I’m currently working to backfill a position at my company for a Senior Systems Administrator. Even though I’ve received a couple hundred resumes over the past 3 months, I have yet to fill the position. Yes, I’ve had some people in for interviews but none of them have been quite the person I’m looking for…..well there was one, but we were too slow to make an offer and he accepted a position elsewhere. How that transpired is probably fodder for another post.
Through the process of trying to identify qualified applicants, I’ve come up with these 10 things that pretty much ensure that you won’t be on the receiving end of a job offer. Yes, all the examples cited here are true.
1. Don’t spell-check your resume and cover letter.
I can’t believe how many people don’t perform this simple task. In most editors the spell-check is automatic. So either people are turning off the spell-check, or ignoring the highlighted words that are marked as incorrect.
2. Make sure you are using the incorrect word
This is closely related to spell-checking the document. Sometimes a word will be spelled correctly, but it’s the wrong word. For example I had a candidate indicate that he had experience with “cash servers” instead of “cache servers”. The word was spelled correctly, but was completely wrong.
3. Get your former employer incorrect.
If you worked for a large national company, or a regional company in your area that everyone will know about, then for goodness sakes get the company’s name right.
4. Don’t read your resume and cover letter out loud.
To ensure that your resume and cover letter contains comprehensible and reasonably intelligent sentences, read it out loud. No, it doesn’t count to read it in your head; you must speak it aloud so your ears can hear it. Better yet, have someone else read it OUT LOUD to you. And having two or three people read it is better than one.
5. Don’t include a cover letter
Actually not including a cover letter won’t get you disqualified, but it certainly drops your overall impression in my mind. And if you do include a cover letter spend a couple of paragraphs telling me exactly why (based on the job description in the ad) you are a great candidate for the position. Just saying you are responding to the xyz ad doesn’t cut it. If you are smart enough to include a decent cover letter you just added a bunch of points to the mental point calculator that I keep a running tally on as I evaluate your submission.
6. If I call you for a phone screen, wait several days to call me back
I’m guessing that if you sent me a resume that you are actively looking for a position. That means that you should actually take an interest in responding to my phone calls and eMails. Even if you have accepted another position you should still respond because guess what, odds are that we’ll cross paths again. If you are interested and you’ve taken 5 days to call me back it’s nothing but an uphill battle for you. Have a pre-scheduled vacation? Great, no problem. Just let me know in your cover letter that you’d love to speak with me, but will be unavailable for a few days, and then give the dates you’ll be gone.
7. Call me from the server room or a restaurant
Make sure you are prepared and have the time and a nice quiet place to conduct the phone interview. When I call you the first thing I ask is if it is a good time. If it isn’t, say so. I’ll happily schedule a time when we can speak for 10-15 minutes. I had people do their phone screen from the server room (I love the sound of 20 server and UPS fans whirring in the background) with terrible cell coverage (see #8), and from a bar at a restaurant while they were waiting for a table.
8. Use your cell phone for extended conversations
Sorry, but irregardlessly (yes, I know that’s not a real word) of advances in technology cell phones still sound like cell phones 93.4% of the time. Unless it’s a very brief call, make sure you use a land line in a quiet environment to speak with me. That also means no kids or noisy animals in the background. I actually asked one guy if he had a pet dolphin. Turns out it was just his noisy bird in the background.
9. Don’t do the basic things I ask
If I send you an eMail with our job application and ask you send that back to me BEFORE your scheduled onsite interview, take the time to fill it out and send it back before you come in. If you don’t then it tells me you can’t follow simple instructions. And for a Senior Admin position I expect that you can follow directions without me holding your hand.
10. Don’t show up for the interview (or show up late with no phone call)
As strange as it may seem, I’ve had two people not even show up for a scheduled interview. Why not……? I have no idea. One called the next day and said he forgot, and the other never bothered to call. And if you got stuck in bad traffic on a freeway that just had a giant sign fall onto it stopping all traffic, call me and I’ll understand if you’re running late or need to reschedule.
