While waiting for our order in the restaurant (the one that smelled like cat-piss) I happened to eves-drop on a job interview.
The pudgy young woman who was interviewing had multi-colored hair and her current position was as the manager of a national pizza chain. The outlet she managed was a town ten miles north of Potterville. The person doing the interviewing was a man of about 30 who looked uncomfortable wearing a suit-jacket.
The interviewer asked the job applicant to give him thumbnail-sketches of the people who worked for her.
She started out "Jennifer is my favorite. She does everything I tell her to do..."
"I don't like Brad. He doesn't like to wash pans."
"I don't like Krylon. He doesn't know how to answer the phone or write up an order."
Every person she ticked-off she led with her personal, emotive reaction to that person as if that were the most important thing.
And if you are the manager and being "able to answer the phone and take an order" is a job requirement, then it is YOUR job to train people who do not know how to do that. YOU ARE FAILING.
In my opinion, if the job interview involved a promotion, it was over after her first three thumbnail-sketches. Those people don't work for you. They work for the customer. They work for the company. You are there to orchestrate the music.
I could have saved that young man in the uncomfortable suit a lot of time.
My children say I am too quick to judge.
Odds are good the interviewER was just as unqualified as the interviewEE. Had no idea what questions to ask and what to make of the answers. Incompetence is becoming rampant. And we see the results of it daily.
ReplyDeleteQuick to judge, but you were right! Management is not a skills test, it is a character test.
ReplyDeleteEasiest way to weed people out like that in the interview process is simply to say "Not a good fit for the team".
ReplyDeleteMy question is why would you eat in a restaurant that smells like cat piss?
ReplyDeleteMy thought as well. I was wondering in perhaps I had missed something?
DeleteI wanted to leave.
DeleteSouthern Belle, who had the keys, looked at Quicksilver who was falling apart due to timing (normally, she would be starting her nap) said we were staying.
Being the gracious fellow that I am, I did not fight gravity and a mother's decision regarding keeping her two-year-old from going critical-mass.
"Multi-colored hair... " Done! Next. Same goes for multi facial piercings and lots of tattoos. May be okay if you're interviewing for factory side but not customer facing side. The multi-colored hair, though, usually seems to be a demand for attention and often a drama causer. Just my initial impression if I'm the interviewer.
ReplyDeleteFifteen years ago, that was a viable choice.
DeleteToday, with so few people deciding that they need to work (what the hell!!!) and with nearly all high-school graduates sporting tatts and piercings...it is not a viable choice.
Times change.
Judgement is a life skill.
ReplyDeleteJust because the kids lack the skills to do it quickly, does not mean that you are too quick.
It's OK to keep an open mind, just make sure your sense doesn't fall out the opening.