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[NoblesseOblige]

Ugh. I've passed another phase of this hiring process but they're wanting another interview. I really don't understand why organizations break interviews up into multiple and spread them across weeks. So far the process has been:

4/12: Them responding to my application
4/16: Skill assessment test
4/19: Informed test was passed
4/22: Short phone interview in which reference process was initiated
4/25: References all confirmed
5/01: Contacted to setup interview
5/10: Interviewed
5/11: Notified schedule for 2nd interview
5/20: Second interview

Over a month. For Christ's sake, have some respect for people's time. I'm currently employed, so this isn't a huge deal to me. But I can't even imagine how annoying this must be for those unemployed.

 

[suberzat]

After receiving two more rejections today, I think I'm at my wits' end. I've been looking since the last few months of 2014.

I'm a lawyer with 7 years of experience, and I can't get anything in D.C. I need to somehow change my strategy, because this just isn't working.

Yo have you tried doing attorney for hire work. I work on K St for a legal information management support company and we hire attorneys for hire for a nice hourly rate. Also I would apply for these firms Dentons and Wiley Rein. Those two are pretty big and can give you the chance to squeeze in.

Your resume maybe a big reason why you are not getting looks.

 

[diaspora]

Skill assessment tests are for the birds. I've got no problem with skipping over applications that waste my time with such bullshit.

Edit: Like, I'm a grown ass adult with work experience, a degree, and a diploma wherein I spent 4+ fucking years taking tests and assignments, I don't plan on playing 20 questions now.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Skill assessment tests are for the birds. I've got no problem with skipping over applications that waste my time with such bullshit.

Edit: Like, I'm a grown ass adult with work experience, a degree, and a diploma wherein I spent 4+ fucking years taking tests and assignments, I don't plan on playing 20 questions now.

The test I had to take for a hospital position was mostly about measuring a candidate's ability to learn new concepts. Apparently about a quarter of applicants pass it. About half the test was learning some pseudo almost programming but not really language, building its robustness with each question. I actually found it a rather interesting way to filter out people. Better than an interview anyway.

 

[MEsoJD]

I've been a bartender for 15 years and have worked at some of the busiest nightclubs in one the the biggest cities in the United States. Bartending is cute when you're young, especially if you're female, but it's a fucking dead end as a stand-alone career. No benefits, no retirement, no gauranteed wages, working for and with drug addicts and alcoholics, the list goes on and on. I'll go to the grave before I let any of my children Bartend.

You're right. There can be many downsides if you choose it as a career, which is why I do it on the side. Also, location is very crucial.

 

[KUON.0101]

I got an interview next week for Policy Officer (for a NPO).

Prepare, info about the organisation and mission. Dresscode wise I will go between formal and casual. I think the office is similar to that too.

Any other tips?

 

[Watevaman]

Sorry it's a bit off-topic (as in already have a job) but I want to throw a question to you guys. I was hired as an intern back in February for the company I currently work for with the impression that I'd be working at least through the fall. I needed this internship to fulfill a degree requirement, so I was still a "student" when I was hired. I was talking to one of my co-interns today and she brought up that she jokingly asked the boss for more money since she is also graduating and he told her he'd think about it. So, would you guys recommend me asking for a little raise since I now have my degree? My degree is related to what I'm doing, but nothing has really changed since I've been here in terms of job duties. I don't know if you can get a raise solely on acquiring a degree.

 

[entremet]

Ugh. I've passed another phase of this hiring process but they're wanting another interview. I really don't understand why organizations break interviews up into multiple and spread them across weeks. So far the process has been:

4/12: Them responding to my application
4/16: Skill assessment test
4/19: Informed test was passed
4/22: Short phone interview in which reference process was initiated
4/25: References all confirmed
5/01: Contacted to setup interview
5/10: Interviewed
5/11: Notified schedule for 2nd interview
5/20: Second interview

Over a month. For Christ's sake, have some respect for people's time. I'm currently employed, so this isn't a huge deal to me. But I can't even imagine how annoying this must be for those unemployed.

This is pretty normal these days;

However, this is a bit sloppy. References are usually confirmed before a possible offer.

Very sloppy here.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

This is pretty normal these days;

However, this is a bit sloppy. References are usually confirmed before a possible offer.

