Poll of the Day > Had my first interview for an "actual" job (blogFAQs)

(+) Yeah! (+)

It was for a QA tech position at a meat processing plant. It's about an hour away from the city where I live, so I'd need to move into an apartment closer to the place and buy a car.

The guy who interviewed me was pretty young. He was from a similar educational background to mine, and had apparently been working QA for 8 years. He asked me almost no questions, instead preferring to tell me about the job. Is this normal? Everything I've heard sounds like interviews are a systematic destruction of the interviewee, but it almost felt like I was a client. IDK if that's a good thing.

He placed a strong emphasis on the fact that the job was entry level with a lot of room for progression in this company or others. IDK if that's something all employers say or not. I don't think this job pays very well and I feel kind of overqualified for it educationally but I'm not exactly picky nor in a high demand field.

I told him I wouldn't be able to start until late January, due to finishing school and otherwise restructuring my life, which he seemed apprehensive about. IDK if I shot myself in the foot here, but I don't want to be scrambling to try and start a new job when I'm otherwise busy.

Anyway PotD, if you could post pics of cute anime girls it would really calm me down, I'm feeling kind of stressed.

It's pretty normal for them to tell you a lot about the job. I think a lot of people forget that interviews aren't just for them to decide if you can have the job, but also for you to decide if you want the job. That's why I think employers get wary when somebody doesn't ask them any questions. It makes them think the person doesn't actually have any interest in the job.
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Blightzkrieg posted...

He asked me almost no questions, instead preferring to tell me about the job. Is this normal?

Yeah, I've had multiple interviews go that way. They spend half the time explaining the organization, current projects, and the role they're hiring for. It feels more like an informational interview.

Blightzkrieg posted...

I told him I wouldn't be able to start until late January, due to finishing school and otherwise restructuring my life, which he seemed apprehensive about. IDK if I shot myself in the foot here, but I don't want to be scrambling to try and start a new job when I'm otherwise busy.

Better to be honest about your availability than not. Best of luck!
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I'll process your meat

Okay, now that I actually read the whole topic: I wouldn't take his lack of questions necessarily as a good or bad thing. In my experience, that happening certainly isn't a guarantee they're thinking of hiring you. They could just be bad at interviewing, or planning to bring you back for another, or wanted to gauge how much you would ask questions.

Also, late January made him apprehensive? That's nothing, especially factoring in that Xmas/New Year's time is basically two or three dead weeks at some companies.

Rockies posted...

Also, late January made him apprehensive? That's nothing, especially factoring in that Xmas/New Year's time is basically two or three dead weeks at some companies.

He told me they were looking to fill the position as soon as possible, and they only stop for a few days for Christmas. From my understanding it's an extremely fast paced and busy work environment. I'm not really sure how many people you'd be able to find looking for jobs around Christmas time though, so I dunno how much it matters.

BTW, did you go to the plant to interview? I imagine a place like that smells horrible. I don't think I could do it

I did, but I didn't go inside the actual plant part. I also have a fairly poor sense of smell. That's probably a good thing.

I asked if he could show me around but he said they were too busy.

Psh, he just didn't want you to smell it before giving you a potential offer.

Aren't you like a chemist or something? You might be pretty limited in jobs that don't smell bad and/or provide some kind of long-term health hazard

Yeah. Most potential jobs are either doing QA for food or pharmaceuticals. And the occasional research position, but those tend to expect more I think.

That's a little out of my depth, but if you want general advice for how to fail at job interviews I'm happy to lend an ear

Did you get a job yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbq6wxqfhtM

If they aren't asking much, it's because the job doesn't require much. If you can pee clean and show up on time, you're likely good to go. Whatever you need to know, they'll teach you.

tbh, it beats having interviews which feel like interrogations.
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I know the conventional wisdom is that getting experience is important and after that you'll be able to move on to other things, but based on my own experience, that's a load of shit. It sounds like you're in a similar situation to me when I was coming out of college (low-paying job where you feel overqualified), and if I knew better, I probably wouldn't have taken that offer. It can be tough to find jobs right out of college, but I think there are some advantages. Employers will look at you with more of a clean slate, and it's okay to have a gap where you didn't start working right away. You should only be concerned about taking a job ASAP if you really need the money or genuinely don't feel like you'll get another offer.

But I still don't have a new job, so I'm not sure if that makes me a good or bad person to listen to for advice in this case. Anyways, if you think it's something you'll like doing for a long time and don't care that much about money or long-term career outlook, then it doesn't really matter. And I know you haven't actually received an offer yet, but it sounds like you'd be hesitant if you do get one.

good job son, i am proud.
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Rockies posted...

But I still don't have a new job, so I'm not sure if that makes me a good or bad person to listen to for advice in this case. Anyways, if you think it's something you'll like doing for a long time and don't care that much about money or long-term career outlook, then it doesn't really matter. And I know you haven't actually received an offer yet, but it sounds like you'd be hesitant if you do get one.

That's kind of it yeah. I want to get a job close to (or within) the city I live in, because my girlfriend goes to school here, but that's hard.

I haven't been contacted by the majority of jobs I've applied to, but I'm wondering if that may have to do with the phone signal in my office, which is extremely poor. I assumed most employers would email, but both times I've been contacted so far has been via an unannounced phone call, meaning I wouldn't have received it in my office.

I have no intention of working at this place long term, maybe six months to a year before looking for better positions, but I don't know if that looks really shit to other employers.

Oh jeez, I had awful phone signal in my office too. I was always afraid of missing out on a call, but I think it would at least go to voicemail even if I never actually had the call ring. I'd say most of time for me it's an email, but phone calls are a better sign of genuine interest since emails are often completely canned, if not downright automated.

If you only go for six months to a year, it doesn't necessarily look bad, but when you're interviewing they will probably question you on it. It takes a lot of time and money to interview people, so they want a good investment out of their candidate when they make a hire. I don't know if it's a dealbreaker, but you need to be prepared to answer for it.

And if you're already thinking of moving on in that short of a time period, you might want to consider if it's worth working there at all. There's nothing wrong with taking an "over the hump" job, but make sure you really think about what you'd be doing. If the experience is totally irrelevant to any future job prospects, you're probably better off skipping the place entirely. Also make sure that it's a place you could actually stand being at for more than a year, in case your plans to move on don't work out as soon as expected.