STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Suasoria · Chanel

Hiring/job hunting pet peeves

Metric · Gucci

I hate looking for work period. Its so hard.

My biggest pet peeve when looking is company's that do the "bait and switch", you apply for one job and in your interview they try to convince you to "start out" at a way crappier job for less money before moving into the position you want.

Also company's that take themselves way too seriously and make you do testing, have 3 interviews, write a Q&A, etc etc for a crappy assistant job. I hate having to jump through hoops for $30,000 a year and a job doing filing.

XtinaStyles · Marc Jacobs

Metric wrote:

Also company's that take themselves way too seriously and make you do testing, have 3 interviews, write a Q&A, etc etc for a crappy assistant job. I hate having to jump through hoops for $30,000 a year and a job doing filing.

Ditto.

I've had interviews where I came prepared for an interview only to have to spend 45 mins filling out a personality test (whats your fave color, whats your second fave color, what animal are you, do you sing in the shower).

Also I've been on interviews where they ask me about themselves. I once gave alot of information (at least a paragraph) and was told I didn't know enough about the history of the brand and perhaps I should read a book. I also was asked on my first interview who the E board of a diff company was, and what countries they distribute to.

I think finding a job is a 2 way street. They should put in as much effort as us. They can't just sit back and expect fabulous people with great fashion sense, education and experience to just kiss their ass and do whatever it takes.

ALSO I hate when companies refuse to describe the pay up front. Sometimes you waste 3 weeks on a job that pays 10K less than what you want.

kenzie · Chanel

Ditto to all of the above. I've been sending resumes to California as well as posting them on certain sites. Some of the responses have been okay, but I got one for an internship position. WHAT? I'm 10 years into my career and am working on a Master's degree in the field. WHY WOULD I TAKE AN INTERNSHIP????

I hate job hunting. I hate job hunting from 3000 miles away even more. But I will continue until I find a job in California. My goal is to send 2 resumes a day. So far, I'm behind.

Kelly · Hermes

Suasoria wrote:

Example two: I say, "the office is business casual, so don't feel obligated to dress up for the interview - no tie/no pantyhose please" (depending on if it's a he or a she I'm expecting). This is kind of a trick question since I really want to see their interpretation of business casual. I don't want jeans, but I don't want stuffy and corporate either. And again, I want to know if they remember and follow directions.

See, this would really trip me up. I've heard over and over that you always dress your best for interviews. If you specifically requested no pantyhose I wouldn't wear them, but I'd still be wearing a suit. I never "dress down" to what the company wears every day. And when you say "don't feel obligated to dress up" that says to me that I definitely can dress up, I just don't have to. And I would think *that* was a test to see if I dressed my best anyway, even knowing that everyone else would be casual.

Anyway, I'm just saying that I could see how someone might not dress business casual, and it's not because they don't want to impress you or follow your directions!

Suasoria · Chanel

A suit would be fine with me, if their overall presentation isn't too corporate. A suit with a scoopneck top or with fun shoes or jewelry would be awesome. Slacks and a cardigan is awesome. But this tends not to be the challenge - what isn't fine is jeans or a miniskirt or visible underwear. Usually they don't hear the "business" in "business casual."

In my current job I've hired all entry-level people, so it's usually recent college grads in the 21-25 age range. No offense to the age group, because they tend to be an accomplished and talented bunch, but I've had some laughably terrible experiences - like the ones who don't show up for the interview and call the next day to reschedule, or call beforehand to reschedule because they decided to go skiing instead, or who tell me they won't answer phones although that was specified in the ad, or the one who accepted the job and didn't show up. (I called her a few hours into the workday because I was concerned that she'd had an accident or something. She didn't answer. I worried about her all day, and got sh*t from MY boss because she wasn't there. She called back about 10 that night, and left a VM on my office line that she'd just changed her mind.) The list of follies goes on and on.

I work in a public relations agency in Los Angeles - this ain't no bed and bath store or coffee house. It's a real job! We get 300-plus responses to every ad. We get almost 100 applicants for internships. Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking.

blink · Coach

I hate it when jobs require a bachelors degree to even be considered. LOL I know, this sounds silly, but here's why: I have two years of college, I get A's and B's and I know more than a few people I don't consider to be smarter than I (not trying to be a B, but you just KNOW when you are smarter than someone) 10 years younger than me who have a degree, but had like a 2.0 GPA, and don't even understand nuance and cannot write well.

please don't judge my writing style here..it's just a forum... :)

mmmm...still finishing up that degree though. If for nothing else, than to get in the door.

I am uncomfortable when specific experience in certain software is required. I can be trained, seriously, give me a shot.

