Tough Interviewers

cunnins4

Well I'm just back from a pretty tough interview for a grad sales job. I was absolutely grilled on my weaknesses and my academics. I found this to be a bit overboard and to be honest at times quite offensive.

Now, maybe the guy was trying to push me to see how I reacted and I certainly kept my cool and didn't back down on anything, but he literally sat there and when I listed my "weaknesses" he said they weren't weaknesses, but to be admired and wanted something more. When I finally relented and said I couldn't think of anything else he proceeded to list off 5 weaknesses he saw in me and gave me some pretty harsh criticism-which I rebutted quite well. It just seemed more like an argument than an interview!

I was in with a recruitment specialist on Monday to prepare for this in terms of presentation, content and all the rest and I paid through the nose for what was some very good advice and I still think money was well spent. Based on that and the preparation I've done I found the criticism very harsh and to be honest, unwarranted, in particular for such a low level job.

Are interviewers out of line with such harsh lines of questioning? I'm in no way looking for an easy interview-I've had very tough ones in the past, but to sit there and open fire on me and start tearing me apart just seemed out of order!?!

[/rant]

maxwell smart

When I was first interviewed by Lidl, the first question the two interviewers asked was as follows:
We work directly for you are are a pair of bastards, how are you going to get rid of us?

When I got the job it was pretty much as the interview, so I was under no illusions!

Maybe they are telling you that the job is going to be tough?

cunnins4

I know it'll be tough but at least lidl pay well....the salary is not very high, not even on the same page as Lidl/Aldi and to be fair-those grad jobs carry a fair bit of responsibility! This is just sales!

Curl52

That interviewer was completely out of line. I work in HR and that is not a common line of interviewing and I think you have every right to be offended. He probably did the same to all candidates. Don't let it effect your confidence, bad interviews if anything are good experiences to have behind you. If you feel strongly enough I would make a compliant to the companies HR manager.

MysticalRain

I think the bottom line here is that it's employers market, and they can get away with grilling candidates in ways they wouldn't have dreamed of 10 years ago during the boom times of the Celtic Tiger. That said, grilling candidates on their strengths and weaknesses is par for the course for an interview. Although in your case, the interviewer may have done it in a rather obnoxious and abrasive manner. Maybe he just wasn't that experienced in conducting interviews.

I once had an employer grill me for a total of five hours, forty minutes across four separate interviews. There were plenty of technical questions that had no problem with. But it's the personal stuff that gets my goat up, like asking "do you have a girlfriend or hobbies outside of work?" (they were afraid that it might take time away from work and interfere with putting in overtime...all unpaid, naturally).

I could've complained about it, but there were about 80 other people waiting in the queue behind me for the same job. Including several who were offering to work for free.

Vampireskiss

cunnins4 wrote: »

When I finally relented and said I couldn't think of anything else he proceeded to list off 5 weaknesses he saw in me and gave me some pretty harsh criticism[/rant]

At which point you should have said well if you know my weakness's then why are you asking me

Otis Driftwood

If you cant handle a semi tough interview then how could you possibly sell anything?*




*Id imagine thats the approach the interviewer took with the interview.
In a sales job you are going to be told to F-off more often than not and some people cant take that.Ive seen people break down and cry because they got berated by a client so the interviewer was obviously trying to guage how you react in stressful situations.

Can I ask what industry the job is in?
Obviously I dont expect you to name the company but I know of a few sales type companies that conduct interviews in a similar fashion.

Otis Driftwood

Vampireskiss wrote: »

At which point you should have said well if you know my weakness's then why are you asking me

And while he was at it he should have worn a neon sign saying I dont want this job.:rolleyes:

999/1000 times,any guff or smart answers you would give in an interview results in automatic disqualification.

Terodil

Curl52 wrote: »

That interviewer was completely out of line. I work in HR and that is not a common line of interviewing and I think you have every right to be offended. He probably did the same to all candidates. Don't let it effect your confidence, bad interviews if anything are good experiences to have behind you. If you feel strongly enough I would make a compliant to the companies HR manager.

Common does not mean unacceptable or even reportable. With all due respect, I have had a lot of interviews in my life and there's not one single common line of interviewing. Some interviewers will be tougher and some will be softer. I usually find the softer ones to be doing a worse job.

I have conducted a number of interviews myself since I'm hiring. Of course I grill candidates, not to the point of nervous breakdown obviously but I need to see how they take certain situations that they will be surely facing in the job. If they lose their heads over some more critical questions then I would be doing them a disservice by taking them.