I have more helpful tips for making sure you don’t get a job offer, but I titled it “10 things” so I’ll have to stop for now.
February 7, 2006 at 6:08 am
[...] As might have been guessed if you followed yesterday’s link (not many folks did, but that might have been because of the way I did the link in snipurl, and I deliberately didn’t put a lot of information in the post), Doug Hampshire has started a blog here. I know Doug as a manager, a techie and as a friend, and I am very glad that he’s started writing – his first post is “10 things to make sure you don’t get a job offer“. Go check it out, and leave him a comment or two letting him know you’re there, what you think, and maybe suggest other aspects of this topic that he could write about. [...]
February 7, 2006 at 7:05 am
re: #10 – what about when the interviewer doesn’t show up for the interview? I had it happen fairly recently and that person and company was immediately on my black list.
February 7, 2006 at 11:03 am
Just in case my favourite candidate is reading:
~11. Show up drunk to an interview.
You’d think it’d be obvious wouldn’t you.
Maybe your next article could be things to say at interview: Starting with #1 What was the job again?
Wendii (recruiter!)
February 8, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Want a job? Don’t do these 10 things…
Judging by his first real post, Doug Hampshire should be a welcomed addition to the blogging community.
Click here to get to his post on 10 things you can do to make sure he doesn’t want to hire you.
Thanks to Gary Slinger for the link to Doug’s new …
February 9, 2006 at 1:01 am
Nice entry. The pet dolphin remark cracked me up!
February 9, 2006 at 7:34 am
I can add another to the list: copy a cover letter verbatim from a book, and just circle the appropriate information.
This actually happened to me once. I received a cover letter with “Date ______” and the date written in by hand; addressed to “Dear Hiring Manager” even though my name was clearly specified in the ad; “In response to your advertisement in the newspaper1/newspaper2/newspaper3/newspaper4″ with the appropriate newspaper circled, and “applying for a position as programmer/systems analyst/consultant/…” with whatever we called the position circled. The only reason that letter didn’t go straight to the shredder without passing Go was that I censored out the person’s name and address and now I use it as a horrible example.
Another good one: misspell the name of your own street! Got one of those once, too, although admittedly I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t happened to be looking at a map of that exact neighborhood (for other reasons) just an hour earlier!
February 9, 2006 at 8:28 am
Hmmm… I think I interviewed that guy as well (the cover letter).
February 9, 2006 at 11:36 am
I once had an interview for a position at a major Computer Software company where I asked the applicant why she was leaving the company to which she was currently employed. Her answer, “They make me work too much.” I asked a few more requisite questions and excused her. I was dumb-founded.
February 9, 2006 at 12:25 pm
#6 suggests that even if the applicants accept another position, they should still respond to phone calls or e-mails from the interviewer. It is a shame that most interviewers feel no obligation to call applicants and tell them someone else has been selected. I’ve interviewed for jobs, been told that they will contact me, and heard nothing. Voice and e-mails never responded to.
February 9, 2006 at 12:31 pm
[...] I already pointed out Doug’s post “10 things to make sure you don’t get a job offer“, and it’s receiving favorable attention – one of those “been there, done that” things, I suspect. [...]
February 9, 2006 at 12:32 pm
Chris R,
I agree wholeheartedly. It’s the responsibility of the hiring company to maintain that communication and let applicants know about their status. Unfortunately common courtesy appears to be anything but common these days.
February 10, 2006 at 1:28 am
Good points, they are all practical and people do make these mistakes, more than once I should say!!
February 10, 2006 at 8:48 am
Your Expectations Sound Reasonable, but
I get the impression you guys have set the bar a little high for today’s IT world.
Let’s face it, most geeks are not social butterflies and are known for their technical commitment not their presentation skills. If you ever work with any of the outsourcing companies or use an offshore model you will quickly realize it’s your job to figure out how to successfully communicate with your reports.
Honestly, do you want someone reporting to you with strong communication AND technical skills? What do you think the chances are this person will be using their communications skills on your boss or your boss’s boss?
