My son has just gone out to apply for a job. And, because he’s a teenager, he declined any advice from me. (Have you ever seen anybody’s hair heat toward the ignition point and begin smoking?) He pointed out that it’s waaaay too easy for me to think I can offer gratuitous suggestions about work, because I already have a job.
Yeah.
So he missed out on what I was going to advise that he read: Top 10 interview mistakes.
(Hint: Those who “answered cell phone and asked the interviewer to leave her own office because it was a ‘private’ conversation” didn’t get the job.)
Fingers crossed that the kid is soon employed.
5 responses so far ↓
wrjones // May 14, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Take the battery out of his phone before he leaves house for interview. Also, tell him to save the joint for the celebration after getting the job.
Did you ever write a book about a painter stealing his neighbor’s flowers?
C.D. Reimer // May 14, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I once took a phone call from a recruiter while taking a leak in the restroom of a Fortune 500 company that I was contracting at. Of course, it was an auto flush toilet. The moment I stepped away, it flushed. The recruiter asked me if this was a bad time to talk, and I told her it was a good time to talk. I think she heard my voice echoing off in the empty restroom. That restroom was the only place I had any privacy at that particular company.
Patti // May 15, 2008 at 1:36 am
I really like the one about the classified writing sample.
On the topic of potentially deadly interview gaffes, in response to a question about why I didn’t have “Romeo and Juliet” on my fake outline for a Shakespeare course, I blurted out, “Because that play makes me gag!” Then there was a fair bit of ’splainin’ to do. For some reason that I have yet to fathom, they hired me.
djpaterson // May 15, 2008 at 11:16 am
Note to self: stop sniffing own armpits.
I remember having to borrow a friend’s suit for my first job interview - very 80s and very shiny (more silver than grey, I recall). Got the job though.
susan // May 15, 2008 at 11:55 am
‘Splainin’, Patti? What part of “makes me gag” didn’t they understand?
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