Very sloppy here.

The references were actually extremely efficient, conducted fully without the need of any supervision. I had to list my references on a webform, hit submit, and it emailed a survey to each of my reference for them to fill out so they could get an aggregate of it. Everything else in my opinion is an extremely sloppy mess. It should not take this amount of time for things to progress in a system that works well.

 

[Kisaya]

Had an interview for an new internship opportunity yesterday and it ended up turning into an interview for a full time position that just opened up. Was definitely caught off guard, but I think I pulled through and did well.

The person who I would be replacing told me she would email me soon for some writing samples (she didn't have her card on her when I asked so it's just a waiting game to see if she actually emails me). What are good examples that anyone here has used?

 

[esmith08734]

My fiance landed a great job in NJ, and today I have an interview for a government job in the area that would more than double my current salary. I have prepped as best I can, have good questions planned, and am ready. Super damn nervous though.

Also, if anyone has any interest in a recreation/tourism job in Little Rock PM me!

PM me.

 

[meowmixer]

Beat this.

So had an interview today with a subsidiary of a major corporation that I drove 3 hours to get to and I can't find the place in the office building. (4 rows of short buildings). Both my GPS and google maps said the address was there but didn't list the company name. The suite numbers are all out of order 130,110,102. I ask people in two offices if they know where it is. One woman blatantly ignores me. The others have never heard of the company. I asked 5 more in the parking lot, same results.

Tried calling the recruiter who is out of state. She said it was right next to a tech company I had seen. Tried every building around it, nothing. When I got home I called both businesses in the building where it was supposed to be, none had ever heard of it and said they didn't share office space with anyone else.

WTF? I finally just left because I figured hell if I get there 40 minutes late I will just be laughed out anyway and I have no contact info for anyone. Weird right? Went about as badly as it possibly could have.

 

[Glass Shark]

I've been doing article and blog writing alongside my normal day jobs on and off for about a decade. I've done freelance stuff and have been a staff writer for a few short stints. I've never put this stuff on my resume, but more and more positions in the field I'm interested in is starting to require a writing background. I believe I have the chops, but what's the best way to represent this moonlighting on a resume? Should I just put it in one big block and list like "2007-present" or something? Really lost on this front.

 

[Syphon Filter]

I am one of the finalist and I received an email saying that I need to explain what I took away from a discussion I had with the person. Most likely trying to see if I was paying attention right? They also said what other benefits / assets will I bring to my co-workers. Anyone know any good answers for the benefits/assets question? I need to answer by tomorrow and I would really appreciate the help.

 

[B-Dubs]

I've been doing article and blog writing alongside my normal day jobs on and off for about a decade. I've done freelance stuff and have been a staff writer for a few short stints. I've never put this stuff on my resume, but more and more positions in the field I'm interested in is starting to require a writing background. I believe I have the chops, but what's the best way to represent this moonlighting on a resume? Should I just put it in one big block and list like "2007-present" or something? Really lost on this front.

Put "Freelance Writer (years)" for all your freelance stuff.

 

[delirium]

Holy shit, I just talked to the CEO of one of the companies that gave me an offer. Blew my mind with the numbers he offered. Beat every other offer my a large margin. Benefits are great also.

I've been sitting here saying WTF and in disbelief for the past few minutes.

 

[Sylas]

Holy shit, I just talked to the CEO of one of the companies that gave me an offer. Blew my mind with the numbers he offered. Beat every other offer my a large margin. Benefits are great also.

I've been sitting here saying WTF and in disbelief for the past few minutes.

Congrats!

 

[delirium]

Congrats!

Thanks! I can do a write up of what I did after I got laid off to here if someone wants it, but it might only be relevant to my field (software).

 

[Minamu]

Well, back again. This is getting so damn frustrating. Just got yet another automated negative response to an application. What does it take to get an entry-level QA testing job these days? :/

At first, I got a "personal" response from the company's QA lead that said they'll be in contact within two weeks after the first wave of selection had been done, which sounded good, although I never responded to it (I'm always unsure whether I should respond or not to such emails). But today I got rejected, without a constructive explanation as usual, and I'm kinda confused, really.

I have four years of higher studies in the field (game development), more than 10 original projects in my portfolio, top performance marks from another QA gig in the field, I have a reference at the actual company which I mentioned, I've got about two years worth of studies in psychology and well-being, and I'm currently working at a high-security firm which I wouldn't be if I were lazy or unprofessional. If anything, I'm over-qualified for a QA-tester position but I can't even get that, wtf

 

[esmith08734]

I thought I bombed an interview with a really great company. Talking #1 in their respected field in the country and I was really down on myself. It was during finals week, so I was distracted.

The software lead just emailed me and said I had a good technical interview and wants me to come down to meet the team and the building.

Shit, I am nervous. Is this potentially the final step?

 

[delirium]

I thought I bombed an interview with a really great company. Talking #1 in their respected field in the country and I was really down on myself. It was during finals week, so I was distracted.

The software lead just emailed me and said I had a good technical interview and wants me to come down to meet the team and the building.

Shit, I am nervous. Is this potentially the final step?

Sounds like a culture fit interview.

 

[Syphon Filter]

I thought I bombed an interview with a really great company. Talking #1 in their respected field in the country and I was really down on myself. It was during finals week, so I was distracted.

The software lead just emailed me and said I had a good technical interview and wants me to come down to meet the team and the building.

Shit, I am nervous. Is this potentially the final step?

Very similar to my current situation. Like delirium said it is most likely a culture fit interview and potentially the final step with less candidates this time.

 

[HarryHengst]

Well, i just had a fun month working at a healthcare organization. I was hired April the 13th and fired yesterday, the last day of my probation period during which they could fire me without any reason or cause. After that period passes i had a contract for a year which would make firing me basically impossible during that time.

I was hired to replace a guy who is going away on a 6 month trip starting this August. They were keen to hire someone early to give plenty of time to get up to speed. The position was to create and manage a shitload of management reports build in Excel (using VBA and SQL). The dude i was supposed to replace is literally the only person in the entire company that knows how the Excel sheet works, and pretty much all income depended on the reports generated by the Excel spreadsheet as its how they reported everything to insurance companies and the government. So, pretty important job all in all.

Unfortunately from the very first day the dude i was supposed to eventually replace was mostly away either due to him taking his remaining time off or because he worked in another office, roughly 100km away from were i worked. I was not expected to go to that other office as the distance would make commute times unreasonable. I saw the person who should teach me everything at most twice a week, the other days he simply wasnt around. So, most of the days i was left to my own, with no one there who was able to help me. I tried my best to make something of my working days, from day 2 i told my manager that hey, the situation was a bit shitty and im left doing some self study and exploring the system. The manager was constantly telling me that everything was fine and she understood it all took time and i was like well ok, i guess it will take a bit longer than i thought but it's fine because clearly thats what they expected.

So, after a few weeks passed i started to feel that i got some understanding of how things worked. I was starting to be able to do some actual work for other people. But suddenly i was let go because 'i wasnt pro-active enough'?? I asked the manager what i should have done differently, and how they expected me to work if the only person who could help me isnt around 4 out of 5 days, but she gave no answer to that except the 'you had to be more pro-active'. So yeah, nice, i was let go without any clear indication of what they had expected me to do.

Back to looking for another job...

 

[Pastry]

I thought I bombed an interview with a really great company. Talking #1 in their respected field in the country and I was really down on myself. It was during finals week, so I was distracted.

The software lead just emailed me and said I had a good technical interview and wants me to come down to meet the team and the building.

Shit, I am nervous. Is this potentially the final step?

Yeah, at this point they're just trying to figure out if you'll fit in. Don't dismiss it as non-important and act like you've got it though. Often times culture fit is just as important if not more so than experience to managers.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

Damn, the internship I used to work for deleted the videos I made for their YouTube channel. I could've used those for work samples. I should've converted and downloaded them, but that thought never occurred to me.

 

[richiek]

So last week I was informed I was a was a finalist for a position and was told I would have a phone interview with the global head of IT on Monday and they could make me an offer on the spot if they liked what they heard. I'm pretty sure I bombed the interview (nerves, plus I'm exhausted/burned out at my current job causing me not be mentally sharp). I sent a thank you email but haven't heard from them since. Since they said they want to fill the position immediately (beginning of June), should I keep my hopes up or should I just move on and keep searching?