I also hate vague questions, like where do you see yourself in whatever years...Oh and once I was asked to "sell me this bottle of [nutritional supplement for athletic purposes]" I knew nothing about. I wasn't applying for a sales position in this case, he just wanted to know if I could B.S. with customers and pretend like I knew what I was talking about. Literally! I actually got offered that job, but geeez.

-- Edited by blink at 18:36, 2009-02-25

Yana · Dooney & Bourke

HI, Suasoria!
Long time no....write wink

& I was just wondering where you work & hiring... I'll be looking for a job soon...didn't have the slightest idea where to turn...was looking for something creative, as you can sense, but not directly in fashion field...had to let it go...
Anyway...will miss you on DOmino in a few days...honestly, after learning that they're closing I felt like I lost a job! THe only creative outlet that I had for the last 1 1/2 - 2 years...

-- Edited by Yana at 21:59, 2009-02-25

cahabo · Kate Spade

A low level job that requires experience. How is one supposed to gain experience without getting the job first? Shouldn't education or a little training be enough? Also the person who actually has the experience is going to want better pay than what is being offered so might as well hire the person who has no experience but it most definitely qualified in other areas.

Kincali · Dooney & Bourke

XtinaStyles wrote:

Metric wrote:

Also company's that take themselves way too seriously and make you do testing, have 3 interviews, write a Q&A, etc etc for a crappy assistant job. I hate having to jump through hoops for $30,000 a year and a job doing filing.

Ditto.

I think finding a job is a 2 way street. They should put in as much effort as us. They can't just sit back and expect fabulous people with great fashion sense, education and experience to just kiss their ass and do whatever it takes.

ALSO I hate when companies refuse to describe the pay up front. Sometimes you waste 3 weeks on a job that pays 10K less than what you want.

Third all of this. I think certain interview etiquette is no longer applicable to how we live our life today. I think the whole not asking how much the job is paying in the interview is a bunch of crap.

kenzie · Chanel

cahabo wrote:

A low level job that requires experience. How is one supposed to gain experience without getting the job first? Shouldn't education or a little training be enough? Also the person who actually has the experience is going to want better pay than what is being offered so might as well hire the person who has no experience but it most definitely qualified in other areas.

Oh, this irritated me so much when I was first starting my career. It took me two years to find a job in my field for that exact reason. All the "entry-level" jobs wanted five years of experience. That's ridiculous!

And you're right, I have more than five years of experience now and there's no way I'd take an entry-level job with the paltry pay. But I still see all those entry level jobs at there asking for five years of experience.

Elle · Hermes

kenzie wrote:

cahabo wrote:

A low level job that requires experience. How is one supposed to gain experience without getting the job first? Shouldn't education or a little training be enough? Also the person who actually has the experience is going to want better pay than what is being offered so might as well hire the person who has no experience but it most definitely qualified in other areas.

Oh, this irritated me so much when I was first starting my career. It took me two years to find a job in my field for that exact reason. All the "entry-level" jobs wanted five years of experience. That's ridiculous!
And you're right, I have more than five years of experience now and there's no way I'd take an entry-level job with the paltry pay. But I still see all those entry level jobs at there asking for five years of experience.

On this same note, I can't tell you the number of low-level administrative jobs that required a bachelors degree - in anything - for application. Why why why why must one have a bachelors degree to answer a phone? Or file? Gah!

nightshade · Nine West

No offense to anyone who is just out of college/university and looking for their first "real" job, but they were my least favorite to interview. A certain aura of entitlement tended to hover about so many of them. Many were poorly dressed/groomed in terms of the business workplace, not always prompt for the interview, chewing gum (or had just been chewing gum or smoking -- I could smell it on their breath), terrible posture. Some memorable moments: 1. interviewee's cell phone rings and she says to me, Hang on for a minute, willya? 2. interviewee is asked to describe his career goals as they relate to our company and he yawns and says, I'll have to see once I'm here 3. interviewee hadn't gone to the john previous to the interview and was bouncing up and down and twisting her legs around each other -- I finally said, Do you need to go? and she was out of the office like a shot. Ah, good times.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

This doesn't apply to most people, but I have a government job and they keep changing the ethics rules which is a pain in the ass! First you can do this, now you can't, now you can but only in certain situations. The new rule is that you're not allowed to lobby for 2 years after you leave. Since that's the logical next step from what I do now, it reduces the number of jobs I can even apply for by about 75%.

And I agree about not disclosing the salary up front. Especially when they play up the job description so it sound like a high level position than it is. I don't like wasting my time (or theirs!) discussing a position that would be a $20k pay cut.

On the hiring end, my peeves are not showing up for the interview, accepting the position and then disappearing, and not even pretending that you are interested in the field (I had someone come in looking for a fundraising position, but all he wanted to talk about was policy)