Re: Employment Interview Questions

[Barb Philbrick <caslonsvcs -at- IBM -dot- NET>]

>I've seen this asked on techwr several times. It disturbs and depresses
>me how often it gets the same answer: "Lie!".
<snip>
>If I think you're lying to me about one thing, why should I trust what
>you tell me about anything? You're already half-way out the door.
>
>And now I'll stop, because I'm starting to sound smarmy and priggish
>even to myself.
As someone who has hired people who lied and know other people who
have hired people who lied, I don't think you sound smarmy and
priggish at all. I find it disturbing and depressing, too. It's hard
for those of use who refuse to lie when everyone else assumes you're
lying to get the job.

I know I've lost some jobs because I tell potential clients the truth
-- I don't know xxx tool, but feel confident I can learn it. Some of
my competitors walk in and say they know xxx tool when they don't.
Sometimes they get away with it; sometimes it smacks them in the face.


For my (very) small business, hiring is very important and making a
bad decision costs a lot of time and money. (Probably the same amount
as a big company, but it hits me harder.) If I have to fire someone
because they don't work out, it's also miserable and stressful for me.

There are enough other little "lies" that happen because people don't
know themselves very well. (Case in point: one employee said she could
make her own schedule and wound up working so sporadically that she
was getting in fewer than 10 hours per week.) Don't compound the
unintentional lies with real lies.

I think I'm rambling a bit today, so I'll let it go at that.

Equally smarmish and priggish,

Barb



Barbara Philbrick, Caslon Services Inc.
Technical Writing. caslonsvcs -at- ibm -dot- net
Cleveland, OH