Reply to: Weird Interview...

[rurffy]

I know a guy who got a job in an IT support team because he told the interviewer that he used to be a Tai Chi instructor. The interviewer misheard him and thought he had said IT Instructor.

Haaa!! - thats not true is it?

[radish2008]

But well (I used to be an IT instructor years back) I was able to explain in detail to him all the questions he asked even gave him examples.

I know a guy who got a job in an IT support team because he told the interviewer that he used to be a Tai Chi instructor. The interviewer misheard him and thought he had said IT Instructor.

[stek]

Weird Interview...

I usually get more of a chat than direct questions such as 'have you use NPIV and Partition Mobility before' giving me the opportunity to bang on about partition ID's and WWPN's.

On the other hand I've had the same question from the same interviewer a few times now! - how do you switch to privileged user on IBM HMC - hi Gareth!

[rurffy]

WHS. I have been surprised at how poor some candidates have been recently, ranging from the typical spelling errors on CVs through to inability to speak English and staring at the floor when answering questions.

Mistakes on CV and inability to speak proper English is just a no no for me if i had to interview a candidate.

For example - seen few CVs with Arrestable mistakes like Exsi 6.1 (Mate!!! Theres no 6.1 where did you get that from? )

Or asking a candidate "how do you unlock a user account" Answer - Through group policy - ... Like WTF!!

[GB9]

I will always ask some technical questions to weed out the bloggers. There are so many awful IT people around you need to do this to figure out who has taken the time to learn their so called area of expertise. Anyone can claim experience on a CV unchecked.

WHS. I have been surprised at how poor some candidates have been recently, ranging from the typical spelling errors on CVs through to inability to speak English and staring at the floor when answering questions.

[JoJoGabor]

I will always ask some technical questions to weed out the bloggers. There are so many awful IT people around you need to do this to figure out who has taken the time to learn their so called area of expertise. Anyone can claim experience on a CV unchecked.

[GB9]

There is no need to know EVERYTHING off the top of your head.

First question I ask. "Do you know EVERYTHING?"

Keeps the interview short, one way or another.

[psychocandy]

Although it does bug me a bit when people ask stupid technical questions....
Look at my CV, see where I've worked. Ask me about that.

Don't ask me obscure things that you happen to use on your tulipty little network and hope I wont know off the top of my head. An experienced professional will be able to work out anything they haven't seen before in minutes anyway (google is your friend!).

There is no need to know EVERYTHING off the top of your head.

[rurffy]

I prefer telephone interviews, I got my recent gig with a telephone interview that lasted about 1hr 30mins. The dude was asking me loads of technical questions but elementary ones.

He said he wanted to know if I blagged on my CV because the last 5 people he had interviewed didn’t know what DHCP was… (In my mind I was like WTF? DHCP…?) .

But well (I used to be an IT instructor years back) I was able to explain in detail to him all the questions he asked even gave him examples.
In the end , I turned into the interviewer – asking this dude technical questions and suggesting options for the projects. (I felt just Jack bauer )  …

I got the gig though 5 mins after the long call.

[kaiser78]

Funny thing is, if the agent had called you to tell you this before you got there people would be accusing the agent of fishing or going for a cheaper candidate etc etc so it does happen and isn't always an agent being devious

Have been in the same situation twice, in both cases the role changed after interview so didn't get the gig. Part and parcel of the way we work IMO. Chalk it up and move on.

Not sure why this would be the case. If the agent is aware that the role had changed or been removed, surely they should be contacting the candidate, out of common courtesy than anything else. Oh yes of course...ignore.

[GB9]

Which is one advantage of phone interviews - you can cut them short. Its not an option if people have travelled for 2 hours for a face to face interview.

Trust me, it is! I had 2 interviews for my current gig, the second of which lasted 12 minutes and involved a 6 hour round trip at a cost of £150. Basically the division head wanted to see if my face fitted.

[eek]

Agree with that. Nothing worse than dragging an interview out for an hour because that's what is expected. Out of all the people I interviewed last week I knew within 10 minutes who was getting an offer and who wasn't.

Which is one advantage of phone interviews - you can cut them short. Its not an option if people have travelled for 2 hours for a face to face interview.

[GB9]

My favorite interview lasted about 15 mins. The guy told me that he did not see the point of long interviews and only wanted to establish whether I was lying on my cv and he would determine this by asking various technical questions. 15 mins later he said that he was happy, I had the gig and I could go so he could sort out the paper work.

Agree with that. Nothing worse than dragging an interview out for an hour because that's what is expected. Out of all the people I interviewed last week I knew within 10 minutes who was getting an offer and who wasn't.

[MyUserName]

My favorite interview lasted about 15 mins. The guy told me that he did not see the point of long interviews and only wanted to establish whether I was lying on my cv and he would determine this by asking various technical questions. 15 mins later he said that he was happy, I had the gig and I could go so he could sort out the paper work.

[psychocandy]

20 mins telephone interview and then you find out next day whether you get the gig or not = good start to a contract.

2 interviews, crap aptitude test, waiting a week for decision = never ends well. Usually waste of time.