Thread: Job Interviews

Originally Posted by honedright

Seems to me that some politiking went on.

There is always politics. Clearly you weren't good enough at it, or you wouldn't have ended disappointed, the manager is better because he succeeded in using you for whatever purpose he needed you, but not too good because he ended up with you being unhappy.

I'd say at this point you probably want to look for something positive in it, otherwise you'll keep getting worse and worse off due to the attitude of resentment.
Clearly they don't want you in that job and they don't have to give you any reason (could be just that you aren't good enough with the politics or you'd have figured how to be in an improved situation no matter of the eventual interview outcome), so not wasting your time with further interviews is not a bad thing. If you really can't find anything positive in going through that initial process, at the very least you could consider it as a learning experience, so that in the future you are better at judging whether going through an interview process would be worth your time and effort given the chances you have of getting the job (and at correctly estimating those chances).

To succeed at these things the overall principle is to align your interests with the perceived interests of the decision-makers/the company and your chances are dramatically better. Unfortunately the specifics how to do it always depend on the concrete situation and it's basically mostly politics.

If I wasn't good enough at it, I wouldn't have been given written commendations for doing the job well, nor would they have continued to let me do the job, and continue to do the job (I'm still acting as the interim until the position is filled) for 8 months as there are plenty of other people on the department that they could ask to fill the position temporarily. But no, the boss asked me to do the job. It is a very high visibility job working with the public. Believe me, if there were a problem with the way I was doing the job, they would have yanked me out months ago. A least there would have been a written reprimand, or something. But instead, not a single complaint about my performance in 8 months of doing the job.

What I wasn't good at, and this confirmed by two of the interviewers, was not effectively "selling" myself to the interview panel. In other words BSing them. Rather than hiring me based on the merits of my proven ability to do the job well, I was disqualified for not being able to dazzle them with BS.

But there is a silver lining of sorts. The position I'm losing is swing shift 2:30 - 11:00 PM with Wednesday and Thursday off. The position I'll be returning to is a day shift 9/80 schedule Monday through Friday with Fridays off every other week, therefore a three day week-end twice a month. The current position involves report writing, the one I'm returning to does not. Also, the position I'm returning to requires me to carry a lot less equipment with me, and a lot less responsibility. Difference in pay is about $10K per year, but the additional time off may be sufficient compensation for me.

Bottom line is I still have a good job.

Also there are certain managers that I will no longer have to work with which is a real blessing.

From the way it sounds, the public facing job (I'm guessing has some level of sales involved). Although you had no complaints and have been doing it for some time, the panel may have been looking for you to demonstrate your ability to "sell" your abilities to them, in order to get a feel for how you could "sell" yourself to the public.

I say that (not knowing the whole situation), because in my experience selling anything is directly related to being able to sell yourself to a customer/client. They are buying into you just as much as the product sometimes even more.

All that said, I think you're right in looking at this in a positive light. I've been disappointed with interviews and decisions made in the past but I was always thankful for the opportunities and learning experiences from them. In the end, I wouldn't change a single step or choice I've made.

For me, my ambitiousness didn't always align with the path in front of me everything happens for a reason and now I'm at a place that makes me very happy.

Best wishes on your journey!

The job I do doesn't really involve sales so much. Sales usually involves customer choice. In my job it's more of an ultimatum, and we really do not deal with "customers." Which is why my ability to "sell" seems totally irrelevant. The things that are relevant to the job are things that I am already doing, doing very well, and have been doing for an extended period of time.

And, back to the issue of whether or not I was doing the job well, as mentioned earlier, I was filling the position temporarily pending the hiring of someone to fill the position permanently. The original temporary assignment agreement expired in January. The boss requested an extension through mid March. Had I not been doing a good job, he could have easily ended my tour and filled it with someone else until March. But he didn't.

But, as I implied above, I'm looking at the bright side, and I think I'm just about over it.

This forum is a great place to vent and it's actually been very therapeutic. Thanks!

I didn't say you're bad at the job, but at the politics. After basic level it also doesn't matter how good are you at the job, it depends on how good the perception about you is compared to that of your competition.
Even with the limited information you have posted I can see a perfectly good case for not hiring you. Here are some obvious advantages of hiring a new female employee - cheaper, easier to fire if necessary, better at selling herself could mean she is better with people, or more motivated. Plus if you're sticking around at a different position, they could always hire you back if needed.
Again that's a decision made by a panel and you don't really know how the other interviewee performed or their reasoning, but I wouldn't consider selling oneself a BS.

Oh, no argument - I suck at politics. I'm way too sincere and honest. A straight shooter as it were. I'm not afraid to tell the boss that I disagree with him on certain issues. But if being disingenuous and phoney is what it takes to get ahead, then I guess I'm screwed.

But so be it. And like I said, I still have a good job.

Originally Posted by honedright

But there is a silver lining of sorts. The position I'm losing is swing shift 2:30 - 11:00 PM with Wednesday and Thursday off. The position I'll be returning to is a day shift 9/80 schedule Monday through Friday with Fridays off every other week, therefore a three day week-end twice a month. The current position involves report writing, the one I'm returning to does not. Also, the position I'm returning to requires me to carry a lot less equipment with me, and a lot less responsibility. Difference in pay is about $10K per year, but the additional time off may be sufficient compensation for me.

Bottom line is I still have a good job.

Sounds like the feds to me....typical. Sorry you got hosed.

And, BTW, "selling" yourself to people you already know, and that already know you is BS. It requires a certain amount of acting ability that wasn't required of other candidates who weren't known by, and who really didn't know the interviewers.

It imposed a very artificial, contrived, and awkward element to my interview that wasn't imposed on the others.