Remember when you lied through your teeth (and a big fake smile) as you answer them? What's the most stupiest interview question you've heard in your lifetime? You know, the ones that make you wonder where they get their questions from or what planet they come from?
Mine was:
[FONT color=#ff0000]What is your policy concerning dentist who are into dubious practise?[/FONT]
My first thought was: you've got to be kidding. Then my second one was, Why? Are you into oral sex? (yes, pun intended)
My answer................................. "No, I'm not into that. If a dentist do something that's morally wrong then I'm in the wrong office."
Needless to say I got the job but I turned it down for obvious reasons.
When I've had interviews I'm so well liked apparently I end up controlling the conversation and start asking the questioner questions.
i hope lise doesnt work for the dentist that had the camera in the ladies bathroom...
CHILLIWACK/CKNW(AM980) - RCMP have arrested a Chilliwack dentist after members of his staff discovered a video camera in the staff washroom.
Doctor Mario Laskaris doesn't deny installing the camera but maintains it was for surveillance. He admits making a mistake and claims he'll do whatever is necessary to make it up to his seven female staff members.
The dental office is closed for now but a spokesman for the College of Dental Surgeons won't comment on the case unless Doctor Laskaris is eventually charged by the College itself.
When I've had interviews I'm so well liked apparently I end up controlling the conversation and start asking the questioner questions.
lol....Is it safe to assume you didn't get the jobs where you ended up controlling the conversation ?.....you're delivering papers.....(not that there's anything wrong with that) (//vny!://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/12.gif)
LOL PC, my thoughts exactly!
I'm terrible in an interview......unless there is an obvious connection with the interviewer. Whether it's the same sense of humour or SOMETHING etc. I have a habit of using humour when I'm uncomfortable or nervous, but if the interviewer has no sense of hawhaw....I'm lost.
You've described all my experiences of interviews, PC.
P.C. wrote:
I'm terrible in an interview......unless there is an obvious connection with the interviewer.
And that's the key. It's easy to personalize an interview and make it work, but [span style="text-decoration: underline;"]you[/span] have to do it because the interviewer never will. I've interviewed a lot of times, mostly because I did contract work for several years. Here are my observations, for what they're worth:
First of all, 99% of the time the interviewer doesn't really want to know if you know how to do the job. They're already past that because you're in there interviewing- they already think you can do the job. What the inteviewer really wants to know is, "Can I work with this person without them driving me and everyone else bonkers?" They just want to know if it's possible to get along with you, and in most cases that carries way more weight than the skills you claim to have.
Here's what I do (or did, when I was Out There working for a living):
When you show up, come in and make a little joke. Not a big joke, a little joke. This ain't Comedy Central. No, just make a little joke about traffic or the weather or the size of the building. ("Traffic was moving so slow I thought I was traveling backwards in time", "It's raining so hard there were whales in the parking lot", "Wow, this campus is so large I think I crossed two time zones on the way in".
It doesn't matter what you joke about, you're just doing this let the interviewer know that
a) you have a sense of humor (always good),
b) you're not too serious about stuff (i.e. not fun to work with)
c) this interview isn't life-or-death to you (even if it is)
d) you're relaxed about what you're doing (interviewing)
e) you're a human being, not just some damn number on their list
Next, find something personal on their wall or desk like their kid's picture, something their child might have drawn, a travel photo of them, a knicknack, etc etc and ask about it or make a comment on it. "Oh, is that you in Mexico?", "Did your daughter draw that? Yeah, mine likes bright colors too", etc etc. Again, it almost doesn't matter what it is, you're just doing it to let them know that you're human, personable, friendly, etc.
After you blab a bit and break the ice they might even get around to asking you something job-related (lol) but 90% of the time they're thinking, "Yeah, okay, I can work with this person", and you're a shoo-in.
Finally, never show fear or grovel or treat them like royalty. If you treat the interviewer like God, they'll treat you like a Mortal. That's a Bad Thing[font size="1"](tm)[/font]. If you treat them like just another person (in a friendly way, of course) they'll usually respond in kind. I've done probably 100 interviews and out of all those there might have been 3 or 4 times I wasn't offered the job. Once was because the group I was applying to was disbanded the next day (at Boeing, lol).
Really- just bop in there, kid around a little, establish a personal connection, and you'll more than likely land that sucker. It's worked time and time again for me and I interviwed with some really tough-assed companies: Microsoft, Boeing (where I was eventually hired!), AT&T, GE Valecitos, etc etc.
What's the best angle to work on when they ask you to tell them something about yourself?
Gopher wrote:
What's the best angle to work on when they ask you to tell them something about yourself?
You mean in a personal sense (hobbies, personality, work habits etc) or as in a work-related sense?