 

[Slo]

Wife interned at a place about a year ago, she liked them and they liked her, but there wasn't a position available for them to hire her upon graduation. She moved on. Long story short about 9-10 months later they had budget to open a position up, and they contacted her personally and asked her to apply.

She had the interview, was told that there were multiple applicants and that they'd be doing second interviews in the following weeks. The next day HR contacted her and offered her the job.

The point is that they knew they wanted to hire her all along, despite posting the position publicly and calling multiple people in for interviews. This sucks for all the people who didn't get the job and all, but the reason I bring it up is that those people shouldn't regard their interviews as failures, and they shouldn't take it personally. A waste of their time? Possibly. But not an indictment of their abilities, they'd have had to completely blown the interviewers away in order to usurp my wife.

So even though it's frustrating to get rejected and strung along, don't let it crush your confidence.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Wife interned at a place about a year ago, she liked them and they liked her, but there wasn't a position available for them to hire her upon graduation. She moved on. Long story short about 9-10 months later they had budget to open a position up, and they contacted her personally and asked her to apply.

She had the interview, was told that there were multiple applicants and that they'd be doing second interviews in the following weeks. The next day HR contacted her and offered her the job.

The point is that they knew they wanted to hire her all along, despite posting the position publicly and calling multiple people in for interviews. This sucks for all the people who didn't get the job and all, but the reason I bring it up is that those people shouldn't regard their interviews as failures, and they shouldn't take it personally. A waste of their time? Possibly. But not an indictment of their abilities, they'd have had to completely blown the interviewers away in order to usurp my wife.

So even though it's frustrating to get rejected and strung along, don't let it crush your confidence.

This gives me hope as I share somewhat of a similar situation. I'm an intern as a designer at an agency since Feb and it ends later this month. They don't have a spot right now for full time and they told me they can give me a call if something comes up.

 

[NEO0MJ]

How do you guys push yourself to keep applying after doing it for a while?

Damn, the internship I used to work for deleted the videos I made for their YouTube channel. I could've used those for work samples. I should've converted and downloaded them, but that thought never occurred to me.

I lost all my old college projects when my laptop's hard disk broke. Feels really bad.

 

[Dreamwriter]

So last week I was informed I was a was a finalist for a position and was told I would have a phone interview with the global head of IT on Monday and they could make me an offer on the spot if they liked what they heard. I'm pretty sure I bombed the interview (nerves, plus I'm exhausted/burned out at my current job causing me not be mentally sharp). I sent a thank you email but haven't heard from them since. Since they said they want to fill the position immediately (beginning of June), should I keep my hopes up or should I just move on and keep searching?

You should definitely keep searching regardless - not saying you should give up non that job, but until you have accepted a job offer, it's always good to keep searching.

For example, I've got a company actually flying me to another state to meet with the team for the final "fit" interview, having passed all their real interviews and technical tests, and on Monday I have a final phone call with another company which if done well *they* will fly me to *their* state to meet with their team. But even with these two jobs I consider mostly "in the bag", I'm still searching and applying - I just got a new first phone interview scheduled for Tuesday with someone else. You never know what may happen, good or bad.

 

[entremet]

Had an interview for an new internship opportunity yesterday and it ended up turning into an interview for a full time position that just opened up. Was definitely caught off guard, but I think I pulled through and did well.

The person who I would be replacing told me she would email me soon for some writing samples (she didn't have her card on her when I asked so it's just a waiting game to see if she actually emails me). What are good examples that anyone here has used?

Well edited Medium posts if you have any.

Your best papers.

Published stuff from school--newsletters, websites, etc.

 

[Hylian7]

I talked to a recruiter from a company on Friday, and had phone interview with someone in upper management of that company today, and apparently they are offering me the job.

I have a few questions here. This is a developer job, and the pay isn't as big as my last job, still better than my first job, with good raise potential. I'm not going to say the company name here, but if anyone wants to know and potentially has insight on it, PM me.

The company is based somewhere else, but I would report to their contractor company's office where I live.

1. They went from phone interview with business (not technical) guy straight to offer. This seems really bizarre and makes me nervous about it. Has anyone seen anything like this? He asked about my technical background in the form of "tell me about your background". This right here makes me question the legitimacy of this, but what I am googling seems legit.

