Are you picky or are you going through the motions ?
02/28/10 12:15 PM
Every time I
read a story about white collar workers who are
in cubeville hell the more I have come to realize
that we spend too much damn time at work to just
"do a job".
The recession has led to a lot of people who are stuck in jobs where their input is not valued and because new jobs are harder to get than the winning lottery tickets there are way too many living dead. These are people who do and redo Power Point presentations because their manager didn't like the way the slides looked or read. They are people who go through the motions and check off tasks as they struggle to get through the day.
Seth Godin is right: you should be picky about your next job and position. Interview companies as hard as they interview you. Here are some things to look for;
1. Response to your interview: How to people respond to your interview ? Do they let you know what the next steps are or have they failed to get back to you ? Hint: If they treat candidates this way then you are not going to fare better when you are an employee.
2. Who are you interviewing with ? If you have a "full" interview schedule there is a good chance that someone in the group is not going to receive you warmly and thus your chances for the position are going to be diminished. I am reminded of a company on the East coast who interviewed a really successful candidate for a job only to have one person quash her hopes because she had been let go from a company that they both had worked for a couple of years ago while the candidate was kept on.
3. If you have a full day of interviews, do they allow you lunch and bathroom breaks ? I was once supposed to have lunch with one of the high ranking people within the company but once I got my lunch I couldn't eat it because he kept asking me questions (and I was really hungry !)
4. All talk; no action- "we treat people with respect and when people ask you how are you doing, they really mean it". If that's so then why won't you have the common courtesy to tell me the job was filled with another candidate ?
5. What do the offices/cubes look like of the people you're interviewing with ? Are they messy with lots of paper laying around or are they somewhat organized. A messy workplace could be a sign of "too much work..too few people".
The main thing you have to remember is to believe in yourself and your ability. The recession means that companies have a big pool of candidates to chose from and all too often the only thing they want to do is to put someone "in the job". There are also a lot of hiring managers who are afraid that candidates might be able to do their jobs better than they do them. Just relax and be yourself and ask yourself "is there where I want to devote a big portion of my life to?"
The recession has led to a lot of people who are stuck in jobs where their input is not valued and because new jobs are harder to get than the winning lottery tickets there are way too many living dead. These are people who do and redo Power Point presentations because their manager didn't like the way the slides looked or read. They are people who go through the motions and check off tasks as they struggle to get through the day.
Seth Godin is right: you should be picky about your next job and position. Interview companies as hard as they interview you. Here are some things to look for;
1. Response to your interview: How to people respond to your interview ? Do they let you know what the next steps are or have they failed to get back to you ? Hint: If they treat candidates this way then you are not going to fare better when you are an employee.
2. Who are you interviewing with ? If you have a "full" interview schedule there is a good chance that someone in the group is not going to receive you warmly and thus your chances for the position are going to be diminished. I am reminded of a company on the East coast who interviewed a really successful candidate for a job only to have one person quash her hopes because she had been let go from a company that they both had worked for a couple of years ago while the candidate was kept on.
3. If you have a full day of interviews, do they allow you lunch and bathroom breaks ? I was once supposed to have lunch with one of the high ranking people within the company but once I got my lunch I couldn't eat it because he kept asking me questions (and I was really hungry !)
4. All talk; no action- "we treat people with respect and when people ask you how are you doing, they really mean it". If that's so then why won't you have the common courtesy to tell me the job was filled with another candidate ?
5. What do the offices/cubes look like of the people you're interviewing with ? Are they messy with lots of paper laying around or are they somewhat organized. A messy workplace could be a sign of "too much work..too few people".
The main thing you have to remember is to believe in yourself and your ability. The recession means that companies have a big pool of candidates to chose from and all too often the only thing they want to do is to put someone "in the job". There are also a lot of hiring managers who are afraid that candidates might be able to do their jobs better than they do them. Just relax and be yourself and ask yourself "is there where I want to devote a big portion of my life to?"