If personal, I usually mention I'm easy-going, flexible, enjoy what I do, etc etc. Simple positive stuff.
If work-related, I usually let my resume speak for itself, something like "Well, my resume gives a pretty good idea of what I've been involved in with my career. I like what I do and I want to continue in this field." Something along those lines.
I don't really know. You're just faced with the simple question and then left to wonder what they want to know - where does one start?
Gopher wrote:
I don't really know. You're just faced with the simple question and then left to wonder what they want to know - where does one start?
Then I'd ask them to clarify what they mean- "Do you mean in a work-sense, or me personally?" and then I'd give them a little of both.
Ah, so I've done what's right in the past. Just wanted to clarify this.
P.C. wrote:
[em]When I've had interviews I'm so well liked apparently I end up controlling the conversation and start asking the questioner questions.[/em]
lol....Is it safe to assume you didn't get the jobs where you ended up controlling the conversation ?.....you're delivering papers.....(not that there's anything wrong with that) (//vny!://discoverseattle.net/forums/richedit/smileys/Happy/12.gif)
well, I've only had really one interview for a job and a university interview.
The job was for Best Buy. The interviewer brought it up anyway. He brought up politics. We talked for 30minutes had fun. The guy said he would have hired me but Best Buy has a 3 step process.
1) They accept your application and then say to come sit down for an interview
2) the hiring manager talks to you, then he goes to the the head dude
3) then the head dude decides yes or no
I got to the 3rd step but the head guy said no. Since I wasn't a teenage girl with giant boobs I wasn't hired. Since that's all they hire at this best buy.
The other time it was a university. And the college admissions counselor and I small talked for an hour. People end up liking me the more they talk to me.
I make 400 dollars a week throwing papers.
So its not a negative as you make it P.C. plus I only got the job because my dad throws papers as a side job and makes 80k.
Its hell though. You have no life, plus I like to be around people my own age, which isn't the case here.
Actually, their 3-step process goes like this:
1) They accept your application and then say to come sit down for an interview
2) the hiring manager talks to you, then he goes to the the head dude
3) the hiring manager tells the head dude to say "yes" or "no"
The whole reason they have a "hiring manager" (who is often just an employee dragged off the floor for a day to do interviews) is because the "head dude" doesn't want to waste his time doing interviews, else he'd already be the one doing them. He uses the hired help to do the heavy lifting and they give him a "yes" or "no" that he then approves (or sometimes denies).
People end up liking me the more they talk to me.
That's good, unless your objective is to get a job from the interview. You want them to like you, of course, but don't forget that the real reason you're there is to get a job.
I make 400 dollars a week throwing papers.
So its not a negative as you make it P.C. plus I only got the job because my dad throws papers as a side job and makes 80k.
No negative SD. I'm just saying that I don't think that an interview for such a job would be as rigorous as some.
Hoohaa? Did I miss something here? As a side job throwing papers he makes 80k a year?
Did I roll wrong in the game of life here?
BTW.....lots of good info in your post of the interview process TB.....thanks. [img style="CURSOR: pointer" onclick=url(this.src); src="vny!://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/liebe/a010.gif" border=0]
It IS rather amazing. Who knew !
* that's awful close to 100G here. There's no way a paper thrower is coming in anywhere half close to that where I come from.
Russ wrote:
Hoohaa? Did I miss something here? As a side job throwing papers he makes 80k a year?
Did I roll wrong in the game of life here?
yeah but he works every single day of the year, doesn't get vacation, doesn't go on vacation. Its no fun. Especially since he's got a couple masters in different forms of music. conducting, choir, etc.
He could take a 100g a year job at a big church but for some reason he doesn't want to take it citing musical freedom or whatever lol. So instead he has he makes 30,000 playing in front of 50 people.
Basically he's killing himself, but he's too freaking stubborn to change.
Anyway mom is the big earner without her school salary we are in trouble.
How many hours a day does it take?
My dad's schedule
12am-8am papers
8am-1:30pm sleep
1:30pm to 11pm he's at church
11pm to 12pm sleep
He's been like that for 15 years 24/7 and it shows.
And somewhere inbetween that he helps with my sisters math homework (he's genious apparently 140 IQ never got below an A in school)
bills
Only job I have is taking care of grandma during the day, drive her around etc.
Holy.....I had no idea it was a full 8 hour day. That must cover a HUGE area.
Yeah he throws 1,000 papers. I throw 300 papers and can do it in an hour and a half.
He does the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch plus a 300 paper route of USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Investers Business Daily and New York Times.
I do half of his Wall Street/NYT/USA Today route
plus my own route of the mentioned papers.
So you're making roughly $40 an hour. I'd be happy to be making half that !!!!
