When the job dead-ends with the interview
Q: I just had a very interesting telephone interview. First, the manager said the position I was applying for had no potential for promotion and was basically “a dead-end job.” She did mention how impressed she was with my résumé, but she thought a person with a degree would soon become bored.
She went on to berate the previous employee, saying this person was leaving them in a bind. She didn’t know why someone with small children should be working “if they can’t show up every day.” Finally, she asked me to rate my work attendance during the past four years.
I am still trying to figure out why she even called me. I guess I’ll chalk this one up to experience.
Nick’s reply: No, I’d chalk this one up to ignorance - the manager’s. Who would want to work for a manager who views her employees and positions as dead ends? (The comment about small children is flat-out discriminatory.)
When we approach a job search, we expect to meet smart managers who know what they’re doing. But it’s a mistake to imbue interviewers with qualities they may not possess.
Sometimes managers are big dopes, like the one you met. Her behavior was inappropriate because it demeans you, her company, the job, the previous employee and herself. That’s no way to build a business.
Every job that’s worth doing is important, no matter how low-level it might be. To disparage any job reveals a manager’s own dissatisfaction and insecurity. (If the problem is that you are overqualified, she should have ended the interview politely.)
Count yourself lucky. This manager has revealed all the reasons you need to reject her company. Consider this wonderful quote from Marcus Aurelius: “The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”
An employee’s success is largely dependent on having a good manager. I’ll betcha five bucks the person who’s leaving would have some interesting stories to tell you.
Nick Corcodilos is author of “Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job” and host of www.asktheheadhunter.com.
He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.