h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just looked at my last journal entry. Nothing much has changed. Peaches are ripening, I have a phone interview in a few minutes. So, yeah, I'll check back in another year, I guess.

OK? Good to see you however briefly, I guess.




(Come back more often.)

a phones going to interview you, bloody marvellous what they can do now with technology eh

(hope all goes well)

I'm sure some things must have happened since you wer eout! so... come back more often!

Well, that was a weird interview. I figured they would like to know whether I had experience with this or that chemical analysis. Nope, apparently what challenges I've overcome in the workplace and what misconceptions some people might have about me is more interesting? pfft, whatever.

I'm not liking the current trend toward trying to get me to say what I made in my last job as a basis for what I should get paid at the next job. It's a nasty negotiating technique, meant to get people who are traditionally undervalued in the workplace (women and POC) to remain underpaid.

Apparently it's a big problem with those who aren't aggressive on salary rises (I for one would definitely fall into this category) and also those who pick up extra skills.

Hi Prof Animal Chaos, Hi Baron Grim, Hi 2legs! Good of you to drop by

just Prof will do

my rule when applying for jobs years ago, was HOW are you going to pay me to work for you

just Prof that is

Hi NBB! I honestly don't get the whole money thing, why should we have to argue for every penny?! Also falling in the same pile of questionable practices is holding down the minimum wage well below a living wage so that the level at which one can be considered salaried, and therefore not entitled to overtime pay, is likewise absurdly low.

Not sure which I hate more, phone interviews or panel interviews. And the question 'what are your challenges?' I'm supposed to be selling you my skills, not telling you how they're substandard. That said, I did just land a job for which I sat one personal 15-minute interview with the person who would be my direct supervisor, not some clueless HR rep.

Good luck on yours! And do stick a toe in occasionally, it's nice to see old familiar monikers.

Of my nearly 40 years of working, I really only interviewed once. And then, it was 3 supervisors of departments that had no clue what my work would be. Entirely unrelated trades from theirs. These guys were specialists in the rebuild and repairs of various aspects of aircraft, and when I told them that my field was anything RADAR, navigation aids or a radio systems of any size (5 Watt portables to 20 KWatts and talk around the world), their eyes glazed over.

I'm still not entirely happy about being medically forced into retirement, just in my mid-50s.

There is none of this in Germany. A job interview is straightforward with no fancy questions. At least I've never heard of it.

No doubt the big global companies use these new-fangled methods because they get told to by their Head Offices in the US, who have no idea of the local mentalities.

Hi Happy Nerd - good to see you.

Scuse me for dropping in on this thread, but I hope all goes well for you with the job application, and I completely agree with your thoughts...

"I'm not liking the current trend toward trying to get me to say what I made in my last job as a basis for what I should get paid at the next job. It's a nasty negotiating technique, meant to get people who are traditionally undervalued in the workplace (women and POC) to remain underpaid."

Yes indeed - I had a good job interview once, with people directly involved in the management of the role so that went well, but then I discovered a few months later that I was being paid less than other colleagues because of having previously worked in an industry (with a high proportion of women, POC, disabled people) where the same responsibility grade attracted a lower salary... It is rather underhand, because job evaluation processes should theoretically make things fairer so that you are paid for what you do, not what you used to do...

On the other side of that same argument (which I *completely* understand), when I was job hunting a couple of years ago a lot of the online applications required your last salary or a salary requirement. I know that this led to me not getting as many callbacks because their pay grades were significantly below my requirements. I know this because a couple of them did call me out of desperation - they couldn't find other qualified applicants, but would almost hesitantly slip into the conversation that the rate they were offering was 40-50% below my last salary. At least one of them said that if I changed my mind I could call them back and they would absolutely offer me a job (if I decided I could get by on half my salary).

(On a side note, how can a company expect to attract qualified applicants if they can't offer a competitive living wage?)

In the end I finally accepted an offer making about half my salary because my severance was about to run out and it was crunch time. Fortunately before I started that job I got another offer for roughly 75% of my salary, and before I started that job I took a third offer for only $2 less than my last hourly rate.

Y'all actually manage to get actual face-to-face interviews? Luxury!

My online applications net nothing more than an auto-reply acknowledgment of receipt.

I hate interviews.

It's very rare that the people you deal with have any clue whatsoever about the job you're applying for. Far too often the first step in the process finds someone quickly flicking through an application or a CV looking for keywords and phrases, and if you don't have them, you're rejected out of hand. Regardless that you may be the best person for the job, you just haven't been coached in how to write an application. It's not like the job you're applying for is writing application letters!
If you do manage to get through that stage, there's the phone interviews. I hate these. I'm useless on the phone. But you know, you have to be able to talk comfortably and confidently about yourself, just like you would on a daily basis at the job that has nothing to do with that.
And if you manage to get through that part, there's the face to face interviews. People who don't understand the job you'll be doing, who'll never work with you, asking formulaic questions about how you can cope with hypothetical situations that will never arise.

I'm sorry, but very, very little about the modern interviewing process actually has anything to do with how capable you would be in the job.
I can understand that you need to be able to get on with your work colleagues, a happy team is far more efficient. But when everyone's happy and incapable, it's not really productive.

I just hope this brewery keeps going and I never have to interview for a job again.

interviewer - what's your name ?

interviewee - oh! hard questions first eh!

Good to see you around, HN, and good luck with new jobs

I have only had to to do cursory interviews to keep the job I've had for nineteen years as contracts changed four, now five times. This last contract change resulted in a pay cut and that woke me up. I won't go through another. Instead I am working on honing my skills and becoming a professional photographer.

So instead of cursory interviews every five to seven years, I'll be setting myself up for interviews with every prospective client!

Double you tee eff was I thinking!?



Nah, but I do think I will be much happier promoting my skills to clients than going through perfunctory interviews every five to seven years with people who have no clue about what I actually do.

I just need to build my skills and my confidence. Clients who come to me will be self selected by the images they have seen on my website once I have a decent portfolio.

Anyway, that's what I'm telling myself right now.