Thoughts on Interview

Sarz91

I had an interview there the other day. For various reasons I won't name the company or anyone involved. It started off ok but we were told that the position we were interviewing for wasn't the position that we had originally been told about. Not only that but it wasn't even for the company we had applied to. It was some separate contractor. On top of all of this, the job isn't even in the county which it had been advertised.

The people interviewing us were from the company we had thought we were interviewing for, which to me seemed strange.

The aptitude tests went well enough as well as the behavioral tests. Group work went well too. The interview itself was an absolute joke. I was asked the reason for leaving a previous company, which was due to ethical and moral reasons, and one of the interviewers basically started making fun of me for the entire 40 minutes. Anytime I tried to talk about any of the experience I had, he interrupted and started harping on about how it was basically disgraceful how I left my previous job and just started treating me like a child.

This is my first proper interview in Ireland as I haven't been back since graduating from college. Is this normal? Any idea of how to combat this type of nonsense?

Love2love

Going for an interview that wasn't for the job that you actually applied for coupled with everything else you have explained, including an unprofessional interviewer, sounds to me like you've dodge a bullet. Chalk it up to experience and move on.

Howdy,

In future interviews, I probably wouldn't explain that you left your previous job for ethical or moral reasons. While this is your real reason, and its commendable, it's just a lot to explain and possibly take in, in an interview situation, and may even raise even more questions

This in no way justified their behaviour

I hope that make sense
This is a question you want to move quickly past, especially if you are not currently working, so the less they dwell on this answer whatever it may be, the better

So you could say, wanted to go travelling, wanted to return home...... , something simple

Andy

Glenster

Sarz91 wrote: »

I was asked the reason for leaving a previous company, which was due to ethical and moral reasons

A good rule of thumb in interviews is to assume that the interviewer is best friends with your previous employer.

Don't criticize their moral compass. Virtue signalling doesn't work in interviews.

On a separate note how was working for Kim Jong Un?

Sarz91

Glenster wrote: »

A good rule of thumb in interviews is to assume that the interviewer is best friends with your previous employer.

Don't criticize their moral compass. Virtue signalling doesn't work in interviews.

On a separate note how was working for Kim Jong Un?

Didn't have the pleasure of working with Kim Jong Un. It was his father Kim Jong Il I was working for.

On a more serious note please don't belittle a choice I made after some very serious consideration. Just because you might be happy enough to continue doing something that may harm others doesn't mean I am.

Sarz91

Sarz91 wrote: »

Didn't have the pleasure of working with Kim Jong Un. It was his father Kim Jong Il I was working for.

On a more serious note please don't belittle a choice I made after some very serious consideration. Just because you might be happy enough to continue doing something that may harm others doesn't mean I am.

Nobody is belittling you.

Your decision to leave was based on your own ethical standard or idealism and if you can't present and successfully defend your reasons in an interview, you'll hit a brick wall right there.

That's one of those grown up facts of life, so don't be so defensive about it.

If you showed that kind of attitude, it's hardly surprising you ended up in a combative exchange with an interviewer.

jimmycrackcorm

JayZeus wrote:

Your decision to leave was based on your own ethical standard or idealism and if you can't present and successfully defend your reasons in an interview, you'll hit a brick wall right there.

I was wondering reading the Op if the interviewer just regarded the reasons as childish and then just didn't take the OP seriously after.

Sarz91

JayZeus wrote: »

Nobody is belittling you.

Your decision to leave was based on your own ethical standard or idealism and if you can't present and successfully defend your reasons in an interview, you'll hit a brick wall right there.

That's one of those grown up facts of life, so don't be so defensive about it.

If you showed that kind of attitude, it's hardly surprising you ended up in a combative exchange with an interviewer.

How is asking "how was working for Kim Jung un?" not belittling my decision to leave? What kind of attitude are you talking about? All I asked was that you don't make fun of me for leaving based on my own morals and ethics. That seems to be a pretty reasonable request.

I felt I presented and defended my reason for leaving more than adequately.

Sarz91

Sarz91 wrote: »

How is asking "how was working for Kim Jung un?" not belittling my decision to leave? What kind of attitude are you talking about? All I asked was that you don't make fun of me for leaving based on my own morals and ethics. That seems to be a pretty reasonable request.

I felt I presented and defended my reason for leaving more than adequately.

A sense of humour goes a long way in life. As does the ability to make a point clearly. Joining in on the joke, then making out that the same joke belittled you in some way is a fairly mixed message to be fair.

I'm not making fun of you now. It's just pretty difficult to gauge how to approach you here seeing as you're joking along, taking offense and becoming defensive all at the same time.

Do you think your nose was visibly out of place because the role, employer and location weren't as advertised and that maybe your reaction just frustrated your interviewer, in the same way reading your replies here might frustrate or consternate readers?

It's hard to tell and naturally you'd be the best person to assess that as a possibility. I'm basing that purely on your posts on this thread, nothing personal and certainly not trying to offend.

Most of us have had a few bad interviews AND bad interviewers in our time. We can't put it all down to the other parties in every case.

Sarz91

JayZeus wrote: »

A sense of humour goes a long way in life. As does the ability to make a point clearly. Joining in on the joke, then making out that the same joke belittled you in some way is a fairly mixed message to be fair.

I'm not making fun of you now. It's just pretty difficult to gauge how to approach you here seeing as you're joking along, taking offense and becoming defensive all at the same time.

