I've had my share of bizarro world job interviews. The one today, though, seemed to be very normal and even better than what I thought it would be - very conversational and no silly standard "I printed out this questionnaire from the internets" type questions that you can answer the same way no matter who you are or what job you are interviewing for. But then - right near the end of the interview when the interviewer was explaining the next steps in the process, she kinda casually dropped the following bomb...I would have to meet with the CEO of the organization as part of second-round meetings and he was [and I quote]..."kind of a jerk" and "a real stickler." Huh. I'm not quite sure what happened to my face @ that point. Very odd. I don't think I've ever heard an HR person refer to their CEO [or anyone, really] in those terms. Maybe casually, after a few drinks [though I consistently admire HR people for their remarkable restraint, so maybe not even then]...but during an interview? Huh. To be honest, this doesn't really affect how I feel about the position, but I felt the need to report on this little oddity. Besides, I can handle CEO jerk types and used to do this as my profession.
So yeah, I'm still okay with going ahead with this role, should it float my way. I would be earning almost as much as when I was a professional CEO jerk-type-handler, but the hours are strictly 9-5pm and the work is very straightforward, leaving me with time and energy for at least one volunteer position. It is far from a dream job, which kinda works against me as I'm pretty sure that the person interviewing me knew this as well [though obviously a bit hidden away behind that remarkable HR persona]. That's the bad part [aside from my booting a test scenario where I protected all "confidential information" while announcing a guest - I was able to explain it away as my super strict confidentiality agreement @ my previous job] - the interviewer pointed out that she felt I was too skilled for this particular job and that I would likely be bored, unchallenged and etc. I did offer a defense in that I was seeking a position that would allow me to have a solid work/life balance and incorporate other activities [ummm - such as looking for my dream job] beyond career motivators. This seems to be a real sticking point with jobs like these [and things like retail/service industries]...I know I won't be there forever, but I can guarantee that I would do the job very well for however long I am there [and the inteviewer agreed that I would be able to meet/exceed their expectations for the role]. I expect that there are many people like me out there in this economy - people who find themselves unemployed and are seeking out just a plain old job - something to pay the bills and to ride out until things open up again. It's just a bit frustrating to be too qualified and also not qualified enough.
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I totally know what you mean. In some of the jobs that I've applied for, I've not even listed my college education and minimized my professional experience. Like, "Yes, I was a technical editor for complex scientific reports, BUT I ANSWERED PHONES, TOO!" It's pretty frustrating...
ReplyDeleteThat is a really odd comment for an HR Rep to make in an interview!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the interview went well.
My face went from standard pleasant interview face to a more regular "huh" face and I really had no response. Maybe she was trying to freak me out? That doesn't happen easily.
ReplyDeleteI do have a different resume that I use sometimes [one that removes education and professional work experience] - but I find that I haven't had a more casual position in so long that this often doesn't work out in my favour. However, I get why places don't want to hire people with exceptional backgrounds - they want someone to stay forever and that's not likely to happen with people like us who might have better options on the horizons.