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Re^4: On Interviewing and Interview Questionsby sfink (Deacon) |
on Aug 29, 2005 at 05:23 UTC ( [id://487331]=note: print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
because I hate my current job
Like I said, I don't think there's any completely right or wrong answer. But this is about as close to a wrong answer as you can get. "So, honey, I hear that you've found yourself somebody. What's he like? Are you happy with him? Does he really love you?"A bit of a stretch, but the point is that your dislike of your current situation doesn't say anything encouraging about how much you'll like your new job, and in fact makes the interviewer worry about your history repeating itself. You hate your current job. Um... okay, so do you think you'd like this job, or are you desperate enough to take anything because you figure nothing could be as bad as where you are now? Are you justified in hating your current job, or are you one of those people who ends up hating any job? If something is so awful about your current situation, couldn't you have done something about it rather than giving up and hating it? Have you learned anything from the experiences you've had at your current job, and if so, why aren't you talking about things from that perspective rather than starting out with the negative? And considering the field full of red flags that you raise by telling an interviewer that you hate your current job, why aren't you being a little more discreet about it? Now, there's nothing really wrong with hating your job, and there are many legitimate reasons for doing so. And if you're getting the new job through contacts, then you may very well be in a situation where they already know something of your current situation, so it's the right thing to do to tackle the big issue head on. But generally speaking, I'd have to say that your answer is about the worst you could give, and I would probably spend the rest of the interview trying to put my mind at ease about the dozens of danger signals that your answer kicked off in my head. because X (the person who referred me) said that this is an awesome group to work with, and if he lived here, this is where he'd work This isn't the greatest answer either, except that I would still be very inclined towards you if you came to me through someone I trusted. The answer gives you points for enthusiasm-by-proxy, but I'd still want to hear it from you. The problem with this answer is that it doesn't directly answer the question -- you're not giving any characteristic of the job that makes you want to take it; you're only saying that you're interested in the job because someone you trust is interested in the job. I guess this would be appropriate if you were asked the question early enough that you hadn't had a chance to figure out anything about what the job would be like. But it's still weak unless you eventually bolstered it with a reason why you, personally, find this exact job appealing. I work for Reactrix Systems, and am willing to admit it.
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