Do you think your nose was visibly out of place because the role, employer and location weren't as advertised and that maybe your reaction just frustrated your interviewer, in the same way reading your replies here might frustrate or consternate readers?

It's hard to tell and naturally you'd be the best person to assess that as a possibility. I'm basing that purely on your posts on this thread, nothing personal and certainly not trying to offend.

Most of us have had a few bad interviews AND bad interviewers in our time. We can't put it all down to the other parties in every case.

I was joking along with the Kim Jong Un thing and making fun of myself with the added defensiveness. Sorry that it didn't come across that way.

With regards to the interview. That's fair enough. I don't think I was all that visibly bothered by the change in location and company etc. I think there were a few things I did throughout the day that may have irritated my interviewer. It just seemed at every step of the 1 on 1 interview he tried to make it seem like I was a child. Asking questions like "did that make you feel good when the MD listened to you?" and when answering why I left new Zealand I mentioned that myself and my partner had agreed to head back home as neither of us were loving it and I was met with "what happens if your partner's wants to move country again are you just going to up and leave because she says so?"

I don't know, maybe it was something I said or did but it just seemed unprofessional to me.

Glenster

Sarz91 wrote: »

Just because you might be happy enough to continue doing something that may harm others doesn't mean I am.

I wouldn't work with you or hire you if I thought you'd say things like that.

Bajingo

Did you hear back from them OP?

Sarz91

Bajingo wrote: »

Did you hear back from them OP?

Yeah just heard back this morning. Not particularly surprised to say I didn't get it. The conversation I had this morning with the other recruiter, the other one sitting in the room while I was being questioned, apologised about what happened during the interview.

He mentioned that his colleague didn't grasp the seniority of the role I had and basically assumed I hadn't been in the company all that long and as such found the whole thing a bit strange.

I guess a good bit of the fault lies with myself if I'm honest. I didn't have to mention the exact reason I left I also could have addressed his fascination with my decision to leave by directly asking what he felt was wrong with my reasoning in that position or how something like that would be handled in the company for which he works.

Lesson learned and while I had to take an entire day off of work to complete the interview and tests etc I feel as though I've dodged a bullet by not getting the position on offer.

pilly

Sarz91 wrote:

I guess a good bit of the fault lies with myself if I'm honest. I didn't have to mention the exact reason I left I also could have addressed his fascination with my decision to leave by directly asking what he felt was wrong with my reasoning in that position or how something like that would be handled in the company for which he works.

Yeah good points but tbh I would never mention a negative reason for leaving a previous post. Always puts a prospective employer off.

livedadream

Sarz91 wrote: »

Glenster wrote: »

A good rule of thumb in interviews is to assume that the interviewer is best friends with your previous employer.

Don't criticize their moral compass. Virtue signalling doesn't work in interviews.

On a separate note how was working for Kim Jong Un?

Didn't have the pleasure of working with Kim Jong Un. It was his father Kim Jong Il I was working for.

On a more serious note please don't belittle a choice I made after some very serious consideration. Just because you might be happy enough to continue doing something that may harm others doesn't mean I am.

interviewing is a skill, if you say: i left due ot ethical and moral issues, the interviewer will go, oh okay, fair enough but did you whisteblow? if you are that ethical and moral that it caused you to leave a job they will think you took it further, if you are unable or unwilling to explain this in an interview it could come across horrifically.
I work in the second most compliance heavy and audited field in the world, ive interviewed someone who has said that in an interview, you dont take it as a negative unless there is no follow up. theres no point saying, oh i had an ethical or moral obligation to the government poisoning the water in flint, but didnt report it to anyone so i just quit.
your interviewer was a tool in terms of laughing etc, but the obligation is on you to be able to present yourself in a way that makes them want to hire you, complaining about something that serious in an interview and not backing it up is serious.

as a side note, your attitude to other posters is horrible. they;re just trying to help.

Sarz91

livedadream wrote: »

interviewing is a skill, if you say: i left due ot ethical and moral issues, the interviewer will go, oh okay, fair enough but did you whisteblow? if you are that ethical and moral that it caused you to leave a job they will think you took it further, if you are unable or unwilling to explain this in an interview it could come across horrifically.
I work in the second most compliance heavy and audited field in the world, ive interviewed someone who has said that in an interview, you dont take it as a negative unless there is no follow up. theres no point saying, oh i had an ethical or moral obligation to the government poisoning the water in flint, but didnt report it to anyone so i just quit.
your interviewer was a tool in terms of laughing etc, but the obligation is on you to be able to present yourself in a way that makes them want to hire you, complaining about something that serious in an interview and not backing it up is serious.

as a side note, your attitude to other posters is horrible. they;re just trying to help.

There wasn't much to whistleblow about if I'm completely honest. Through the 3.5 odd years at the company my views changed. When I began I didn't see much of an issue working for a defense contractor.

I do appreciate the criticisms and as mentioned previously I was more taking the piss out of myself than getting upity about other people's comments. I understand it didn't come across that way and for that I do apologise.

AlmightyCushion

Sarz91 wrote: »

There wasn't much to whistleblow about if I'm completely honest. Through the 3.5 odd years at the company my views changed. When I began I didn't see much of an issue working for a defense contractor.

You should say this instead of 'ethical and moral reasons'. It's a much better response and most people wouldn't see it as a negative. The only way it would really hurt you in an interview is if you are interviewing for a company in the defense industry but you wouldn't be applying for them anyway.