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This has been on my chest for a while now.
You know what really, really pisses me off?
Employers who misrepresent what they want.
You are searching for a job. You are looking for something that fits your established skillset, passion, and the like, and matches up perfectly with what an employer puts in the job description.
So you talk to the employer, polish a resume, tailor it exactly to their needs instead of a broad form letter, and then finally do the interview. You’re both excited, the employer loves you, they like your background, you chat for an hour or two about all aspects of the job.
The interviewer is excited, and flat out tells you they’re relieved because they have the right candidate for the job. They’ll forward it on and get back to you.
You wait a day or three then decide to call them back to find out about the status of your resume, and then get the following, or variations thereof.
“Well, we’re really looking for someone with more of a mechanical/industrial background.”
“We’re only accepting people that have gone to design school.”
“Despite the fact that you’ve worked in this field for years, we’re going to go with the candidate that’s been doing it longer/I older/had more jobs in it (higher turnover)…”
This infuriates me. You go back, look at the original job description, look at what the employer wanted.
Did they say anything about wanting someone with an industrial background? No.
Did they say anything about wanting a graduate from design school? No.
Did they say they were looking for 10 years of experience in the field? Beyond “Some experience preferred but not necessary, will train,” No!
Were any of these points brought up in the interview? You guessed it. NO.
Every day, you read all these articles and rants and complaints about how “Good help is so hard to find,” “we have such a high turnover rate,” or “We’re sick and tired of hiring someone, training them for two weeks, then having them quit or finding out they’re completely incompetent for the job.”
I won’t lie. I am damned good at what I do. Good enough to the point that I realize that in my current situation, with my current employer, I have maxed out my earning potential. I cannot make more money.
My job encompasses everything. Not just sales, not just customer service, but administrative, clerical, maintenance, problem solving, design, and anything else. Walk into any larger sales store, like a car dealership. Take the roles there that everyone fills.
I do ALL of it at my current line of work, from being the guy in the office that works with corporate to establish, dictate, and enforce policy to the guy who cleans shit off the bathroom floor.
Several times in the last few years, I have been offered job opportunities. You see, the owner or manager would come in, deal with me, and be happy and impressed with my professionalism. They would tell me about their company, and how they were looking for someone good, or someone who was a quick thinker, etc. So I show interest, and go set up the interview. Then all of this happens again. I’ll give two examples, one less recent and one more recent.
A very high-end furniture company known as Ethan Allen approached me. I spent a good deal of time talking with the people there, and they wanted me to apply because one of their staff members just quit. I knew I was at a disadvantage, so I spent the two days leading up to the interview the best way I could – researching their product, their history, and everything else. I even went in and spoke with the store manager on her invitation because she truly felt that I was qualified for the job and wanted to prep me for what was going to happen in the interview.
Well, the interview was two parts. For a higher end company like that, here’s what it entails. In addition to your history, they want to see your design skills in action. People that go to Ethan Allen have no problem dropping my entire yearly salary into decorating a single room, and they want to make sure you’ve got what it takes. You’re given a floorplan, a budget, a catalog two inches thick, and general info about the family – names, ages, what they like, what they don’t like, basically everything that would help you determine what would suit their needs.
You’re given that evening to design the room, and pitch it to the “customer” the very next day. (In reality you might be working with a client and designing the room over the course of a few weeks) Most interviewees make a little presentation packet. Myself, I went all out.
I had a large piece of posterboard that I then blew up the room floor plans to. I had scale model of the furniture cut out of heavier posterboard, to scale, so the client could get a visual feel as to how it would fit and look in the room.
The other thing that I did that all but assured me I got the job was cater to the client’s needs. I remember that the client had a lot of books, and wanted a lot of bookcases. Well, their budget wouldn’t allow me to do floor to ceiling bookcases the entire length of the wall, so I came up with a creative solution. I placed two larger floor to ceiling bookcases on the ends, and two smaller waist high ones in the middle between them. By doing so, I created a six-foot space on the wall. The manager, who was posing as the “client,” asked me why I did that, and I could tell that she as manager was very intrigued as well.
The reason? The client had four children, and planned on entertaining a lot of company in that room. The space on the wall was going to become the focal point of the room, where the family could hang photos, place trophies, and have it be not only a shrine to their family and children, but a great way to show them off. What parent doesn’t love to show off their kids?
The manager stopped me and said “That’s it. You’re the one I’m pulling for. I’m speaking with the district manager tomorrow when he comes in.” I left, excited and happy. The next day? What happens?
The district manager doesn’t even look at my presentation. Doesn’t even hear what the manager has to say. All he asks is one question: “Has he gone to design school?”
