"I am trying to think of any reason not to hire you."

[DaveJ]

When I was 19, I tried to get a job for UPS, and that is what the recruiter said to me during an 'interview'. That was over 20 years ago and it's still nagging me.

I've been trying to figure out if he meant me personally, or if that was his process. Either way, it seems wrong. If it were part of his process, and he was just looking out for the wellbeing of the company, I think that is a shitty process, because he's not going to find out during an interview if someone will ultimately steal from the business or not show up for work.

Ok, so someone can say "it's just one jerk", just forget about it, but it's a reoccurring theme. It's common for managers to think this way, if not actually say it.

Some managers who hire seems to come off that way. And it makes me wonder how someone in charge of hiring for major companies can be so narrow minded and infantile, and become managers. I know that there are reasons like 1) they claw their way up the ladder, or 2) executives want assholes in charge because they run a tight ship. But I would have thought that the world would evolve at some point. One can be nice and run a tight ship. It can be done. My dad is one of those who managed hundreds of people who was one of the few in a big corporation who, unlike others, was humble and soft spoken yet he still kept everything and everybody perfectly organized. So I grew up thinking a good manager did not need to be a jerk.

[phantom power]

1. It helps to remember this:

The process of hiring is primarily a process of narrowing dozens or hundreds of applicants down to one. So, the entire task takes place in the context of 'filtering.' That's to say: yes, they're always looking for reasons not to hire you.

I think a good hiring manager should also be thinking of what's good about candidates, but that generally happens only once you get to the short list.

[DaveJ]

2. Hundreds during the interview stage?

The interview stage should be pre-filtered and include maybe 8-10 candidates at most. Really, they should be prepared to hire anyone who appears at that stage, but I'll agree that the world is not that way. So, 8-10 candidates. It should be easier to treat candidates with more dignity at this stage, candidates who go to the trouble of putting on a suite, taking a day off from whatever else they do, and prepare themselves for agreeing to what could be a major life altering event. There is no reason a manger, who should be intellectually developed, to not understand the broader sense of what is happening at that stage.

I see what your saying, but I can't accept that behavior as being appropriate based on that reason. It's still unprofessional.

[phantom power]

3. I think you've touched on part of the problem

"they should be prepared to hire anybody who appears at that stage"

You pretty quickly get to a point where all candidates are good (at least on paper), but in the end, you have to find your way through to figuring out how you are going to pick one of them. I actually think interviewing is a critical step here. A lot of people with good resumes will very quickly turn you off once you meet with them face to face.

I do agree, I wouldn't actually say something like "I'm looking for reasons to not hire you."

On the flip side, I'd expect any job applicant to understand that was the case, whether I was crass enough to say it or not

[DaveJ]

5. Well, it's nice talking to someone like you who is friendly and also agrees with that strategy.

I personally do not think that approach has any place in hiring. To actually look for a reason. People during interviews are nervous, or at least should be nervous if they are normal. I am a completely different person in an interview. Nothing like I am normally. The person interviewing should be trying to find positive ways to get the most of the candidate.

There are lots of reasons to not hire someone that are plainly obvious. 1) they lied on their resume, 2) they do not want to approach things the manager wants to do (ie a Windows guy refusing to use Linux), 3) they show up late, not dressed up, with no good reason, 3) they have anger issues.

And a few others I'm sure.

But going into minutia about a person's personality, or work history when they can easily learn new things, and when they never had the opportunity to learn how that organization works just because they never worked for that type of organization, is unnecessary, IMO, to the point where the manager should spend the whole interview looking for reasons not to hire someone. That's just not normal, IMO. If the manager intendeds to take that approach, I do not think I would want to work in such an inflexible environment anyway.

But I appreciate your ability to be honest about it.

[UrbScotty]

4. Depending on the context, I'd probably take it as a compliment.

As has been said before, it is a process of elimination - they can only choose so many applicants.

For most applicants (including those who are interviewed), it's probably easy to find something to cause them to say 'no' to the applicant - be it a lack of relevant experience, typos on the application, poor posture in the interview, etc. If they can't find anything to stop them from hiring you, that seems to be (IMO) a good sign.

