Companies have also become so adverse - and I would even characterize it as hostile - to investing any effort into employees that they want to have any new hire to “hit the ground running”.
Ergo, they interview over and over again, using wildly diverse testing methods and querying for every possible needed skill, and getting tied up in analysis paralysis in their attempt to find the “perfect candidate”.
With the very predictable result of all the good candidates withdrawing for other opportunities - because the smart companies don’t conduct torture via incessant interviews, they jump to provide offers once basic thresholds have been met - leaving only the mediocre and substandard applicants.
This is why you hear certain companies lament the low quality of applicants, or descend clear down to “bUt No-OnE wAnTs To WoRk!!1!” when their toxic interview methods chase everyone away.
It’s so weird. The company I was working at earlier this year went bankrupt so I had to find a new job. I did a lot of interviews and ultimately the one that made an offer and I accepted was the one that had one interview. They took a look at my previous experience, did one test exercise to verify my expertise and then made an offer that I accepted. But for that one offwr I had a lot of interviews at other places where it came down to me missing “it” whatever “it” was. It all felt pretty demoralizing and I ended up spending more time maintaining a healthy mindset, to not become like the author, than I did searching for a job.
My favorite hiring was a company that had me do a recruiter interview after a recruiter had already recommended me (why?). Then I got a poorly worded practice exercise that they refused to elaborate. After that I had a team interview and after it a HR interview (yes, in that order). I would’ve had two more interviews with the head of the dept and one more with some suit. All that for a position that wage-wise was just above entry level and well below my paygrade. I pretty much grilled them on the last meeting for having such a long and stupid hiring process because out of all their hiring processes no other process had wasted my time as much as this.
Where I work now, I had to go through one management-level interview and one assesment center for 4 hours. Since then they changed it to 2 interviews up front (the second more technical). The idea was to spare the time and ressources for the assesment center if the second interview reveals that the candidate is not what we are looking for.
If I had a say in that I would combine the first two interviews into one. This way the management could judge the candidate by their responses to techincal questions at the same time, even if they cannot tell whether it is false or not.
I was already on the other side of the table for the assesment center. I had to give an evaluation for a part of the tests for new candidates who made it already to the first two interviews. Both of them finally got an offer, one of them declined.
I still find we are doing too much. I find the programming challange a bit stressful. Programmers not used to be watched solving a complex problem may fail at this. When I was on the other side of the table I asked whether they wanted a bit of time dealing with it alone, so they did and the result was not perfect, but we discuessed it and in the end I noticed that they did know what to do. I may have indirectly tested whether they are a teamplayer or not. I considered this a plus and told the management, that we can work with them and that they will learn quickly.
Now back to my own situation: I did not write an application for the job I am now on: I used honeypot.io to have companies find me. And I told my self that I only have 3 applications pending at the same time while I wait on this platform. I had only one additional interview with the recruiter from Honeypot; it was a very relaxed conversation and they optimized my profile for me, reflecting exactly where I stand with my skills (social skills as well). My own applications went nowhere and I may know why: I just did not fit to them as I thought I might. It only took 2 days after my profile was online when my current employer contacted me. One week later I had an interview. It felt like they are applying to me. I said yes to the assessment center and here I am. I can only recommend to take it a bit slow, to be able to recover from negative responses to applications and maybe make use of platforms like Honeypot which reverse the application process.
I am out of probation now and think I have many years ahead in this company. I whish everyone this satisfaction and a salery that fits the needs and your livestyle!
There are plenty of good jobs out there, but they often don’t advertise. They don’t have to. Word of mouth gets them all the candidtes they need and partnerships woth decent recruiters and schools gets them all their other employee needs.
If you’re looking for a good job, I can recommend looking up a good recruiter in your area. Not a corprate recruiter, but a personal recruiter. One who finds you a job that fits your needs.
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Companies have also become so adverse - and I would even characterize it as hostile - to investing any effort into employees that they want to have any new hire to “hit the ground running”.
Ergo, they interview over and over again, using wildly diverse testing methods and querying for every possible needed skill, and getting tied up in analysis paralysis in their attempt to find the “perfect candidate”.
With the very predictable result of all the good candidates withdrawing for other opportunities - because the smart companies don’t conduct torture via incessant interviews, they jump to provide offers once basic thresholds have been met - leaving only the mediocre and substandard applicants.
This is why you hear certain companies lament the low quality of applicants, or descend clear down to “bUt No-OnE wAnTs To WoRk!!1!” when their toxic interview methods chase everyone away.
It’s so weird. The company I was working at earlier this year went bankrupt so I had to find a new job. I did a lot of interviews and ultimately the one that made an offer and I accepted was the one that had one interview. They took a look at my previous experience, did one test exercise to verify my expertise and then made an offer that I accepted. But for that one offwr I had a lot of interviews at other places where it came down to me missing “it” whatever “it” was. It all felt pretty demoralizing and I ended up spending more time maintaining a healthy mindset, to not become like the author, than I did searching for a job.
My favorite hiring was a company that had me do a recruiter interview after a recruiter had already recommended me (why?). Then I got a poorly worded practice exercise that they refused to elaborate. After that I had a team interview and after it a HR interview (yes, in that order). I would’ve had two more interviews with the head of the dept and one more with some suit. All that for a position that wage-wise was just above entry level and well below my paygrade. I pretty much grilled them on the last meeting for having such a long and stupid hiring process because out of all their hiring processes no other process had wasted my time as much as this.
Where I work now, I had to go through one management-level interview and one assesment center for 4 hours. Since then they changed it to 2 interviews up front (the second more technical). The idea was to spare the time and ressources for the assesment center if the second interview reveals that the candidate is not what we are looking for.
If I had a say in that I would combine the first two interviews into one. This way the management could judge the candidate by their responses to techincal questions at the same time, even if they cannot tell whether it is false or not.
I was already on the other side of the table for the assesment center. I had to give an evaluation for a part of the tests for new candidates who made it already to the first two interviews. Both of them finally got an offer, one of them declined.
I still find we are doing too much. I find the programming challange a bit stressful. Programmers not used to be watched solving a complex problem may fail at this. When I was on the other side of the table I asked whether they wanted a bit of time dealing with it alone, so they did and the result was not perfect, but we discuessed it and in the end I noticed that they did know what to do. I may have indirectly tested whether they are a teamplayer or not. I considered this a plus and told the management, that we can work with them and that they will learn quickly.
Now back to my own situation: I did not write an application for the job I am now on: I used honeypot.io to have companies find me. And I told my self that I only have 3 applications pending at the same time while I wait on this platform. I had only one additional interview with the recruiter from Honeypot; it was a very relaxed conversation and they optimized my profile for me, reflecting exactly where I stand with my skills (social skills as well). My own applications went nowhere and I may know why: I just did not fit to them as I thought I might. It only took 2 days after my profile was online when my current employer contacted me. One week later I had an interview. It felt like they are applying to me. I said yes to the assessment center and here I am. I can only recommend to take it a bit slow, to be able to recover from negative responses to applications and maybe make use of platforms like Honeypot which reverse the application process.
I am out of probation now and think I have many years ahead in this company. I whish everyone this satisfaction and a salery that fits the needs and your livestyle!
There are plenty of good jobs out there, but they often don’t advertise. They don’t have to. Word of mouth gets them all the candidtes they need and partnerships woth decent recruiters and schools gets them all their other employee needs. If you’re looking for a good job, I can recommend looking up a good recruiter in your area. Not a corprate recruiter, but a personal recruiter. One who finds you a job that fits your needs.