I have to wonder why you'd spend so much to go to university.....lol
Yup I make 42 dollars a night. Problem is I only work 2hrs a night basically.
But then whenever I want an actual day job and be around people and have a social life, my dad sorta black mails me with "your not going to make the money you make working for me during the day" (i work for him). He's right, nobody is going to pay me 20 bucks an hour but the job is killing me, only friend I have is the radio at night, that's not fun!
I rather work at a store and make 7 dollars an hour for 7 hours a day and be around people 24/7 then do this job.
Your math is confusing me......LOL
This thread confuses me ;)
SD- your dad sounds like a very hardworking person. Most of us are like your dad in that we do whatever we need to in order to pay the bills, etc. He's been doing it for his family, so count yourself lucky. When you're living totally on your own and buying your own food, your opinions will probably be different.
my route alone makes 42 dollars a night x 6. That's 252 a week, 504 a pay cheque (every 2 weeks).
But I also do my dad's sunday times route which itself is 60 bucks just for one day.
That's 564 every two weeks working 7 days a week.
Now, I also do a part of my dad's route he gives me another days pay in doing that. Which is 42 dollars.
564+42= 606 a every 2 weeks
1,012 a month
I used to do a route that had a bunch of office buildings, office buildings mean big $$$$$ because its all Wall Street journals which is the big paper, you get like 20 cents a paper a for it. That route was 660 every two weeks but I had to give it up.
Now I could do my old route with the office buildings + the route I'm doing now = a lot of money. Problem is I don't own that route anymore.
(its independent contracting, we used to have three routes, one in my name, my mom's, and my dad's, dad got rid of mine the cash cow route because it just couldn't work out)
Lil Me wrote:
SD- your dad sounds like a very hardworking person. Most of us are like your dad in that we do whatever we need to in order to pay the bills, etc. He's been doing it for his family, so count yourself lucky. When you're living totally on your own and buying your own food, your opinions will probably be different.
I know, part of the speed bumps I went through over the past few years are a result of me throwing papers. I started on my 18th birthday for example (the earliest you could start). And I threw papers and went to school on no sleep for a couple months but fell apart. My dad feels responsible for that, but I had to do it for the family.
Dropping out of school is never fun but that's what happened.
Took me 3 years to recover. lol
He's been doing this since '94. All he does is work, work, work. Now he doesn't even go on family vacations. Its just my mom, sis and I now. I miss my old dad.
its not all roses......think of fuel expenses and auto wear and tear/depreciation
yeah I fill up twice a week so that's 60 bucks. Tires only last 1/4 of the year brakes get replaced at 15,000 miles and of course I've tend to run into things, which is demoralizing. I got in two accidents within 3 weeks apart. Even told dad I quit because I'm bankrupting everyone.
Your math still confuses me.....lol 1,012 a month is a little different than $400 a week.
And if you're making that kind of money for an hour and a half a night, KEEP THE JOB !!!!
Sportsdude wrote:
my route alone makes 42 dollars a night x 6. That's 252 a week, 504 a pay cheque (every 2 weeks).
But I also do my dad's sunday times route which itself is 60 bucks just for one day.
That's 564 every two weeks working 7 days a week.
Now, I also do a part of my dad's route he gives me another days pay in doing that. Which is 42 dollars.
564+42= 606 a every 2 weeks
1,012 a month
Sportsdude, you getting screwed!
$504 (2 weeks @ $252/week)
+ 120 (2 Sundays @ $60/Sunday)
+ 84 (2 days of dad's route @ $42/day)
Biweekly total...$708
Monthly total (say 4 weeks)..... $1416
I'm not getting rid of the job. Just hate that I have to do it because its a very lonely depressing job. The job drives you nuts, especially when you want to be around people your own age.
Sportsdude wrote:
I'm not getting rid of the job. Just hate that I have to do it because its a very lonely depressing job. The job drives you nuts, especially when you want to be around people your own age.
[hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]Sounds like a dillemma to me. (Uh, it's a dillemma, right? I get confused with the definition at times) You need it but you can't get out of it even if it drives you nuts.
SD, the thread hijacker! And I thought that I WAS BAD! Glad to know that I'm not the worst one. ;)
Yup, the job black mails yeah, you want to get out because your around shady people at night, and you have in my case been doing this since you were 18. Instead of working with people your own age, making friends, hanging around kids my age group; I'm around people who are poor, been in jail, or are barely surviving, and frauds.
But then the job pays well, but the downsides are starting to out weigh the negatives. I've seen so many people leave this job, new people come in every couple of months. Its so bad I'm now one of the longest working people at work. And I'm only 20!
ugh the job gets to you but then the pay is good, hence why my dad has never been able to let it go, a lot of people are like that doing this job.