It's my responsibility as a manager to make sure that
a) the hires are well-prepared to do the job and
b) that they'll be reasonably happy to do so and not suffer any negative consequences.

This interview was for a sales job. In our current economic climate, that's a very tough job. I say fair play to your interviewer for taking his responsibility seriously and for giving you honest feedback so you know what to improve.

P.S. +1M to Ned.

cunnins4

I agree with what's said in terms of ensuring the candidate's suitable for the job but I think there's a line between being a tough interviewer and being an obnoxious *****. He certainly went overboard and almost ventured into personal insults-surely that's out of line?

Otis Driftwood

cunnins4 wrote: »

I agree with what's said in terms of ensuring the candidate's suitable for the job but I think there's a line between being a tough interviewer and being an obnoxious *****. He certainly went overboard and almost ventured into personal insults-surely that's out of line?

Almost,but not quite.

I can understand that you were taken aback by the interviewers style but if nothing else,it was a brilliant experience in how interviews can happen.

waraf

There are no written rules when it comes to how interviewers should behave so the same rule applies to the interview as applies to everyday life..........some people are just c**ts

jeckle

cunnins4 wrote: »

I know it'll be tough but at least lidl pay well....the salary is not very high, not even on the same page as Lidl/Aldi and to be fair-those grad jobs carry a fair bit of responsibility! This is just sales!

Just playing the devil's advocate here by asking you do you think the interviewer may have picked up on your attitude towards the job i.e. this is just sales?

After all, sales, to some people is a worthwhile & profitable career, & if he picked up on your attitude maybe he was slightly annoyed that you bothered to apply for the job in the first place, or that you were wasting his time, as there were probably quite a few applications for the job, some of whom may have regarded the position more highly than one of just sales:eek:

leeroybrown

Curl52 wrote: »

That interviewer was completely out of line. I work in HR and that is not a common line of interviewing and I think you have every right to be offended. He probably did the same to all candidates. Don't let it effect your confidence, bad interviews if anything are good experiences to have behind you. If you feel strongly enough I would make a compliant to the companies HR manager.

Whenever I see the phrase "I work in HR" it's generally followed by weak opinion stated as fact. A 'stress interview' is still fairly common in some fields and its intention is to rattle the candidate moving them well outside their comfort zone. Far too many interviewers allow candidates to coast through an interview with weak pre-prepared answers, particularly for questions where the candidate will deliberately mis-answer such as the 'weaknesses' one. Given the cost and inconvenience of recruiting the wrong people I don't think that the company were out of line.

OP, its possible that you may have done quite well in the interview. Every other candidate will probably have had a similar experience and many of them may not have handled it particularly well.

cunnins4

jeckle wrote: »

Just playing the devil's advocate here by asking you do you think the interviewer may have picked up on your attitude towards the job i.e. this is just sales?

After all, sales, to some people is a worthwhile & profitable career, & if he picked up on your attitude maybe he was slightly annoyed that you bothered to apply for the job in the first place, or that you were wasting his time, as there were probably quite a few applications for the job, some of whom may have regarded the position more highly than one of just sales:eek:

Sorry, I think you've picked me up wrong there. My reference to just sales was that it wasn't a job with huge responsibility such as management or such and I don't think for the salary/responsibility it warranted such a harsh line of interrogation questioning.

I've actually got a lot of sales experience (8 years)-something that's stood to me and I've learned a lot from-hence why I was applying to this job-using that experience and my degree to build on and start a decent career.

Sorry if the whole "just sales" thing came across wrong-it's hard to express these things on a forum sometimes!

jeckle

cunnins4 wrote: »

Sorry if the whole "just sales" thing came across wrong-it's hard to express these things on a forum sometimes!

Thanks for clarifying that!

It will be interesting to see whether or not you get offered the position, & as leeroybrown has said, you may well have been successful. Sometimes it's not what you say it's how you react to certain probing questions that earns you the brownie points.

Don't forget to post back with the outcome!

Mrs OBumble

cunnins4 wrote: »

I agree with what's said in terms of ensuring the candidate's suitable for the job but I think there's a line between being a tough interviewer and being an obnoxious *****. He certainly went overboard and almost ventured into personal insults-surely that's out of line?

If personal insults will be what you receive in doing the job, then no, it's not out of line at all. In fact, you should almost thank him for being honest about the job conditions.

cronos

JustMary wrote: »

If personal insults will be what you receive in doing the job, then no, it's not out of line at all. In fact, you should almost thank him for being honest about the job conditions.

Rubish, in that case it should say it in the job description. I had a job interview in feburary last year so its not just cause of economic times. My job was as a systems analyst for a large financial company used to have a big grad program. The project manager basically spent 40 minutes giving me abuse. It was a second round interview.

It struck me more like the interviewer thought he was Simon Cowel and was trying to impress the other interviewers than actually work out if I would be good for the job or not.

Anyways within a week and a half I had another job offer which paid more... and I have heard since that the company in question has stoped that grad program and is begining to pull out of the country.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Aye, I've had an interviewer tear me to shreds, picking on anything and everything he could think of, even getting personal and actually putting on a voice to mock me!
He sent me on to the next interview, so I guess he was trying to find my breaking point and missed.
Still, it bordered on unprofessional at best and bullying at worst.
People might not crack under that pressure, but it can really damage one's confidence... which is the last thing I needed at that point, tosser.
Just tell me it's a shít job where you have to take lots personal abuse when the interview starts and I'll gladly save us both the time and effort of an interview.

electron

those of you here who work in HR or management, can you shed some light on this for me: what's a candidate supposed to tell you when you ask about their weaknesses? so as not to appear deliberately mis-answering?

Otis Driftwood

electron wrote: »

those of you here who work in HR or management, can you shed some light on this for me: what's a candidate supposed to tell you when you ask about their weaknesses? so as not to appear deliberately mis-answering?

Anything you see as a being a weakness can be described as a developmental opportunity.

Eg - I dont speak a second language.I intend learning Spanish in the future.
Im not fully qualified as a QFA yet but its something I want to do.

Etc etc.

Just tailor your responses to the particular job!

dazberry

I've had a couple of those interviews over the years. All it did in the end was make me think poorly of the companies themselves. In one case I turned down a second interview after my experience in the first - it cuts both ways.

D.

cunnins4

jeckle wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying that!

It will be interesting to see whether or not you get offered the position, & as leeroybrown has said, you may well have been successful. Sometimes it's not what you say it's how you react to certain probing questions that earns you the brownie points.

Don't forget to post back with the outcome!

Wahey! I got through the interview and they want to have a sit down next week to go through the final details.

Certainly an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry though and certainly learned a lot from it!

miec

Aye, I've had an interviewer tear me to shreds, picking on anything and everything he could think of, even getting personal and actually putting on a voice to mock me!
He sent me on to the next interview, so I guess he was trying to find my breaking point and missed.
Still, it bordered on unprofessional at best and bullying at worst.

If I was treated like this in an interview I would not take the job and if I felt I was being treated with disrespect I would tell them and leave at that point, job or no job, bullying is not to be tolerated.

Op, well done but I hope you won't be treated like a piece of **** by the company.

Lobster

I did an interview a couple of years ago where the interviewer told me that an hours drive to work was too long, then asked me what kind of car I had and if it was done up like a boy racers car. Just to make sure he followed me out to the car park to make sure.

jeckle

cunnins4 wrote: »

Wahey! I got through the interview and they want to have a sit down next week to go through the final details.

Certainly an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry though and certainly learned a lot from it!

Oh fantastic! Congratulations & well done!

As the saying goes 'If it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger'.

It must have been a case of just testing you to see how far they could push you, or how you react under pressure so you obviously impressed them.

Best of luck!

cunnins4

miec wrote: »

If I was treated like this in an interview I would not take the job and if I felt I was being treated with disrespect I would tell them and leave at that point, job or no job, bullying is not to be tolerated.

Op, well done but I hope you won't be treated like a piece of **** by the company.

I have an ace up my sleeve

Hopefully I won't have to work there at all if all goes well with the other job, it's REALLY tough to get in, but I'm almost there.

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

miec

I hope it really works and I have my fingers crossed for you, let us know how you get on.

cunnins4

Just to finally finish this one off - the ace up my sleeve came through today and I've been offered an excellent position and salary to match. I'm a happy camper indeed!:D:D:D

wmpdd3

Bet your enjoy letting the original company down gently!

Can you hint what sector the original co. was in, you may give a heads up to another candidate.

anyway, Congrats

cunnins4

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Bet your enjoy letting the original company down gently!

Can you hint what sector the original co. was in, you may give a heads up to another candidate.

anyway, Congrats

I think this says it all really!