assuming that it was a smaller, close-knit company. Good for you for having the moxy to be that candid yourself in the final interview.

Boy, I wonder if that type of question would be so favorably responded to in today's climate?

Toni -

Great post! Here are a few more from my experiences hiring:

* Not paying attention. If I have to repeat myself more than once or twice, I ask to myself, "if they can't be bothered to pay attention today, what is the chance that they will follow instructions properly when hired?"

* Questions that indicate a lack of desire to work or be professional. I too ask the candidate if there are any questions. Some candidates ask questions that lead me to doubt their desire to work or to be professional. Good examples of quesitons to NEVER ask are:

- What's the dress code? If you want to know how we dress here, look around. When you ask this question, it tells me that you intend to show up to the office in ratty jeans and a Def Leppard T-shirt unless I put the kibosh on it. If this is something that you are truly concerned about, ask to take a tour of the building or work area, and look around. If you have a *legitimate* reason for this (say, your wardrobe just got wiped out by a house fire and insurance hasn't paid for it yet, or you have a skin condition that prevents daily shaving), then frame it as, "I have issue XYZ that would make it difficult for me to wear a tie everyday; if I wore a dress shirt and slacks with no tie, would this present a problem?"

- What are the hours that I would be expected to work? That's another warning sign question. What, if I ask you to work until 5 PM, this will be a problem for you? If you have a special need, then express that need: "Due to my husband's schedule, it is important that I leave the office by 5:30 every day unless I have a few hours notice so that I can call a babysitter. Would this be an issue in this position?"

- What is the telecommuter policy? This is question that you are dying to not be in the office. Then my mind starts to ask, "why? Is there a funny odor in the building?" Unless you have special needs, telecommutting is something that should be determined post-hire, not pre-hire. Why? Because I've seen too many people get burned by it. Even if the interviewer doesn't take offense to it, they might say something like, "some of our employees work from home two days a week, you may be able to do the same" and the candidate then assumes that they will be doing so. Then they get mad when that doesn't pan out.

* Act like you would on a first date. With the most beautiful/handsome, intelligent, perfect woman/man on the PLANET. I interviewed a person who wore a Bluetooth headset the ENTIRE time he was there. We flew this guy in, for crying out loud! Within 5 minutes of the interview, every manager at the table was sending each other TXT messages asking, "is this guys for real?" One manager pulled the "pretend I'm getting a 'system down' notice from my BlackBerry" trick to run away. He was out #1 candidate till we saw the headset, too. When you are in an interview, use your best manners and be on best behavior. No inappropriate comments (even if it is "just the guys" in the room, even if one of them makes an inappropriate comment, do *not* participate in this kind of behavior!). Do not use any bad words. Don't bad mouth former (or current) employers. Brush your teeth before you leave, use mouth wash in the parking lot, and pop a breath mint (not gum, I don't want to see you spit it out) in the lobby. Use deoderant. If you wear cologne or perfume, make sure that it is only lightly scented; no one wants to work next to Pepe LePew. BE POSITIVE; no one likes a "Negative Nancy", but at the same time, don't sound like a "cheerleader" (lots of people can't stand to work with a human version of a motivational poster). Be yourself, we can see when you're trying to hide who you really are. Tell a joke or two, make sure that it is appropriate and actually funny. Show me that you have a personality. In other words, do the things that you would do if you were on a first date with someone you think you could end up marrying and having kids with!

J.Ja

A good backup question to ask at the end of the interview can often be "What do you like about working for this company?".

I liked your question, and will add that to my repertoire. I quite like 'Is there any reason you can see why you would not hire me?'. This is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it puts the interviewer in a position of having to go one way or the other.

If he is negative, well hey, you have a chance to correct any apprehensions he may have had. If he cannot fault you, then that is a great sign.

I can't guaranteeing that getting a job, but it's a nice question to add to some suggested above...

You're quite right. Now some interviewers might think this means you're pushy; but if they wanted a follower, there's plenty of sycophants on there in need of employment.

At the end of the interview, if I felt it had been a good one and no further questions left to be asked, I once responded with, "The only question I have is, when would you like me to start?"
Gutsy yes, but it did get me the job. And they had preceded the interview by saying "we don't hire on the spot here, I've seen 250 people and i need to look over the applications before making a decision."
I started 2 weeks later.

Having been told by sevral people I was too educated or allowed my education to show I "downgraded" myself so to speak at the next interview. When I did not get hired I did call back and ask what I lacked so I could improve myself. Their reply? We didn't feel you were educated enough for the position. And folks wonder why I hate interviews?

