463
votes
Accepted
Rejected in the fourth interview round, citing insufficient years of experience
Why didn't they say you didn't have enough experience earlier in the process?
Because it isn't true.
You had enough experience going in, but you didn't get the job. Now they need to give you a ...
- 1,557
281
votes
How can we handle overqualified applicants for an entry level position?
A really important interview question you should ask is something like this:
You are a lot more qualified than is required. Why did you apply to this job? What about this job interests you?
...
- 46.9k
255
votes
Accepted
Should I share my opinion of my former manager (from a different company) who's interviewing to be my new manager?
You have first-hand, relevant experience with how he manages teams. You'd be negligent as a team-player and employee if you did not offer that input, as long as it is objective and non-personal. This ...
- 10.6k
228
votes
Making a job offer to a candidate while privately advising them to decline
Meet her for a coffee. (If you're a guy, mention that it's to talk about her career and meet her in a totally non-romantic setting, otherwise she might get scared you are interested in her ...
- 22.9k
211
votes
Is it ok to bring cookies for the entire office to my interview?
Is it ok to bring home baked cookies for the office to an interview?
Whether it's okay or not, just don't do that. It might be a cultural thing, but do not risk appearing as trying to influence the ...
- 73.8k
193
votes
Accepted
How to delay hiring a candidate for 1-2 months?
How about just talking to him? Many candidates will actually appreciate a later start date. That makes winding down things at your current gig easier. And if you are not strapped for cash, you can ...
- 128k
187
votes
Does diversity provide anything that meritocracy does not?
Here's a Harvard Business Review study on why diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams.
Diverse teams are more innovative and focus on facts better than homogeneous teams. However, it's not as ...
- 9,052
171
votes
How can I accept a job offer after rejecting it?
I am sorry for the loss of your boyfriend.
Regarding your job issue, there is no need for over-complication.
Just contact them and tell them what you told us. Normal English language should do it. ...
- 29.1k
166
votes
Accepted
Is there a minimum number of candidates that need to be interviewed before a decision is made?
There are a whole pile of reasons:
To meet HR policy. Some companies just require that at least X number of people be interviewed for any position. I worked for a bank that required several people be ...
- 47.9k
159
votes
Does diversity provide anything that meritocracy does not?
I work in a big IT company (100.000+ employee). Here is what I was told from an HR representative when I was promoted as a manager:
We need to hire smart and talented people. Smart and talented ...
- 1,584
153
votes
Could producing a grave bug that made headlines make you unemployable?
Your mistake is thinking that this is a bug. It isn't. It's a feature that someone wanted, and the developer implementing it did so without any bugs that we know of. In hindsight, it was a very, very ...
- 170k
138
votes
Interviewer wanted to connect with me on LinkedIn the day after the interview, is this appropriate?
Is it appropriate to accept a connection request from an interviewer the day after the interview, with no context as to whether or not they want to hire you?
Yes, that is basically the purpose of ...
- 79.6k
136
votes
Accepted
Getting an entry level IT position later in life
I'm developer in your shoes and I had the added challenge of not having done any kind of computing type work before my current job as a Technical Lead at my company.
With age comes experience, so ...
- 5,676
136
votes
What do I do when my boss is sabotaging interviews?
Anyone that behaves like you describe here is, put bluntly, a complete asshole and should be removed from their position ASAP.
Is this grounds for going over my boss's head to his boss? To HR?
Yes, ...
- 115k
132
votes
Am I likely to be rehired after being fired for misconduct?
The likelihood that they would re-hire you after firing you for "gross misconduct?"
Sorry to be blunt, but the odds are zero. If it was a matter of it being one mistake, and getting a second chance, ...
- 10.6k
132
votes
Accepted
How can we handle overqualified applicants for an entry level position?
Should the other candidates get a better chance for the job, or should
the best applicant get the position?
The best candidate should always get the position. But remember what the term "best" does ...
- 387k
123
votes
What is the normal rate of turnover among developers and does it impact productivity?
What is the normal rate of turnover among developers
You turnover rate looks insane to me. It's more what I´d expect with callcenter-agents.
If you really mean you need to source 35 employees to ...
- 22.3k
120
votes
How to professionally oppose a potential hire that management asked for an opinion on based on prior work experience?
How do I fairly and professionally tell the VP that in my opinion she
is not worth interviewing?
You aren't being asked if she is worth interviewing. You are being asked for your opinion of her ...
- 387k
115
votes
Should I share my opinion of my former manager (from a different company) who's interviewing to be my new manager?
If you have legitimate concerns about his performance, speak up. If the entire team effectively quit because he ran the projects into the ground, that's something these people will find quite ...
- 49.7k
113
votes
Applicants clearly not having the skills they advertise
If you want a "solution" so that you don't end up employing them, then consider an exam or test as part of the interview process.
Had it done to me, as I said "yes" to having Excel skills... They had ...
- 17.9k
109
votes
Does diversity provide anything that meritocracy does not?
The general problem here is that the "merit" in meritocracy needs to be measured in some quantitative way. It's not an objective or absolute quantity. Organizations or teams that have a blind spot are ...
- 128k
102
votes
Company about to send me an offer, but they changed their mind at the last moment
It's impossible for us to know exactly what occurred.
What we do know is that every sign seemed good, until the point where you provided your previous salaries.
It's possible they realised they could ...
- 60.6k
101
votes
I was assigned a totally incompetent intern but there is no official procedure to report this. Should I make noise about this?
Interviewers/Hiring Managers are human - and as such they aren't going to get it right all the time. This means unfortunately that the occasional person gets hired (or accepted for an internship) who ...
- 110k
97
votes
Making a job offer to a candidate while privately advising them to decline
Sounds to me like you don't owe this company any particular allegience -- the key to being ethical with this is separate your business responsibilities from your personal obligation not to harm this ...
- 1,132
97
votes
Accepted
How to turn down a pitch when someone won't take no for an answer?
Some freelancers cannot recognize a "slow no" and don't understand there is no such thing as a "slow yes". They truly believe that "one more pitch will work" or "if ...
- 153k
93
votes
Accepted
What is the rationale of not offering an existing employee a salary as large as the one offered to a new one?
What is the rationale of not offering an existing employee a salary as
large as the one offered to a new one?
In general, salaries increase over time quicker for new talent versus the standard 3% ...
- 85k
91
votes
Making a job offer to a candidate while privately advising them to decline
I'm considering making the offer while privately advising her to
decline it. Are there any ethical, legal, etc. implications that I
should be aware of? Or any reason not to do this?
Your boss ...
- 387k
90
votes
Accepted
In the United States is racial, ethnic, or national preference an acceptable hiring practice for departments or companies in some situations?
No, it's not. Discrimination laws are written without regard to which group a party belongs to. Meaning that if a perceived minority discriminates, it's just as illegal.
You've specifically stated ...
- 43.3k
87
votes
Boss hiring new employee for responsibilities promised to me. How can I deal with this?
Considering I have a positive but strictly professional relationship
with my boss, how could I approach him over this issue?
It's perfectly reasonable to ask if and when you will be travelling with ...
- 387k
86
votes
Accepted
Applicant requested substantially higher salary than I had in mind: is it worth negotiating?
Presuming that the candidate would otherwise be a good fit, is it worth to negotiate?
If you don't negotiate, you definitely won't hire him (because he's asking too much) and therefore you're left ...
- 11.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible