Well...I applied for a job over the internet on a whim and figured I would never hear about it again. Well, they sent out personal info questionnaires to the three references I list (one of which was my boss...why???...they asked me for his info and never gave me an option about not contacting my current employer). So my boss asks me what those were for and I played dumb, but eventually fessed up that I was just throwing my name in the hat to see what would shake out. Unfortunately, after discussing this with my boss, I didn't get a raise, but did get a slight shift in job duties into an area that I'd definitely prefer to be in. Getting back to my request...all of this occurred about two weeks ago...but, I get a call on Friday afternoon from this potential employer wanting to know if I can come in for an interview on Monday morning (a lot of time to prep!!! ). So I agree to come in and inquire about who is going to interview me...and that's when I lost all of my self-confidence. Now I have no problem sitting down with someone, mano-a-mano, and discussing what I bring to the table...but in this case, I'm being told that I will be interviewed by a "committee" of four people. One person is the director of IT (I'm going in for a programming position), my possible future supervisor, and two of my possible future co-workers. After hearing this, I've been shell shocked and have lost most of my confidence in being able to represent myself properly. I'm also a bit underqualified for this job as it is asking for experience in some software packages (Cold Fusion and Crystal Reports) that I do not have any experience in (I'm primarily a C++/Oracle/SQL Server guy). Any hints on how to deal with a group firing line? I've almost taken the attitude of "what the hell"...I'm already employed so I've got nothing to lose...but I don't really like that attitude. If I can represent myself well and get offered this position, I would be making a serious climb up the ladder. Thanks for any help you guys might be able to dole out! And sorry for the short notice!!
My most time consumiing interview was with Sabre. Five people interviewed me and tested me over a period of 4-5 hours for a position. Are they going to be interviewing you at the same time or in series? Anyway, I wouldn't sweat it - if you know, you know, if you don't, you don't. I doubt you're going to change much about that. I don't mind being interviewed by groups - I usually take the first few minutes to see how they interact with one another first. If they're open and joking with one another, I play off that. If they're all business, then that's probably a company I wouldn't want to work for anyway... lol. Also, never put down your current employer as a reference unless you don't care about getting fired. You've just put doubts into the minds of your supervisor(s) at your current job as to how long you'll be around. Hopefully he won't axe you or make you the next victim on the totem pole of layoffs.
Luckily, my current boss was pretty understanding. I work for a small company that has an enormous amount of business coming its way...so I'm a bit reluctant to be looking. But, of course, if a significantly better job shows up, I'd be foolish to not look. Thanks for the input DOD...I liked your response about if you know it, you know it...if you don't, you don't. That eases the tension a bit. And...I will be given a 45 minute exam after the interview...I have no idea what the exam could be over. Again...thanks for the input!!!
A lot of times, prospective employers ask if they can contact your current employer. If that happens, you are put in a bad spot. If you say "yes" , see the quoted post above. If you say "no", then your prospective employer thinks that you have something to hide. Just hope that doesn't happen to you.
The way to counter this is rather than a simple yes or no, you write "yes - conditional upon an offer". Most human resource people will accept this.
This is not what happened. On the application, three references were requested, with one of them being my current supervisor. There were no options asking for my permission to contact any of my references. I incorrectly assumed that I would be interviewed first, and if I made a good enough impression, they might follow up with references before making an offer. I was pretty upset, but was glad to see my boss play it off and give me a vote of confidence. Whether or not I'm offered a position after my interview and testing tomorrow, I will probably get in contact with the HR department for this company and ask them why in the world did they do that. They could potentially cost some people their jobs.
Yup. Or the usual "references available upon request". Usually the calling of references is the last thing they'll do (unless it's some headhunting agency just looking to increase their meat database). The company interviewing you knows you don't want to lose your current job if you don't get the one, so they should be flexible about that. I don't know what's up with this company... I wouldn't have called your current employer. lol.