You should never try to be less than what you are. I understand FULLY how you can miss jobs by being overqualified, having had that experience myself. You learn to only give the information which is related to the job you're seeking. And then only to give 5-10 years of employment. If they want more, they'll ask. It's a fine balance to not be someone you're not, but to not put all of what you are out there either. Balance.

Thank you ruthie56 for great tips.
I have been to interview with 2 interviewers and they asked just to limit my presentation with appropriate experience.
To much information may hamper and too little is just not enough to get hired. Balance and something unique from your experience that makes your chances better.

and got that question, I would be very reluctant to answer it. I can find something I don't like about just about anyone. Even people who I will go to great lengths to hire.

But if you started a job knowing that your supervisor didn't like something about you you, it could poison the relationship right from the start.

I used this one with my current boss - I knew the interview had gone well and when I asked this question he was totally caught off guard by it. He'd never been asked that before and he still talks about it now.

Give it a try, it puts the interviewer on the spot better than any other question. Its a fab way of getting both verbal and non-verbal feedback.

Well, do you want a honest answer or a
polite lie? I mean, as a prospective system
manager, I am only interested in computers,
and they are very much the same everywhere.
I am not interested in human relations,
except when they are colleagues or
customers, and then I deal with them
professionally. It will be my task to keep
the systems in good working order, and that
is what I see as my challenge. I do not
have any interest in the organigram, or in
who is whose boss (except of course who is
my own boss). I only want to keep
everything up and running, and everyone
happy. And I think that is exactly what the
company expects from me, although the HR
manager may disagree. So what do you
suggest me to give as an answer to this
question?

I would suggest YOU say that you're not a good person to ask, as you tend to keep to yourself and just do your job.

...Or perhaps, you could say that you are the type of person that likes to keep to yourself and just do your job, and this company allows you to do that.

I think you miss my point. Suppose I want
this job (badly, perhaps). Well, just
suppose, anyway. This happens to be a usual
question, I suppose it is in the HRM
handbook. I have been educated to _never_
lie, but, as I have some experience, I have
modified this view at least
somewhat ... but I still don't like to
lie, and I do not see any necessity for it,
really... well, apparently there is,
because those HR idiots won't even let you
talk to your future colleagues, whose
opinion is what really matters. And I guess
their views would be much more aligned with
mine (and if not, I do _not_ want to work
there anyway). So, how do I get past this
HR idiot (most of them are) just to talk to
someone who knows about the real work? And
how do I do this with a minimum of lies?

Quote: "Suppose I want this job (badly, perhaps). Well, just suppose, anyway."

If you want to be truthful and you feel like you want it badly there is a reason why you want it so badly. It has to be something meaningful, otherwise you wouldn't want it so badly.
Of course, if you lied to yourself that you want this job so badly in first place and you actually don't have a real reason to be there you gotta start a new job from the lie. And you know if you had no good reason to be there you will live this place soon.
Conclusion - either find a good reason or don't do it.

For instance, I might just need the money.
I might be desperate enough to take any
job. I am pretty sure, however, that you
cannot say that on an interview, even
though it would be the truth.

Here is how the interview would work. You come in and have all these great qualifications but are not interested in building good working relationships with other people. Okay, I look at that and say that jjge could do the job. Next person comes in and they have your same skills, or maybe even a little less, but they are friendly and seem like they would work well with my other people. Now who do you think I'm going to hire? #2 over you in a heartbeat.

When it comes right down to it most of the people who show up for a job interview have the skills necessary for the job otherwise they wouldn't have made it to the interview step. After that the majority of the decisions on who to hire come down to how will the person fit into the workgroup.

nt

Say that you work mostly with computers, you appreciate the support of your superiors and the confidence they have in your skills. The company appreciates workers, including techs, who stay current and can put new training into their job, which is what you do.

I have been on several interviews as the porspective employee, when I terminated the interview beacause of the actions of the interviewer. Some examples are;

The interviewer overdoing the "firm handshake", it's a manner of greeting, not a wrestling match or test of power.

Eye contact, should be an acknowledgement of the other person, not a staring contest.

General Attitude. At a long past job interview, I was asked about my qualifications, at that time I had a B.S. degree (not in I.T., but a degree none the less) and two A.S. degrees, both in I.T. areas, as well as MCP certs in Network Essentials and Win2K Pro (at the time I was caught in the NT/2000 transition, and working toward MCSE) and A+ Cert., the interviewer asked in a very brusk manner why I didn't have a Net+ certification, but as I began to point out that I had did complete the MCP Net Essentials which covered the same information, I was cut off in mid sentence by the interviewer. At that time I thanked him for his time and walked out. The interviewer may be the one offering the job, but if they treat their applicants poorly, their openings may be open for a long time and if they find a person to fill them and continue to treat their employees the way that interviewer treated me, I forsee a high turn over rate among their employees.

