RECCE ROOM

For the record, I got this email two years ago. The author requested I wait to publish for a while. I responded with my advice immediately to the person, and logged this one for a future posting date.  From a reader: Just had a question. I’ve seen you write some pretty solid career and interviewing advice. How about this situation – I turn in my notice and my boss offers me a raise and a promotion. How do you handle that? - JH Great question. One thing keeps popping out in my head on this one... if there was a promotion and a raise so handy, why didn't the boss already offer that? Why did it take the threat of leaving to motivate the boss? There's no way I would continue employment at a place like that. Get out of Dodge. From a more sanguine point of view: once you have given your notice, you must keep your word. It is a matter of integrity. Whatever motivated you to leave is still true, even if they offer a change on the surface. Also, the c...

Question: How do you confuse a recruiter? Answer: You tell them something simple and straight-forward. This from my brother. The Inspiration? My brother is currently interviewing candidates for an open position. He recently told the HR person that he was going to pass on a specific candidate because that candidate had significant discrepancies on answers from the interview vs. what was actually on his resume.  The candidate asked the HR lady on Friday about the status of his candidacy. She (HR lady) actually asks my brother what the status is... and why my brother decided to pass on this candidate. AGAIN.

One of the main searches on Google that will get you to my blog seems to be what I've written on Wonderlic tests. I am putting together an unofficial list of companies from where the internet is used to search for these strategies on Wonderlic. Seems to be the thing to do. :)

Link here . I link to the one article, but the whole site is very informative.

Last Day. From this article , you know why I was searching. New gig means a base pay higher than my previous total comp, commissions for the life of the client, and a more close-knit company. PS - in the previous article, I'd mentioned that it would be Feb., 2011 before I could earn a reasonable commission check again. It just so happened that the actual month was March.

Was contacted by a company to whom I'd applied. They sent an email, inviting me to take a Wonderlic test , to see if I qualified for an interview. This is an oddity, because fewer than 1 in 50 employers use the Wonderlic.  This was not my first experience with the Wonderlic, and the wife said I should post a bit about it. According to employers, the Wonderlic can be a useful tool to gauge a prospective employee's cognitive ability. In other words, it can tell you pretty quick if you have a bright person interviewing, or someone who just doesn't get it. About the Wonderlic: The test includes mathematical problems, word associations, and several other aptitude gauging problems. The traditional Wonderlic is 50 questions long, and examinees are given 12 minutes in which to complete the test. Scores are given strictly on the number of questions answered correctly. According to Wikipedia , a score of 20 is roughly the equivalent of a 100 IQ. The article also gives avera...

Last night I interviewed with Target in Mount Juliet. I was hired on the spot for part time seasonal employment, provided I can pass a drug screen this evening. Pay is not great, but the hours will be the main thing here, as they will not interfere with my regular hours. I was surprised that they asked behavioral interview questions for a simple cashier position. Pleasantly surprised. The soon-to-be boss stated this is seasonal, but that if I do well, it is likely I would be kept past the Holiday season.

A while back, I posted about how my current employer made a foolish decision . In response, I am looking to make a change. Until the change can take place, I have decided to take up part time employment. I will also likely sell a gun or two, and quite a few accessories. This weekend, I applied for part-time work at Wal Mart. After completing the computerized questionnaire and submitting an electronic resume and application, I spoke with a manager.  He advised me they have evening and weekend part-time work in three main areas: a) unloading trucks, b) cashier, and c) gun counter. I drooled! A brief explanation later, coupled with a sincere comment that I was willing to do whatever they had an opening for, and I was on my way. Fingers crossed for the gun counter!

This post stems from an ongoing discussion I've been having with my brother. He recently upgraded his job to the tune of $12K per year - in this economy. I, of course, found myself unemployed due to no fault of my own at the end of last year. After securing a job in March, I am on pace to earn more in 9.5 months this year than I did in 12 months last year (though laid off, they paid us through the end of the year). Some observations we've had on potential jobs & interviews: 1. Not all advertisements are real jobs. - Some companies advertise jobs just to satisfy HR folks when they've already made up their minds to promote an internal candidate. - Some companies are just 'fishing' to see if their pay is on par with the market. - Some companies actually change their minds about filling/creating a position mid-search. - Some companies are just plain lying about there being an opening. 2. Some jobs advertised have unrealistic expectations. - Some compani...

I have posted about this before, some people just don't listen. Once, I had to explain to an interviewer three times that I was laid off because my whole department got the axe. She didn't listen to a word and thought I just wasn't making the grade. In reality (where she seemed to only visit occasionally), I was at 140% of quota for the year when the axe fell. My brother relays a similar story: He was interviewing for a job. The recruiter sees his address (which is a little far for some people), and says: "I think you would be a fit, but I'm afraid the drive would be too much for you." My brother responds: "Well, I work across the street from the company now, so what would be the difference?" TWICE more, my brother had to answer the same question. Not surprisingly, he did not get an interview with the company at the time. The recruiter said he lived too far away. A little later, he got an interview with them directly. When asked why h...

I am at an interview once. I find out the recruiter who was scheduled to meet with me was out sick and a co-worker would take her place. No problem. Or so I thought. New Recruiter looks at my application and sees "sales" as the position I am applying for. I put that there because the first recruiter did not tell me the name of the company or the name of the position. That's common with recruiters so that candidates don't go around behind their backs. Then the replacement interviewer looks at my reason for leaving my last job. I had written - "Position Eliminated - laid off." Recruiter - Why were you laid off. Were your numbers not so good? Usagi - "My numbers were fine - top five, in fact. The ENTIRE DEPARTMENT was let go in a cost-cutting measure." *Two minutes later* Recruiter - "Why were you the one laid off?" Usagi - "It was nothing personal... just a whole department thing. Big companies do that sometimes. I do...

In this post , I detailed a job interview I had recently where a lot of things popped up as red flags. Now I have a follow-up. When I left that interview, I emailed the gentleman that interviewed me and informed him that I needed to remove my name from consideration for the "position." That was Wednesday afternoon. Friday afternoon, I get a call from his boss, asking me to start Monday. So I get to tell him the same thing. These folks really need to get things together.

Everybody has their horror story. I could tell some good ones. I call this one the worst I've had because of the number of red-flags, not because any one red-flag was that severe. Over the years, I have had an interview or two. At this point I consider myself pretty good at weeding out the positions that are really going nowhere by the email stage, if not the phone interview stage. This one slipped through due to some pretty interesting circumstances. I won't go into detail on the circumstances, but here's the list of red flags: 1. Not in the best section of town. 2. This company was the only company in the corporate office building they called home. 3. There was carpet construction going on the entire time. 4. Too many young, attractive females worked there. This indicates that a job is not a career place - just a place for one of the managers there to find dates. 5. An interesting questionnaire about me & sales (I have never interviewed at a place that had a paper que...