Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Job interviews are a nightmare — and only getting worse
Vox ^ | 1/12/22

Posted on 01/12/2023 5:15:00 AM PST by EBH

In late 2022, Jessica found herself in a predicament that will sound familiar to many job seekers: slogging through an extended interview process with seemingly no end in sight.

She was up for a job as a fundraiser at a major social services organization in New York. Across the span of two months, she took part in six separate interviews with nine people total, multiple of whom she met more than once. She’d pulled one of her first all-nighters in years putting together a dummy presentation on a hypothetical corporate partnership for interview No. 4, which entailed what she describes as a 15-minute “monologue” from her on the matter followed by a 45-minute Q&A with a panel. It wasn’t until the final interview that she got a real one-on-one sit-down with the person who would be her boss.

“Every time I thought, ‘Okay, this is the final hump,’ there was another thing,” said Jessica, which is a pseudonym. Vox granted her anonymity in order to protect her privacy and keep her out of hot water with her current employer. “It just gets really mentally exhausting, and it’s hard to manage your work schedule because obviously you don’t want your employer to know you’re interviewing.”

“There’s no reason why 10 years ago we were able to hire people on two interviews and now it’s taking 20 rounds of interviews,” said Maddie Machado, a career strategist who has previously worked as a recruiter at companies such as LinkedIn, Meta, and Microsoft. “It’s kind of like dating. When you go on a first date, you need a second date. You don’t need 20 dates to know if you like somebody.”

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: interviews; jobs; labor
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-89 next last
To: EBH
"...a job as a fundraiser at a major social services organization..."

I think people may need to be smarter with the types of jobs they go after.

If your field of expertise is not "hot", you need to acquire additional skills in fields that need workers.

Many of us have changed our skill sets over our careers - one has to provide what the market desires.

"Fundraiser"? - not so much.

21 posted on 01/12/2023 5:42:21 AM PST by Psalm 73 ("You'll never hear surf music again" - J. Hendrix)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dan_Frisbie

You will be reentering the woke force, hence all the trials to get there.


22 posted on 01/12/2023 5:43:21 AM PST by exnavy (Grow your faith, and have the courage to use it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: \/\/ayne

For most of my jobs over the years, I happened to know someone on the team who vouched for me.

The absolute best reference is generally having someone there who worked with you in the past and could vouch for your abilities and character. But using that approach is a violation of labor laws these days (can be deemed racist)


23 posted on 01/12/2023 5:43:22 AM PST by SauronOfMordor (The rot of all principle begins with a single compromise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Dan_Frisbie
Workers have the upper hand right now. If we don’t use it, we will lose it.

If the person reporting this story is telling the truth then workers may no longer have the "upper" hand.

24 posted on 01/12/2023 5:44:44 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: JBW1949
I had to think about that one for a minute but I got it!

Good one.

25 posted on 01/12/2023 5:44:57 AM PST by SamAdams76 (4,777,271 | Truth Social | 87,821,414 | Twitter | Trump Followers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Tench_Coxe

You just described the H-1B visa scam.


26 posted on 01/12/2023 5:48:03 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: EBH

In my position previous to my current one the VP hiring had two calls with me and wanted to hire me-he moved heaven and earth to make their process move faster (he was aware I had other offers on the table) and I went through 7 more interviews over the next week including a presentation to the executive staff-the process usually took 3-4 weeks and I accepted the offer based on them being able to make it happen that fast which made me think they could move when needed

It’s pretty much the norm these days and I don’t think it has improved the quality of hires at all

I used to hire people after personally interviewing them and sometimes having them meet with another exec or one of my direct reports and out of many only had 1 who didn’t turn out awesome


27 posted on 01/12/2023 5:49:05 AM PST by Manuel OKelley
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EBH
...at a major social services organization

Let me speculate...

28 posted on 01/12/2023 5:49:15 AM PST by Tommy Revolts
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EBH
She was up for a job as a fundraiser at a major social services organization in New York.

Well, that explains it - it would take at least that many interviews to make sure she isn't hiding any latent Republican sympathies. :)

Seriously - with the shortage of brainpower available in the marketplace it seems like this kind of lengthy process would turn off the very people you need - except that in places like CA and NY government is a partner in the hiring process and once you make a mistake you can't easily undo it. Another argument for relocating your company to TX or FL.

29 posted on 01/12/2023 5:51:55 AM PST by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL]-[GALT]-[DELETE])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76
That is a good system. Way back early in my career, I answered an ad (yes, in a newspaper), with a contact number and to call on a Saturday. Called, waited for 10 minutes. It was the guy who ended up hiring me.

The 10 minute wait was because he was doing some work on his roof.

30 posted on 01/12/2023 5:53:51 AM PST by Tench_Coxe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

LOL...Thanks....