I used to ask all sorts of back breaking questions when I interviewed people. Really technically challenging questions. I realized one day that I wasn't doing it to get the best candidate, I was doing it to intimidate the candidates and show off my technical chops. Wrong approach! I was driving away a lot of good people like that. I learned to soften my approach to the technical issues, and found a better set of questions that got the same level of detail, without being such a jerk about it. Instead of giving them some stupid mental exercise and demanding the right answer, I started asking more free form questions ("what's the hardest challenge you faced, and what solution did you discover for it?" for example), and reduced my technical questions to 3 or so very "universal" questions (such as, "what's the difference between passing by value and passing by reference") that essentially acted as BS detectors.

Candidates went from being scared of me after that, to actively wanting to work with me. Last week, I ran into someone who I hired at my last job right before I left (he started a bit after I left). He ended up not staying at that position, and said that he might have stayed if I was still there. I consider than an amazing success, in terms of doing a good job of being an interviewer!

J.Ja

passing by value/reference? What does that mean? I'm no sure I could answer that question, and I'm a pretty smart guy.
I'm glad I never got it. What answer are you looking for?

From your sig line, you're a networking/sys admin person. That's a question for a programmer. Now, for a networking or sys admin person, I might ask something like:

Networking specific: "What is the difference between a logical and a physical network segment?"

Sys admin specific: "If you had a limitless budget, describe your ideal method of performing backups."

DBA specific: "Let's say that you have a table of employees in the database. Would the employee's email address make a good column for the primary key? Why or why not?"

All of these question are really just asking fundamental principles that anyone in the field *should* know, but sadly, too few do! Even better, none of them require formal education, simply digging deep into documentation or books or whatever shoudle eventually teach someone the answer. They aren't the type of backbreaker questions, but they really do detect BS quite well. Anyone who can't answer them competantly is suited for an entry level position at best. I *also* ask them of entry level applicants, but more to kind of establish a baseline for them, since even entry level people should know the answers to these questions.

J.Ja

it has too much of a possibility of change. Primary key should be something that never changes.

Your giving away the answer!! ;o)

Bill

That's the correct answer. You'd be surprised how many people get it wrong!

J.Ja

Passing by Value or by Reference... seems to me something you would know if you even use Excel. A value is just that, you're passing a particular value (a CONSTANT) OR your passing a reference to one, a VARIABLE, since it could change.

In my particular field we don't use that terminology, but that's what it sounds like - how close am I J.Ja?

That's a *close* answer; from the Excel standpoint it makes sense. Imagine that I have a variable that represents your house. "Passing by value" would mean that when I have a function that I want to provide your house to, I would get the blueprints for you house, a bunch of lumber, build a new house precisely like yours, and pass it to that function. Passing by reference would be if I just gave the function your home address, and whenever it needed to do something, it would go to your existing house and work on it. In pass by value, changes to the variable that the function performs does not affect my copy, since I have the original. In pass by reference we are both working on the same item. Pass by reference is faster (since it does not need to allocate memory, build a new variable, etc. Pass by value takes more memory, since it is making a whole new copy of the variable. However, pass by reference is much less safe, since the function can change the data of the original variable, and in a multithreaded environment, can be VERY dangerous if you are not careful.

J.Ja

I have to agree that the tech interview should be tempered to determine personality and fit as well as expertise. In my experience the candidates who nailed the tech often could not be flexible enough to handle a business setting. The best guy we ever hired came right out and said that anything he couldn't answer off the top of his head he could look up.

On the other hand I interviewed one candidate who could not answer a single question. I think at one point I asked what a byte was just out of frustration. The candidate didn't know.

While it is essential to ask some tech questions, even hiring the guy that know all the answers may not be the best candidate. If a person applying for a technical position has memorized all the manuals, they may know the answers to most questions. But, how are their analytical and research skills?

I have never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the box, but something I learned through my military career has served me well on the job. The simple truth that it is not necessary to know everything or even a majority of things about the job. It is however, imperative, that if you don't know the answers, that you know where to look to find them. I have worked alongside many people we know a great deal about the systems they work on, but when they come to the end of their knowledge base, they are either too limited in their analysis ability or simply to proud to admit that they don't know the answer, to look in the book for the correct solutions.

You are right that knowing where to look is a critical skill. So is knowing *how* to look. Anyone can type a few keywords into a search engine a spend two days sifting through results. But someone who can identify the right search phrase, knows how to effectively read the summaries, and then quickly scan the results for the right information can solve the problem in minutes or hours instead of days. Ideally, that person is also aware of more specialized resources to look at in addition to a general purpose search engine (such as newsgroups or particular forums, maybe a paid-for site, etc.) that will allow them to get results even faster.

IT at this point requires so much specialized knowledge across such a wide variety of topics to be even "competant" (let alone "expert") that there is no way that most people can reasonably know it all. As a result, knowing where *and how* to find things is probably the #2 or #3 most important skill for any IT position, in my experience.

J.Ja

PsiFiScout,
Your post indicates that you perceive the interview as a reflection of what the work environment will be like. While I agree with many of your comments I do not agree with that. More often than not, the interview is 'designed' to reveal as many of your professional- AND personal qualities as possible - in a very short period of time. This may include how well you deal with difficult situations, like an 'attack' on something in your resume, e.g. your education level and/or job experience, or something as trivial as someone interrupting you while you are speaking. Who knows, maybe the interviewer isn't so bad in real life after all? Maybe he has a bad habit of interrupting people while they are talking, but is a wizz at his job and someone you could learn a lot from?
The bottom line of what I am getting at is this: it is better to 'win' the interview, get the job offer, and then later say "no thanks", then ridding yourself of that chance in the interview process.

As a contractor, I've been through a lot of interviews. In software engineering interviews, it's standard to get interviewed by 3 to 5 people. I've found a pattern where one of the interviewers, it seems on purpose, interrupts me or attacks a certain aspect of my career as gleaned from my resume. In each case I simply disagreed politely or argued, as professionally as possible, with the interviewer. I've landed the job in all such cases.

My conclusion is, some companies might do that on purpose to see how you'd handle such situations in your job.

I know were your coming from, but was it a wise thing to walk away? At my present work we have some of the worst job interviewers in HRM that you can image. Our company (leaving HRM out) is one of the best companies on the island to work for.
Another example I have from experience. I was once send out of the room when it came to the salary part. "If you want that salary there is the door" was the reaction of the interviewer. I remained very calm and responded that the salary was negotiable. I explained I really heard good things about the company and I really wanted to work here and did not mind to work for a little less then asked.
In the end I almost got what I asked for and worked for that company for many years.
But I could have walked away.

In situations where the interview is signaling red lights regarding the work environment, I often like to ask this question at the end if I get such a chance, "What ever happened to the last person that held this job?"

This sort of put them on the spot. They have to disclose some interesting facts about the company as a whole.

First time i would ever hear of someone walking out of an interview... I once faced a rude and cruel interview panel but after the interview i was offer the job and also told the interview is to test how i would react to Poor customer/client's attitude.

Sometimes the interview test more than your technical ability.

I completely disagree with three of your points:

1) Dress code
My company has a FORMAL dress code. Coat and tie. With business casual on Friday. If you came to interview on Friday and "just looked around" you'd get the wrong idea about the dress code.

2) Work hours
Some firms I've worked for had flex time policies. Our group takes turns working a 24 hour on-call rotation. How is the prospect supposed to learn about that if they don't ask?

3) Telecommuting
Some of my employers love this and encouraged it - at MCI one "co-worker" came in to the office 4 times in a year. Others don't do telecommuting at all.

If you want to do a good job of interviewing with a prospective employer you MUST ask pertinent questions. Of the right people. At the right time.

"If you want to do a good job of interviewing with a prospective employer you MUST ask pertinent questions. Of the right people. At the right time."

Precisely right! And there is a way to ask those questions right, and there is a way to ask them wrong.

WRONG:
This is a 9 - 5 job, right? Or will I have to work late a lot?

RIGHT:
Does this position regularly require work to be performed outside of normal business hours?

WRONG:
Asking the person that is interviewing you (unless they brought it up first): "What's the dress code?"

RIGHT:
Asking the HR person: "What's the dress code?"

WRONG:
Asking the person that is interviewing you (unless they brought it up first): What's the pay for this position? What is the 401(k) like? Who is the health care provider?

RIGHT:
Asking the HR person these questions!

In general...