Torpedoed in 15 seconds.
What really frustrated me when I called the manager back for an update, was that she told me they were looking for someone with more sales experience and real world experience. The reason she was impressed with my presentation (and I stayed on budget, the only one out of ten applicants to do so) was because so many people get out of design school and fall flat on their face when they learn that there are budgets, there are restrictions, and there are picky customers.
The kicker? The district manager was the one who had come in my store and wanted me to interview after I spoke with him. He had come in doing what we call a “Comp shop,” where you see what your competitors have. And what’s worse? He KNEW I had no design background when he offered me to come in and interview!
I was very livid over that, and needless to say, I quickly thanked the manager for the chance and her time and hung up before I demanded to speak to the general manager. I would have totally ripped him a new asshole, and I felt justified in doing so.
Not suprising, the person they did hire fell flat on his ass and was fired two months later.
The second example just happened. I was approached by an agency to work for a client. I can’t say the name of the client, because this might still happen, but it’s a high end furniture manufacturer. I went in for the interview with the agency and was hired by them on the spot. They were extremely impressed with my resume, my interview went fantastic.
By the time they had given the client my resume that same day, they had already filled the position.
Okay, bummer, but no big deal. They were very impressed with my resume, and said that they were going to be bringing on not one, but two people, and I had first crack at it when the position opened up after the first one was trained. I respect that, I’m a businessman.
So today I call for a status update and I get this “We’re really looking for more of an industrial background or corporate background…”
Was any of this in the interview process? No. Was any of this in the job description? No. I expressed my frustration to the agency in question, being polite but stern as to how bad this was making their client look and in turn, themselves. I feel I am qualified for the job, everyone at the agency does or they wouldn’t have hired me instantly, and now all I’m asking them is to just get me the interview. If they can get me the interview – I KNOW I’ll land the job.
The trend now is to lower expectations in an interview and become more vague in job descriptions.
So please, employers, do the following:
Stop misrepresenting what it is you want in a candidate, because nobody likes turnover, and frivolous interviews waste everyone’s time and money (And to people looking for a new job, this can seriously put them in jeopardy!) It’s unfair to yourselves as a company and it’s extremely unfair to those who apply, when you don’t tell them additional requirements or misrepresent what you are looking for.
You know what really, really pisses me off?
Employers who misrepresent what they want.
You are searching for a job. You are looking for something that fits your established skillset, passion, and the like, and matches up perfectly with what an employer puts in the job description.
So you talk to the employer, polish a resume, tailor it exactly to their needs instead of a broad form letter, and then finally do the interview. You’re both excited, the employer loves you, they like your background, you chat for an hour or two about all aspects of the job.
The interviewer is excited, and flat out tells you they’re relieved because they have the right candidate for the job. They’ll forward it on and get back to you.
You wait a day or three then decide to call them back to find out about the status of your resume, and then get the following, or variations thereof.
“Well, we’re really looking for someone with more of a mechanical/industrial background.”
“We’re only accepting people that have gone to design school.”
“Despite the fact that you’ve worked in this field for years, we’re going to go with the candidate that’s been doing it longer/I older/had more jobs in it (higher turnover)…”
This infuriates me. You go back, look at the original job description, look at what the employer wanted.
Did they say anything about wanting someone with an industrial background? No.
Did they say anything about wanting a graduate from design school? No.
Did they say they were looking for 10 years of experience in the field? Beyond “Some experience preferred but not necessary, will train,” No!
Were any of these points brought up in the interview? You guessed it. NO.
Every day, you read all these articles and rants and complaints about how “Good help is so hard to find,” “we have such a high turnover rate,” or “We’re sick and tired of hiring someone, training them for two weeks, then having them quit or finding out they’re completely incompetent for the job.”
I won’t lie. I am damned good at what I do. Good enough to the point that I realize that in my current situation, with my current employer, I have maxed out my earning potential. I cannot make more money.
My job encompasses everything. Not just sales, not just customer service, but administrative, clerical, maintenance, problem solving, design, and anything else. Walk into any larger sales store, like a car dealership. Take the roles there that everyone fills.
I do ALL of it at my current line of work, from being the guy in the office that works with corporate to establish, dictate, and enforce policy to the guy who cleans shit off the bathroom floor.
Several times in the last few years, I have been offered job opportunities. You see, the owner or manager would come in, deal with me, and be happy and impressed with my professionalism. They would tell me about their company, and how they were looking for someone good, or someone who was a quick thinker, etc. So I show interest, and go set up the interview. Then all of this happens again. I’ll give two examples, one less recent and one more recent.