2. Glassdoor was a little confusing to find concrete info. This company has stuff all over the country, and the reviews were mostly good, few bad. However not a single one was from where I am, however he said the team would be 3 people and pretty much just started.

They said I should be seeing the offer letter and background check (they do stuff with the government) form soon. I'm nervous to say the least, but excited to finally be somewhere after a year of unemployment.

At least this company hasn't gone " LOL SELL SHIT AT HOME DEPOT " like an interview my girlfriend had once, when the position was dressed up as something else.

 

[TaterTots]

So the job I was offered has changed how they bring on employees in. I have to register with the state before I'm allowed to start and that can take several weeks. I'm at my wits end.

 

[StoneFox]

Does anyone here have experience with getting A+ Certified? Is it difficult?

 

[PlatypusDude]

Well, the job/paid-internship I had lined up for this summer cancelled before I could start, branch location was apparently under performing and was forced to put on a hiring freeze/fire anyone that was hired in the last year including what I was gonna do, so I get to go around applying for retail jobs now since it's to late to really find any paid internships around where I am at this point so hurray.

 

[Jzero]

Does anyone here have experience with getting A+ Certified? Is it difficult?

I got mine in march. It's not difficult, you just have to memorize everything. I still haven't been able to get a job though so you're just going to have to suck it up and get a shitty IT help desk job.

This should help you:

http://www.examcompass.com/comptia-a-plus-practice-test-1-exam-220-901
http://www.examcompass.com/comptia-a-plus-practice-test-1-exam-220-902

 

[maxcriden]

Damn, the internship I used to work for deleted the videos I made for their YouTube channel. I could've used those for work samples. I should've converted and downloaded them, but that thought never occurred to me.

Really sorry to hear it--have you contacted them to see if they still have a copy?

 

[StoneFox]

I got mine in march. It's not difficult, you just have to memorize everything. I still haven't been able to get a job though so you're just going to have to suck it up and get a shitty IT help desk job.

This should help you:

http://www.examcompass.com/comptia-a-plus-practice-test-1-exam-220-901
http://www.examcompass.com/comptia-a-plus-practice-test-1-exam-220-902

Thanks, I just got a job at Fry's Electronics and they require all their service techs to be certified within the first 90 days

 

[Hylian7]

I talked to a recruiter from a company on Friday, and had phone interview with someone in upper management of that company today, and apparently they are offering me the job.

I have a few questions here. This is a developer job, and the pay isn't as big as my last job, still better than my first job, with good raise potential. I'm not going to say the company name here, but if anyone wants to know and potentially has insight on it, PM me.

The company is based somewhere else, but I would report to their contractor company's office where I live.

1. They went from phone interview with business (not technical) guy straight to offer. This seems really bizarre and makes me nervous about it. Has anyone seen anything like this? He asked about my technical background in the form of "tell me about your background". This right here makes me question the legitimacy of this, but what I am googling seems legit.

2. Glassdoor was a little confusing to find concrete info. This company has stuff all over the country, and the reviews were mostly good, few bad. However not a single one was from where I am, however he said the team would be 3 people and pretty much just started.

They said I should be seeing the offer letter and background check (they do stuff with the government) form soon. I'm nervous to say the least, but excited to finally be somewhere after a year of unemployment.

At least this company hasn't gone " LOL SELL SHIT AT HOME DEPOT " like an interview my girlfriend had once, when the position was dressed up as something else.

I talked to them again, it is in fact a legit job and I am in fact in with what I want to be making. That happened crazy fast.

 

[Jzero]

Thanks, I just got a job at Fry's Electronics and they require all their service techs to be certified within the first 90 days

WTF i didn't even get a call back from them and i'm already certified ;_;

 

[Vicetrailia]

So I got a job as a temp at a manufacturing company after being laid off from my last mfg job.

I'm realizing that this whole thing isn't working for me. What's a good entry level position somewhere else? Retail/Resturant doesn't pay. I can do sales. What else should I look for?

 

[Dreamwriter]

So I got a job as a temp at a manufacturing company after being laid off from my last mfg job.