The idea here is to phrase these questions in a way that makes you look flexible and willing to do the job. "What's the dress code" to the interviewer on the first interview makes it sound like you want to dress like a bum. As someone else mentioned, you need to be vetting the company. The questions you ask are critical in helping the interviewer see what you care about. Heck, "what's the dress code" is a LOT less damaging if you have asked a lot of the "vetting questions", because then the interviewer see that you are serious about the position and inquisitive. If all you can come up with is, "can I work from home?" or "what are the hours?" it can be perceived that you don't care one bit about the position, just your personal comfort level.

Yes, some people have particular needs. Those people need to preface their question with that need (BTW, do NOT be too specific, I don't need to know about your sick spouse, your children, your church activities, your Gamblers Anonymous meetings, or anything else along those lines) so that the question can be understood in its proper context. "I have a personal situation which requires that I be home at a particular time each night, unless I have at least a few hours of notice. Would this be a problem?" is sufficient and handles the issue properly. It also shows the interviewer that you are upfront and honest, and not trying to slide under the radar with stuff. I've had people come in who on Day 1 surprise you with all sorts of "special requests" and it's really horrible. It costs a small fortune to hire someone, and you feel like you've been lied to when this happens.

Also, anything that would be considered a matter of policy, or be answered in the employee handbook, should put a question that you ask the HR person *unless someone else brings up the topic first*. It is also preferred that you not bring up these topics until you are in the final stage of the hiring process. In other words, if you need to ask questions that may put the employer off, ask them once they've made up their mind to hire you and you are already discussing delicate subjects like salary. Bringing them up in the interview process is like asking a blind date what color her bed sheets are. Some might tell you and not care, but some folks will feel highly offended.

Folks, this is part of "the dance". Yes, some managers (like others mentioned in this thread) have "thown out the book" on interviewing... but many others have not. How do you know in advance which kind of person is interviewing you? You don't! So play by "the rules" and you can't go wrong.

J.Ja

If I interview on Friday and I see everyone wearing jeans I just assume it is casual Friday. I don't expect it all week.

#1) If there is a dress code like you describe, it should be mentioned by the interviewer that "Today is casual Friday..." or the job-seeker could say, "Is the dress code always this casual?"

#2) You could ask a more general version of it, such as, "Is this position for a normal first shift work day?" I think depending on the job, they would know if a rotation is a possibility or not.

#3)The telecommuting question is not an interview question. It's one you save for your manager. If your acceptance of the job depends on it, you should have asked before you got to the interview stage.

I actually like your post better than the original one, it's funnier to. I noticed Toni tends to put really obvious stuff up here (sorry again, Toni, they are of course good advises ... for someone fresh out of highschool maybe :-)).
I only slightly disagree with your 2nd line, that is about the expected hours of work. The different perspective is that you don't ask and you find yourself in an environment where overtime is the norm with no time or money compensation. Unfortunately it did happen to me, and under any circumstances I would NOT accept that kind of schedule another time. So if I feel something funny, (like 5 people still interviewing me at 7.00 PM with no visible nervosity) I do ask that exact question.

I like the ideas posted in this article and in the comments.

I too have walked out of interviews. They simply didn't do their homework before the interview. Just like job seekers, interviewers skip steps. My cover letter always states that I am not able to travel. I don't apply to jobs that mention travel. But I've been to 2 interviews that asked for me to travel 25% or more of the time. Wasted my time and theirs. One wanted me to sign an agreement that I would not refuse to deploy to another country "just in case."

Those conference room interviews are horrible the first time it happens to you too. You walk into a room with one non-intimidating receptionist type person and then 8 executives appear with blackberries and silver coffee mugs wearing $500 shoes. Kinda makes posture imperative. And hiding the shocked look on your face even more so.

As for questions at the end of an interview, I like to ask to take a litte tour, or at least meet the person that would be my supervisor(s). And I typically ask why the position is open and what is the turn over rate - if I have any feelings like they aren't telling me that the last guy quit because the supervisor is an egomaniac or is sleeping with 3 people in the company. If I've been honest enough, I get told some pretty interesting stories. If I get the simple "he just moved away" then I get suspicious.

Yeah, you are right that there are times where that question might be appropriate, particularly for certain positions (call centers, tech support, field maintenance come to mind), or when the interview starts at 5 PM... as I said in another response, a lot of it has to do with who you ask and how you ask it and when you ask it! "What are the working hours?" is perfectly acceptable to ask the HR person, or during the compensation negotiation stage. Asking it during the initial interview, particularly if you did not ask any other questions about the position, simply makes you look bad. Interviewing (on both sides of the table) is one of those things with a huge number of unspoken rules, like dating, wedding ceremonies, funerals, and other "suit and tie events".

J.Ja