A very high-end furniture company known as Ethan Allen approached me. I spent a good deal of time talking with the people there, and they wanted me to apply because one of their staff members just quit. I knew I was at a disadvantage, so I spent the two days leading up to the interview the best way I could – researching their product, their history, and everything else. I even went in and spoke with the store manager on her invitation because she truly felt that I was qualified for the job and wanted to prep me for what was going to happen in the interview.
Well, the interview was two parts. For a higher end company like that, here’s what it entails. In addition to your history, they want to see your design skills in action. People that go to Ethan Allen have no problem dropping my entire yearly salary into decorating a single room, and they want to make sure you’ve got what it takes. You’re given a floorplan, a budget, a catalog two inches thick, and general info about the family – names, ages, what they like, what they don’t like, basically everything that would help you determine what would suit their needs.
You’re given that evening to design the room, and pitch it to the “customer” the very next day. (In reality you might be working with a client and designing the room over the course of a few weeks) Most interviewees make a little presentation packet. Myself, I went all out.
I had a large piece of posterboard that I then blew up the room floor plans to. I had scale model of the furniture cut out of heavier posterboard, to scale, so the client could get a visual feel as to how it would fit and look in the room.
The other thing that I did that all but assured me I got the job was cater to the client’s needs. I remember that the client had a lot of books, and wanted a lot of bookcases. Well, their budget wouldn’t allow me to do floor to ceiling bookcases the entire length of the wall, so I came up with a creative solution. I placed two larger floor to ceiling bookcases on the ends, and two smaller waist high ones in the middle between them. By doing so, I created a six-foot space on the wall. The manager, who was posing as the “client,” asked me why I did that, and I could tell that she as manager was very intrigued as well.
The reason? The client had four children, and planned on entertaining a lot of company in that room. The space on the wall was going to become the focal point of the room, where the family could hang photos, place trophies, and have it be not only a shrine to their family and children, but a great way to show them off. What parent doesn’t love to show off their kids?
The manager stopped me and said “That’s it. You’re the one I’m pulling for. I’m speaking with the district manager tomorrow when he comes in.” I left, excited and happy. The next day? What happens?
The district manager doesn’t even look at my presentation. Doesn’t even hear what the manager has to say. All he asks is one question: “Has he gone to design school?”
Torpedoed in 15 seconds.
What really frustrated me when I called the manager back for an update, was that she told me they were looking for someone with more sales experience and real world experience. The reason she was impressed with my presentation (and I stayed on budget, the only one out of ten applicants to do so) was because so many people get out of design school and fall flat on their face when they learn that there are budgets, there are restrictions, and there are picky customers.
The kicker? The district manager was the one who had come in my store and wanted me to interview after I spoke with him. He had come in doing what we call a “Comp shop,” where you see what your competitors have. And what’s worse? He KNEW I had no design background when he offered me to come in and interview!
I was very livid over that, and needless to say, I quickly thanked the manager for the chance and her time and hung up before I demanded to speak to the general manager. I would have totally ripped him a new asshole, and I felt justified in doing so.
Not suprising, the person they did hire fell flat on his ass and was fired two months later.
The second example just happened. I was approached by an agency to work for a client. I can’t say the name of the client, because this might still happen, but it’s a high end furniture manufacturer. I went in for the interview with the agency and was hired by them on the spot. They were extremely impressed with my resume, my interview went fantastic.
By the time they had given the client my resume that same day, they had already filled the position.
Okay, bummer, but no big deal. They were very impressed with my resume, and said that they were going to be bringing on not one, but two people, and I had first crack at it when the position opened up after the first one was trained. I respect that, I’m a businessman.
So today I call for a status update and I get this “We’re really looking for more of an industrial background or corporate background…”
Was any of this in the interview process? No. Was any of this in the job description? No. I expressed my frustration to the agency in question, being polite but stern as to how bad this was making their client look and in turn, themselves. I feel I am qualified for the job, everyone at the agency does or they wouldn’t have hired me instantly, and now all I’m asking them is to just get me the interview. If they can get me the interview – I KNOW I’ll land the job.
The trend now is to lower expectations in an interview and become more vague in job descriptions.
So please, employers, do the following:
Stop misrepresenting what it is you want in a candidate, because nobody likes turnover, and frivolous interviews waste everyone’s time and money (And to people looking for a new job, this can seriously put them in jeopardy!) It’s unfair to yourselves as a company and it’s extremely unfair to those who apply, when you don’t tell them additional requirements or misrepresent what you are looking for.
There's probably some poor schnook in the same company who's fast and accurate on the assembly line but never used a computer in his life, and they've put him in a data entry job. 
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