I suggest you have a global conference call with your development team in India, your operation support team in China, and your help desk from the south. Something tells me your attitude towards interviewing technical employees will quickly become less elitist sounding.
If I have imperfectly stated my position I do apologize in advance
February 10, 2006 at 8:55 am
i had an interview once. it was going well until the lady asked: what is your weakness? i replied “i havnt got any, whats yours?” to which she should have said-a vodka and coke please!. she went on to explain how this was standard interview procedure. i went on to say its the most stupid question i have ever heard. best wishes. mark.
February 10, 2006 at 9:12 am
MT,
Yes I actually expect my Tech people to interface well with out internal and external customers. Gone are the days when you had the uber-geek *nix ghod that you kept in the back room away from actual people.
And as far as communicating to my boss and bosses boss, I’ll help them do that. Part of my hiring criteria and my team development goals are to try to identify and help the people that work for me be able to step in and replace me. My success is only dependant on how well I help my people and my company succeed.
I was fortunate to have a few good mentors as bosses (and of course a few lemons as well). They took an interest in helping me to develop my skills and move on to bigger and better things.
I currently do work with India and have managed/worked with global employees ranging from EMEA to the Pacific Rim so I’ve got a good handle on the cultural and regional differences.
I do appreciate your view and comments though.
February 10, 2006 at 9:27 am
Hampshire Doug
I understand your perspective, but I prefer very limited communication between my upper management and my tech guys. I cannot tell you how much time I have spent fixing miscommunications between upper management and tech people.
My experience has shown me every single time my management bypasses me and goes to my tech guys I will spend considerable time righting the ship. Now for my PM’s it’s different, they communicate with management quite well. This issue is very common with my peers in our large corporate environment.
Bottom line as long as we make our management happy it really does not matter which process works.
All the best.
February 10, 2006 at 12:05 pm
“Honestly, do you want someone reporting to you with strong communication AND technical skills? What do you think the chances are this person will be using their communications skills on your boss or your boss’s boss?”
It’s generally considered a sign of good management to hire smart people – people that are “better” than you are. Otherwise, who takes over from you, eventually, when YOU move on up, or out?
February 10, 2006 at 12:07 pm
“i had an interview once. it was going well until the lady asked: what is your weakness? i replied “i havnt got any, whats yours?””
If I was religious, I’d make the observation that the last person that could say that died a couple thousand years ago. But I’m not, so I won’t, But seriously – you’re “perfect”? Of course, you don’t need to admit to a professional weakness – but you DO have them, because everyone does. But there’s some generally accepted ways of answering this – some of them are even in the various links in this topic
February 10, 2006 at 3:45 pm
The problem works both ways. I’ve an interviewer who promised to call me but never did. They narrowed down the candidates to me and another lady. I called back a day later only to be told that the position has been filled. I shot them an email to tell them that I’m not very happy with broken promises (I mean, I really waited by the phone the entire day, make my phone line free, not going out, just to wait for that one phone call). I’ll probably never going to work with that company again but do I want to work in one like that anyway?
Just because one works for another faceless corporation doesn’t entitle one to be rude to applicants and feel superior about it. Yes, we can still play by the protocol, mainting the bargaining power but at least be nice about it.
If some, though not all, interviewers cannot maintain a standard (common courtesy like calling, responding appropriately etc), how can they expect the same out of applicants.
That was my experience as a candidate.
As an interviewer, I experienced the same problem too. No cover letters, one paragraph email which reveals nothing about the candidate, showed up in jeans & T-shirts for an administrative position, give phone numbers that one cannot be reached (as opposed to not picking it up).
February 11, 2006 at 6:48 pm
As the hiring manager and sometimes the only interviewer, I am very busy all day, hardly have the time to interview.. There is no way I am going to call back each candidate to tell them that I found someone else, or they didnt fit the position, etc. If they are exceptional and it was a very hard decision and I want to potentially hire that candidate within the next 6 months, I may call them back. But beyond that, you need to brush up on your skills and pad that resume if you are sitting at home waiting for a phone call..