So if they are "trying to think of any reason not to hire you," but can't, that would seem to indicate that you are in a good position - with the caveat that there are probably others of whom the manager has the same opinion.

[DaveJ]

6. Interesting persepctive

I've personally never been hired in that context. People who've hired me, it was clear we got along in the interview nicely.

Things have been as they appeared to be. But maybe I can rewrite that 20 year old memory using that narrative in my brain. Thanks!

[rqsulfates]

7. Spam deleted by CaliforniaPeggy (MIR Team)

[LiveNudePolitics]

8. what is worse is

coming back to a HR manager for multiple interviews, having to purchase more outfits on an already stressed budget, and "professional" looking accessories in an effort to look polished, being strung along for months only to learn they gave the job to a daughter of one of the company's department heads.
Shitty is as shitty does, especially since corporations are people.

[DaveJ]

9. Thank you for understanding

I got dressed up and polished, because their recruiters told me to, and the guy interviewing me was wearing jeans and a short sleeve shirt.

I really think the interview process and all the rules involved is a steaming pile of crap, to be honest. The truth is that a business needs someone to perform a job. I can perform that job. I'm friendly. I learn fast. Simple as that. All the magical qualities people are supposed to have during an interview, seems to be just a way to shift the blame away from the company who clearly is not organized, and calls people in who they have not properly evaluated. The guy who interviewed me had not even looked at my resume before the interview. He did not even know what degrees I had. Or cared. He only wanted someone who would not look better than him, like many interviewers.

I think the personality type of a manger is much different than mine. I actually want to work, accomplish, and create things. I could not care less about being a boss. Being a boss gives me no ego boost like it seems to do for others. I get a sense of pride from being productive. So I pretty much never get along with people performing interviews. I do everything in my power to be nice, but these arrogant hypersensitive manager types detect something about me immediately. And I inevitably say or do something dumb that I would never normally do.

I'm now stuck at a job that I'll probably die at, I can't get rid of it, because I'm a good employee, but bad at performing in the FAKE manner demanded at interviews.

All I can say is that it is sheer bs that people do not care about the skills, capabilities, and dedication of the people who interview for jobs, and instead just look for dancing horses to jump through hoops or something.

[LiveNudePolitics]

10. All the stuff you see in the course of a career, when you are employed is just as frustrating,

really affirms for me that it is all bullshit. I saw others call out sick, screw things up that cost the company big bucks, get caught in lies, or worse, stealing, and still get farther up the ladder faster than those that meet their commitments, worked hard, and were steady and honest.
The main difference was that those bad actors had one thing on their side, they were liked by the 'right' people, and were really good at insincerity and networking. One of my former coworkers is like that; She works every event she goes to, to her advantage-- she literally can walk out of a party with 20 new best friends and totally not like one them, yet, use those contacts to her benefit. It is a hell of a thing to behold. Never would work for me, I cannot do that, can't relate, I must be missing that chip!
I am increasingly becoming convinced that I am better off doing my own thing.

I don't know what anyone can do about getting jerked around at interviews, but I hope everyone reading this thread finds a better way to make a living, one that has some happiness attached to it.

[DaveJ]

11. I'm looking at the problem from the outside in mainly.

Yeah , I also have plans to start my own business. It's the only thing that makes sense.

But, there are things I'd like to experience, and it is just crazy that I feel I've been refused any consideration from the corporate world. It's rare I get an interview in the first place. I get about 1 every year, at most. I know other people interview constantly. They get a job, and the next day they are applying for another job. I am someone who thinks that having devotion to one's business means something. Corporations are totally infested by people who do not care.

[LiveNudePolitics]

12. Lateral movers,

seem to do really well, as a friend of mine does. Takes a job for six months, putting in applications and going to interviews the whole time. Each new spot would lead to another, more lucrative job. Loyalty is not a admirable quality in a hiring manager's eyes.

Good luck with your business!