31 posted on 01/12/2023 5:55:55 AM PST by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: SauronOfMordor
The absolute best reference is generally having someone there who worked with you in the past and could vouch for your abilities and character. But using that approach is a violation of labor laws these days (can be deemed racist)

I get referrals often from my employees about candidates for a given job. I figure if an employee is willing to put their reputation on the line and vouch for somebody, that candidate is usually a slam dunk for hire. That's how I get some of my best people.

On the other hand, I've had employees tell me not to hire a particular guy because they worked with him in the past and he was a loser. That might be the labor law violation you are referring to but when a good employee tells me not to hire a certain individual, I usually take heed. Why would I want to inject a potential poison into my team?

I'll try not to let HR I do that!

32 posted on 01/12/2023 5:56:13 AM PST by SamAdams76 (4,777,271 | Truth Social | 87,821,414 | Twitter | Trump Followers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Clarancebeaks

Hahaha. Good one.


33 posted on 01/12/2023 5:56:18 AM PST by nwrep
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Dan_Frisbie
Workers have the upper hand right now. If we don’t use it, we will lose it.

This ended about 6 months ago. That is not the case today.
34 posted on 01/12/2023 5:56:23 AM PST by TexasGunLover
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rbg81; JudgemAll
Yeah, there kind of is. It is due to the poor state of college education (which has often become indoctrination) and the rise of SJWs, who bring their activism into the workplace., and

It goes both ways. In her case as a social fund raiser, they are trying to replace her with a foreign Chicom or something. Liberals do not realize the illegals are the reason their student loans are paid lip service to.

I think both points are valid. But an even bigger point is wah wah wah! Cry me a river on what ya gotta do to get the job! I couldn't find work as a programmer years ago until I got a BS in computer science -- a difficult major. I did it while working full time. Then with 3 of the software jobs I've had over the years I had to build a sample app or website to their spec to show I both knew my stuff and knew how to pay attention to the details they wanted. That took a lot more of my time than modifying a resume and sitting through a couple of extra interviews.

35 posted on 01/12/2023 5:58:34 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: BillyBonebrake

That’s about right.


36 posted on 01/12/2023 5:58:43 AM PST by 9YearLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Tench_Coxe

I had this experience at least once. For one, during the 2 hour interview the hiring manager took a call in front of me.
He was being informed about going out to lunch with the other candidate who was in the building at the same time! What I was able to do at the “do you have any questions for me?” time was zero in was why they extended an interview to me. What I found out was that I had a very unique background (education and work history) and it is very rare in the field. I was able to glean from him that the other guy went to “the right school”. So I threw it on the table - they were on the horns of a dilemma - guy with proven track record with the skill set vs guy who went to the “right school”. He admitted it. It looked like they wanted to keep me on the hook in case their guy turned them down.

Did I waste my time? Did I resent it? Absolutely not!! I got some good interview practice, some good war stories, and his picking up the phone for a non-emergency call during the interview (plus a couple other things) ... it helped me decide as I walked out the door that I’d never, never work for that company.

In subsequent years I interviewed people to work for me. Based on how I was “mis-treated” in my interviews of the past, I made it a point not to make those mistakes. It also taught me a lot how to “smoke out” bad candidates and identify good ones.


37 posted on 01/12/2023 5:58:57 AM PST by Susquehanna Patriot ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: rbg81

I agree with your theory. Not just SJWs, but slackers and incompetents.

The main reason that these grueling interview processes have arisen is to compensate the massive massive failures in society:
* school social promotion of know-nothings
* everybody gets an A
* kids can turn schoolwork in late
* kids get to take endless make-up exams
* college admission processes admit unqualified, incapable students
* colleges move to meaningless pass/fail
* objective standardized tests (a true indicator of ability) are abandoned
* kids get tough professors fired (think of that attitude in your company!)
* professional licensing is dumbed-down or abandoned
* pervasive wokeism in schools.

With this garbage rampant and pervasive across the USA, the only protection companies have against hiring incompetents, slackers, and trouble-makers is a grueling admission process, i.e., interviews. Or a CEO like Musk who doesn’t brook any BS.


38 posted on 01/12/2023 5:59:43 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (Once you get people to believe that a plural pronoun is singular, they'll believe anything - nicollo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Tench_Coxe

Yep. Plus companies post jobs when they aren’t hiring to make it look like they are doing better than they are.


39 posted on 01/12/2023 6:01:22 AM PST by 9YearLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: EBH
She was up for a job as a fundraiser at a major social services organization in New York.

Funny, as an electronics engineer my interviews went like "Good morning, you're hired".

40 posted on 01/12/2023 6:01:59 AM PST by pfflier
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-89 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson