…never talk about the money you want on the first interview
My candidate last week was perfect for the job. She goes to the interview and things are going great…until…she starts talking about how she has been under paid and she is now going to make up for it by being sure she gets paid “what she is worth”.
The hiring authority, naturally, asks her what she thinks she is “worth”…she tells him $20,000 more than what she is now making.
The interview went south after that….
Don’t ever, ever, ever talk about “what you are worth” until you have established your value to an employer.
…never take it personally
Today one of my candidates got called by an employer I sent him to a month ago. The candidate called him to check in as the employer told him to do. In fact, the candidate called the employer close to 25 or 30 times over two or three weeks and never got a return call.
Frankly, you and I know that is rude, but I kept telling my candidate to keep calling. Don’t take it personally. These hiring folks will tell you that hiring is a priority but not call you back even though they say they will…rude, rude, rude.
Well today, out of the blue, the hiring authority calls the candidate, tells him that he’d like to see him tomorrow and talk about an offer. He never apologizes or acknowledges his never returning the calls. Nothing.
Well, the job is a good one, so my candidate is going to go to the interview tomorrow and talk to the hiring authority.
The lesson is: never take it personally. We won’t know why the employer didn’t return the calls, but the job is still a good one and the candidate should still consider it.
…it was a disaster..
…the saturday interviews…well, the CEO brought her six year old to the office with her…while she interviewed…
even worse…one of our candidates, who had his daughter for the weekend..(he’s divorced) couldn’t find a baby sitter on such short notice, so he took his eight year old daughter with him to the interview…with crayons and all…instructed her to wait in the reception area of the company..
between the CEO and this candidate, they talked about kids most of the time…very little about his qualifications, etc.
the other interviews didn’t go much better…it is hard to get someone’s attention when they have their six year old with them doing anything..
try not to interview on a saturday morning…stay home with the kids and watch power rangers or something like that!
saturday morning interviews
Hiring authority insisted on interviewing tomorrow morning…she is looking to replace her controller and doesn’t want the whole office to know it, so she decided to interview four candidates tomorrow…
I have never liked Saturday interviews…too casual…just isn’t business…we’ll see how it goes…
I guess it is better than no interviews…but it is still not the best environment…
we’ll see…
…great questions
my candidate got hired…in the second and third interviews he asked great questions:….”what is my competition like?…what do i need to do to make it clear that i am your best candidate?…are there any concerns about my experience that i need to make clear?… what, in your eyes, might be concerns about hiring me?…what, in your eyes, are my greatest strengths relative to this job?”
he asked strong, hard, confident questions..he wasn’t afraid to lose…he got hired!
don’t believe what you hear…
one of my candidates has been waiting three weeks for an offer he was told he was going to get…it was not my client, thank goodness…but i kept telling him to keep interviewing…but he wouldn’t listen…it was his dream job..
he has been calling the hiring authority every three or four days…has a start date and has been told, “no problem”..
well, today he found out that the hiring authority is going to be promoted…good for him..bad for my candidate..
they are going to wait on hiring…either promote from within or hire a new manager from outside the company..
sadly, the hiring authority knew this was a possibility a month ago, but wanted to hedge his bet, that if he didn’t get promoted he would hire my candidate…he was dealing to what was best for him and not the candidate..
lesson: don’t believe a damn word about “we are going to hire you”..until you get an offer letter..
my candidate is devastated…