I know that sounds harsh, and to be honest I have been there myself. Regardless if it is your present financial hardship, or its the perfect job that is right by your house, sitting at home waiting for a call back for a job is bad sign.. I can guarentee you unless you are MIA and impossible to get a hold of, your position will not be given away because the HR lady reached the answering machine or a busy signal. Thats not to say if the line is disconnected and they are not able to get a hold of you in a timely manner they wont look to someone else. But if you find yourself in the situation of really needing a job, your time is best spent brushing up your skill set or resume to stand out above your peers and place yourself in a position where you know that if the employer does not contact you it is surely their loss and it will only make their competetior who will eventuly hire you that much better. Thats what to strive for at least!
February 11, 2006 at 6:51 pm
Oh forgot to mention I pretty much agree with everything in this article. And I am in charge of hiring uber-geeks..
February 11, 2006 at 10:31 pm
P-Dog, sorry if I didn’t elaborate. I didn’t mean to say that if I answer the phone, I’ll be given the job. We already went for a few rounds of interviews. I was not one of the 20 or 30 initial applicants. I was one of the final two candidates. How difficult it is to make that phone call? It’s courtesy if a promise has been made.
I understand that it is impossible to call all candidates. That’s why advertisements often put “only shortlisted candidate will be notified” yada yada.
And yes, I still agree with everything mentioned by Doug.
February 13, 2006 at 2:49 pm
नौकरी न मिलने के निश्चित कारण!!
आज के समय में नौकरी पाना बहुत कठिन कार्य हो गया है, और अच्छी नौकरी पाना और भी कठिन। कई कंपनियाँ अच…
February 15, 2006 at 7:42 am
Just an observation. I agree it has to be a process how to hire people but current interwieing process reminds me of a game. If you know the rules and play by them you might get a better chance than a person much more professionaly suited than you. There are books, articles, councelors. e.t.c. and grown up, professional people still make stupid mistakes such as misspelled words ,and ‘wrong’ answers to a standard ( although more often than not stupid) interwiew questions. What I found hurts the most – most people keep forgetting the fact that this game is very impersonal even though you tend to take each ‘failure’ very, very personal. How can you not?!
February 15, 2006 at 10:29 am
Most of this sounds like common sense sort of stuff, but it’s still good to hear again.
I agree with most of what’s been said. However, in regards to notifying candidates about their status, I personally think it’s a matter of professional courtesy to notify a candidate regarding their status if they’ve been interviewed.
A person coming in for an interview takes time out of their schedule, rearranging schedules, sometimes taking time off, maybe making arrangements for family members, travel time, time spent at the interview — it can be a considerable amount of time and effort. Granted they’re the ones looking for a job and this is to be expected. However, if someone has taken the time to show up for an interview, it’s only polite to acknowledge that and provide the courtesy of a followup regarding their status when a final decision has been made. Saying you’re “too busy” is nothing but a weak excuse to justify why it can’t be done.
February 15, 2006 at 2:37 pm
Not everyone has access to a land line and where cell coverage is great (like a big city) most people don’t even have one. To some that do have a land line, perhaps Mr Squawky Bird has no other place he can make a business call from (other than a cell phone or a pay phone). I’d call from a pay phone before a cell phone even though the chances of call quality is about equal sadly.
Regarding being “too busy” to inform candidates, I can see how it’s justified but hypocritical. The “relationship” has already started out with more sacrifice than compromise. As an applicant, I present myself and take the most risk of the relationship. Is company XYZ coming to MY HOUSE for the interview? No. Most cases I’m coming to them. The most a company does is simply puts out “bait” in the form of a position opening and they get hits, a lot like real fishing to a degree. Sure you’re holding the line and reeling the fish in but we’re the ones actively biting. Are you cold calling people in the phone book seeing if they wish to join your company? 99% of the time that is never the case (and probably illegal somewhere).
