Re: Interview
On Sun, 4 Oct 2009, Joshua Cranmer wrote:
On 10/03/2009 02:04 PM, Dave Searles wrote:
Kevin McMurtrie wrote:
- Misc: Your cellphone rang
So it's held against you if someone else happens to pick a (probably
unknown-to-them) particular period of time in which to decide to want to
talk to you? How ridiculous.
You object to this? How long would it have taken you to have turned off your
cell phone before going into the interview? I timed that it took my six
seconds to reach into the pocket, flip open the top, hold the power button
until it turns off, and then put it back in. There is generally no reason to
have it on for the interview (if you're looking for a job, you're probably
not in a situation where not taking an incoming call immediately could result
in severe loss of life or limb--e.g., being the computer specialist on call
for "our nuclear reactor control computers just crashed").
At the very least, you look careless if you leave your cellphone on; your
ringtones can also say things about you that you might rather not be known.
At the worst, you can give the impression of someone who would be liable to
be called frequently during the work day and therefore be somewhat less
productive than a similar employee.
The first thing i do with every new phone i get is put it on vibrate. I
know when i get a call, but unless i'm somewhere very, very quiet, nobody
else does. I now consider people whose phones make sound rather crude.
the receptionist said you were rude
So now receptionists have a veto over new hires? WTF? I can just see it
now: "Nah, this one isn't cute enough. I'll just tell them he was really
rude. Maybe the next one won't look so geeky." Or whatever other motives
for sabotaging someone.
Most receptionists are not power-hungry sadists wanting to decide who
gets to work at a company. Besides, if there were such a receptionist at
your workplace, it probably wouldn't be an environment I would want to
work in anyways.
Doubleover, many receptionists are cute. Why wouldn't you talk to them?
Also, patronising as this is, some excellent advice my father once gave me
was the usefulness of "friends in low places". In practice, getting things
done is easier if you know the receptionist, the secretary and the
security guard than if you know every C*O on the org chart.
tom
--
Yulava? Niob Yam!