I'm realizing that this whole thing isn't working for me. What's a good entry level position somewhere else? Retail/Resturant doesn't pay. I can do sales. What else should I look for?

If you're anywhere near game developers (primarily California, Seattle, New York, Austin TX in the US), you might get a job as a game tester. If you're good at typing, sometimes you can find data entry jobs. There's also front desk at hotels. I once had an entry-level job packaging things on an assembly line in a Nintendo warehouse.

 

[Vicetrailia]

If you're anywhere near game developers (primarily California, Seattle, New York, Austin TX in the US), you might get a job as a game tester. If you're good at typing, sometimes you can find data entry jobs. There's also front desk at hotels. I once had an entry-level job packaging things on an assembly line in a Nintendo warehouse.

I'll try those. I'm done with mfg/warehouse until I graduate and move into management, plus I need to expand on other skills which is why I want to try sales.

 

[StoneFox]

WTF i didn't even get a call back from them and i'm already certified ;_;

I'm sorry I hope they get back to you, when they emailed me it went straight to my spam folder.

Edit: also, they only accept paper applications so if you haven't filled one out I would do that.

 

[dity]

My latest interview resulted in another rejection

 

[delirium]

I talked to a recruiter from a company on Friday, and had phone interview with someone in upper management of that company today, and apparently they are offering me the job.

I have a few questions here. This is a developer job, and the pay isn't as big as my last job, still better than my first job, with good raise potential. I'm not going to say the company name here, but if anyone wants to know and potentially has insight on it, PM me.

The company is based somewhere else, but I would report to their contractor company's office where I live.

1. They went from phone interview with business (not technical) guy straight to offer. This seems really bizarre and makes me nervous about it. Has anyone seen anything like this? He asked about my technical background in the form of "tell me about your background". This right here makes me question the legitimacy of this, but what I am googling seems legit.

2. Glassdoor was a little confusing to find concrete info. This company has stuff all over the country, and the reviews were mostly good, few bad. However not a single one was from where I am, however he said the team would be 3 people and pretty much just started.

They said I should be seeing the offer letter and background check (they do stuff with the government) form soon. I'm nervous to say the least, but excited to finally be somewhere after a year of unemployment.

At least this company hasn't gone " LOL SELL SHIT AT HOME DEPOT " like an interview my girlfriend had once, when the position was dressed up as something else.

I'm also a software dev in Austin. If you still think its shady, PM me. I can ask some friends who might have experience.

 

[Roland_Gunner]

1. They went from phone interview with business (not technical) guy straight to offer. This seems really bizarre and makes me nervous about it. Has anyone seen anything like this? He asked about my technical background in the form of "tell me about your background". This right here makes me question the legitimacy of this, but what I am googling seems legit.

2. Glassdoor was a little confusing to find concrete info. This company has stuff all over the country, and the reviews were mostly good, few bad. However not a single one was from where I am, however he said the team would be 3 people and pretty much just started.

A couple of thoughts:

1. If the glassdoor reviews are generally positive it probably isn't THAT bad. My experience is that, especially in IT, unless they been bought recently or something, glassdoor is a pretty accurate gauge for what to expect.

2. Some tech fields, especially for companies that don't pay that well to start, is super-tight right now. I'm a project manager and a couple of months ago a recruiter reached out to me on Tuesday, we talked on Wednesday, and she referred me to an in-person with the division director for Friday. Didn't get the job but it was kind of shocking.

3. If you aren't sure about the job keeping applying. Who knows, something better may come up while you're ramping up.

I've been several places and work with a ton of devs so if you'd like to chat more in PMs hit me up.

 

[Darren870]

I talked to them again, it is in fact a legit job and I am in fact in with what I want to be making. That happened crazy fast.

I had a manager in a different department once just hire people based on her gut. She wasn't technical but would ask some background questions and hire people off that. The department was in a hard place at the time so she would just hire anyone that said they had experience.

Problem is, all but one, everyone was shit.

Not to say that happened with you, but this was a fortune 10 company just hiring people without any technical interviews. So it does happen !!

 

[malfcn]

Our retail company is reorganizing. This means a few titles changes, some with different responsibilities. And everyone has to reapply, even if it's the same position.

 

[Syphon Filter]

I have a question regarding background checks and references. If I didn't provide any of them can they still do that?