The first thing my first boss said to me

[alluvial]

Not sure if you are too busy to read me post thoroughly enough, but you do seem to have missed the bit where he asked me to go through the CV in chronological order. I did try and preci each role, but there were interjections like machine gun fire that required me to go a little deeper. This is the bit I was referring to when I said I did not understand why he was so interested in what I did 18 years ago, and did not ask one single question about what I did in the past 5 years.

Also you seem to have missed the bit where he was rude, boorish, hostile and down right obnoxious. Even introductions were not given.

But you forget that users rarely understand what they really want. He had stated that it needed to be done quickly so you should have rolled up the early gigs into a summary. Leave the detail until you reach the more recent ones. By going into detail for early roles, you were setting yourself up for questions and dragging it out.

If he truly was so nasty, then you are probably better off out of there. Part of contracting is being able to handle these types. It could have been that he wanted to get home and you had started off into long detailed explanations of what you did at each gig. A bit like when my father-in-law came back from holiday and he would give a long description of his motorway journey, junction by junction. I had to smile and nod then, this bloke didn't, he was signalling that he was losing interest.

[suityou01]

But you forget that users rarely understand what they really want. He had stated that it needed to be done quickly so you should have rolled up the early gigs into a summary. Leave the detail until you reach the more recent ones. By going into detail for early roles, you were setting yourself up for questions and dragging it out.

If he truly was so nasty, then you are probably better off out of there. Part of contracting is being able to handle these types. It could have been that he wanted to get home and you had started off into long detailed explanations of what you did at each gig. A bit like when my father-in-law came back from holiday and he would give a long description of his motorway journey, junction by junction. I had to smile and nod then, this bloke didn't, he was signalling that he was losing interest.

Please take this away with you for consideration.

He asked me to go through in chronological order.
I started in the fashion you describe.
He interjected with questions that made me have to break it down into more detail.
This inquisitiveness into what I was doing 18 years ago confused the bejeezus out of me and on reflection I would have to say the guy was an idiot that has no clue how to interview contractors.

Let's look at an example.

You are looking to have an extension built on your house. You interview a number of builders. Each builder comes with a portfolio of work going back over the past 5 years. You would rather see work he did nearly 20 years ago.

The building regulations have changed massively for the stricter in this time, building materials have changed and green legislation has changed along with health and safety.

What insight into the builder do you gain?

What insight does the builder gain of you?

[OwlHoot]

I'd say that you missed the basic requirement when he stated that he wanted your run through of your CV to be done quickly. ...

In that situation I would have forcefully suggested running through the CV in reverse order, from the most recent gig backwards.

That way (as I'd point out to them) they could choose to stop as soon as they were satisfied, which would probably be fairly quickly, and at the same time I would have conveyed my recent experience.

[MarillionFan]

In that situation I would have forcefully suggested running through the CV in reverse order, from the most recent gig backwards.

That way (as I'd point out to them) they could choose to stop as soon as they were satisfied, which would probably be fairly quickly, and at the same time I would have conveyed my recent experience.

How dare you talk such sense? Begone Troll!

[tractor]

In that situation I would have forcefully suggested running through the CV in reverse order, from the most recent gig backwards.

That way (as I'd point out to them) they could choose to stop as soon as they were satisfied, which would probably be fairly quickly, and at the same time I would have conveyed my recent experience.

I like the cut of your sig

[suityou01]

In that situation I would have forcefully suggested running through the CV in reverse order, from the most recent gig backwards.

That way (as I'd point out to them) they could choose to stop as soon as they were satisfied, which would probably be fairly quickly, and at the same time I would have conveyed my recent experience.

I'm getting the hint I need to grow a pair

[MarillionFan]

I'm getting the hint I need to grow a pair

After six years, that's only just started to sink in. My dog's smarter than you.

[suityou01]

After six years, that's only just started to sink in. My dog's smarter than you.

Mrs MarillionFan is not that smart, but she does go right round the rim.

[fullyautomatix]

Well I love the Suity threads despite others laying into him.

Welcome back mate, missed your posts <---manly

[original PM]

Please take this away with you for consideration.

He asked me to go through in chronological order.
I started in the fashion you describe.
He interjected with questions that made me have to break it down into more detail.
This inquisitiveness into what I was doing 18 years ago confused the bejeezus out of me and on reflection I would have to say the guy was an idiot that has no clue how to interview contractors.

Let's look at an example.

You are looking to have an extension built on your house. You interview a number of builders. Each builder comes with a portfolio of work going back over the past 5 years. You would rather see work he did nearly 20 years ago.

The building regulations have changed massively for the stricter in this time, building materials have changed and green legislation has changed along with health and safety.

What insight into the builder do you gain?

What insight does the builder gain of you?

Nothing at all - however as you alluded to the guy did not know what he was actually trying to achieve with an interview.

Some people think being an interviewer is about catching someone out on obscure sh1t.

Makes them feel them feel powerful - has no benefit to the interview process.