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Post what you think gives away a bad company when you're interviewing:

- no behavioral questions during interview
- people arriving late to your interview
- ...

jhack's picture

The questions they ask are key. No behavioral questions definitely is a red flag. Do they probe with followup questions, or do they stick to a script?

Do they have energy? Are they excited about adding to their team?

Do they respond to your questions in an engaged and thoughtful manner?

Look around the offices if you can....what's the energy level in general?

And finally, how well run are the logistics of interviewing?

John

tomas's picture

Key indicator:-
The cubicles in the office all have Dilbert cartoons and coffee cups and those Despair Inc de-motivational posters up on the walls.

Saw that interviewing for a government position years ago.

rthibode's picture

The interviewer reads your resume in front of you -- for the first time!

tlhausmann's picture
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How about a "family friendly" company calling you after 10 pm with "just a few questions" ?

vinnie2k's picture

All good stuff, :lol: keep it coming!

lalam's picture

Every interviewer asks a variation on the same question: "Have you had any experience dealing with a brilliant engineer who was critical to the technology strategy but impossible to work with?"

ashdenver's picture

Prefacing the discussion about the company's environment with "We have a lot of turnover." This is especially bad if they indicate there's a lot of turnover for the position for which you're about to be interviewed!

Piggy-backing onto "logistics of interviewing" I would say making you wait for more than a few minutes, uncertainty of where to send you next and calling you in for repeated interviews "just to meet with one more person." (My husband was called in 6 times before he told them "Last one, guys - make a decision cuz I'm done coming in.")

tlhausmann's picture
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[quote="vinnie2k"]All good stuff, :lol: keep it coming![/quote]

Ok, (from a looong time ago.) I arrived on-site for interviews expected to last 4-5 hours. I was up at 3:30 in the morning to arrive on-time.

I filled out a couple forms in 25 minutes and they said I was done. Definitely some kind of miscommunication!

James Gutherson's picture

[quote="tomas"]Key indicator:-
The cubicles in the office all have Dilbert cartoons and coffee cups and those Despair Inc de-motivational posters up on the walls.

Saw that interviewing for a government position years ago.[/quote]

I guess Public Service jobs are the same everywhere :?

agreen's picture

[quote]I guess public service jobs are the same everywhere[/quote]

Ouch...saw this and couldn't let it go past (says the guy who has spent his working career in said public service jobs).

I recall somewhere early on in my time with MT that Mark or Mike said or made a similar comment about the perceptions of "management" - that it is seen as universally bad and not approached or seen as a professional discipline. The perception is that ALL management is bad. But all of us know that management is a profession and if we work at it we can make it better. Same goes for the "public service".

I have worked in some awful jobs within the public service. Demotivating, poor bosses, inefficient and insanely bureaucratic. But then there is the other side. I have worked in teams and for managers that I would have walked over hot coals for and the times that I have felt that I was making a real and credible difference (conincidentally in Orange).

I have worked in a number of government departments in my career and have come to realise that there is a universal truth - there is a little bit of 'spectacularly bad', there is a little bit of 'absolutely superb' and a LOT of 'in the middle'. I have discussed this with friends who work in the private sector and they have said much the same.

I gaurantee if that you come across me in your dealings in the public service you will get a professional outcome. Had a good day today with my team and got some great feedback that some of them think they are currently part of a team that is operating above middling and getting better. And as for Dilbert cartoons the only one in our office is on my desk.

And I am promising myself at some stage in my career to work in the private sector just so I can compare for myself .... :)

James Gutherson's picture

[quote="agreen"]
I have worked in some awful jobs within the public service. Demotivating, poor bosses, inefficient and insanely bureaucratic. But then there is the other side. I have worked in teams and for managers that I would have walked over hot coals for and the times that I have felt that I was making a real and credible difference (conincidentally in Orange).
[/quote]

I guess I was just taking a cheap shot Alex. :oops:

I too have worked most of my life in the public service, local government and now for a non profit, and I have also seen the full spectrum. I too have had terrible bosses and situations and great experiences, one boss particulalry (coincidentally on the coast though not Port Campbell) was particularly supportive and insiprational and helped me make massive changes to the department. And I have worked for a boss that caused me to bang my head on the steering wheel each morning as I turned into the car park.

Indeed the full spectrum, as you get in all sectors.

vinnie2k's picture

[quote="JimGutherson"]Indeed the full spectrum, as you get in all sectors.[/quote]

Bell curve :-)