Basically put, the interview/application/whatever process is already skewed against me. If you won’t take the time to call me back regarding a position (regardless of whether or not you said I “have a good chance” or other words to keep me on the hook) I don’t really have to return your call either. Yes I look like a dork but I’m the one selling myself here. If communication is going to suck that bad in the interview process, I really don’t even want to be contacted X months later when you have a “perfect position” for me. Sure I wouldn’t want to burn any bridges but if you think your time is some how more important than mine at that stage you’re sadly mistaken. Yes, I may seem to need the position more than someone who already has a job but that doesn’t mean I take it in the rear from every Joe Schmoe at company X just because I need the money. I’d be getting enough of that as a salaried employee, why let recruiters join the train? At the end of the day I excuse both parties actions as “we’re too busy” and be done with it. You’re too busy to call me back, and I’m too busy looking at competitors to call you back.
I’m not trying to be mean about all of this, I can just see a lot of shades of grey when it comes to this sort of thing. The company still holds all the cards and decides who will fill a position. There will be some level of sacrifice but professionals understand the meaning of the word compromise (simply a sacrifice or sacrifices made by multiple parties so that not one side gets the most benefit). This eb and flow is what makes people actually enjoy the process and bring real communication to the mix, not just forced courtesy.
February 24, 2006 at 7:27 am
My PeopleSoft Technical Interview Questions
I have no illusion that I am the world’s greatest interviewer. Nevertheless, I’m often asked to help screen PeopleSoft Technical candidates for my clients. So I came up with a list of what I think are easy-to-moderate questions across a broad varie…
March 4, 2006 at 10:18 pm
Hampshire, you are a coward. You don’t have enough gallantry to keep my post on your pointless blog. Good luck hiring such misfortunate individuals. Ciao forever.
March 6, 2006 at 10:08 am
Muffin Bran,
Curious comment you made. I haven’t deleted any comments? Um, Ciao I guess.
November 11, 2007 at 10:30 pm
something else you should add is “not doing your homework.” Every interview and potential job opportunity you should be prepared for. basically know everythikng about your company and also get the most options. Check out websites like http://www.jobbi.com, and do your research.
February 19, 2008 at 10:19 am
I agree with the majority of your points; however, I must vehemently disagree with #6. In this day and age, when companies routinely do NOT inform the top candidates in the running for a particular position that they were not chosen, the candidates are ALSO not obligated to tell the company ANYTHING. Please.
I’m sorry, but if you’re one of the final two or three candidates being considered for the position, and you’ve been interviewed from asshole to appetite, it’s just professional courtesy and human decency for the organization to call and tell you you didn’t get the position. Anything else is bullshit, and I’m not buying that crap from the one poster who said “I’m simply too busy.” LOL! How long does it take to shoot a simple e-mail or pick up the phone for three minutes? Remind me to never work for that asshole.
With the lack of loyalty and professionalism from companies these days, is it any wonder job candidates don’t feel loyalty, as well?
Additionally, Hampshire, perhaps you should examine your company’s reputation in the market — it might not be stellar.
February 19, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Lillybunny,
Actually I agree with you 100%. A company does owe it to someone who made it to the final round to let them know that they were not selected once another candidate has accepted an offer. Courtesy is a two way street and can make or break you over the long term. Most IT communities are not that big, even in larger metro areas. I often run across the same people over and over again.
People do have to exhibit some patience sometimes too. Many people don’t realize how long the process can take.
I recently hired a new minion and one of the other final candidates we had sent a pissy eMail complaining that we had never let him know the outcome. The reality was that we had extended an offer to someone and the candidate had 5 business days to accept. I wasn’t going drop the other candidates until we had a signed acceptance letter. Things don’t always work out with the first candidate and we might end up making another offer.
We had just received the signed offer back from the candidate and not two hours later the pissy eMail came from another candidate whining about how we never gave him an answer. He would have received a follow-up that day or the next and we would have told him exactly where we were in the process if he had asked. Instead he created a negative image in my mind. Darn shame too since he was my second choice, but now I’d never invite him back or consider him in the future.
I still think my #6 point holds true though. In regards to getting that first initial phone screen done you want to make sure you do everything possible as a candidate to secure that face to face interview.