Interview tips : Build up to let down!

I am currently unemployed for the first time since I was 16. Recently I went on an interview for a position in another state, which I really wanted. The HR loved me, and started throwing numbers at me concerning what the starting salary would be. He wanted me to meet the manager of the location that I would be working at.

The manager also loved me, and started using words such as "us" and "we" as if I was already working there. I went home really excited about the position.

I got a call three or four days later, and they told me that the owner decided not to hire for that position right now, as "sales are slow." This right after the manager mentioned a recent sale of hers, the profit from which would pay my salary for the year! I was told to call back in a few months when "sales are better."

This seems to be common practice lately, where companies build you up just to let you down. I had a few job agencies call me in as well, only to offer me $12 an hour for a temp job. I feel that I need at least $15 to live decently.

Also since I' m posting...what does one do if all of their references have disappeared? I have worked mainly retail when I was in college, and the turnover in those jobs is terrible. Most of my supervisors and managers are gone or transferred. I have been giving potential employers the names of the store HR, hoping that THEY are still working there.

I feel for you, as I have been there. I can actually do you one better. I interviewed for a Bookkeeper position for a small family owned manufacturing business in August 2003. The co-owner (wife) and the current Bookkeeper, who was leaving, both interviewed me on a Friday afternoon. They went out and talked for a few moments, and she came back in and offered me the job on the spot. I asked for some time to think it over, and when I got home, called her back, negotiated the salary and she said I was hired, pending a drug and background check..

Monday morning I went for my Drug Test and she started the background check. She had hoped to have me start that Thursday, so I could train a few days with the Bookkeeper before he left. Well, I knew my drug test and background should be fine, so when I hadn' t heard from her by Thursday, I called her. It seems it had taken until that day to get my drug test results back, because I was on prescription medication (I still don' t know why that should have mattered.) And, in the couple of days it had taken, business had slowed down, so she got scared, changed her mind about hiring me, and told me she had to take the offer back.

To make matters worse, I had just gone out that Saturday and replaced my seven year old Cavalier with a brand new Toyota Camry. Nice timing.

I worked a temp job for six months after that. The following March, one day before I was to start working at a permanent job, I get a call from Mrs Company Owner, asking me if I am now "ready" to come and work for them!?! It seems business had picked up again, and they had hired someone "part time", who was resigning due to health issues. Told her I had a job, and hung up.

So, it' s nice to know I' m not the only one who has had this problem.

Unfortunately, applicants often get too excited about things like "us", "we" and asking about salary. That does NOT mean you have the job. Yes, the profit from this sale she made could pay your salary for a year, but that money is probably spoken for in paying for the rent for the last three months, (or the next three).

No one has the time or energy to build you up just to let you down. They' re posting and interviewing because they believe they have a need. Things change, sometimes very quickly and that means that the spot you want doesn' t always work out. It isn' t personal, it is business.

I appreciate that you think you need $15 to live decently, however, remember that in order to make what you want, an employer has to be willing to pay that. If you don' t have a skill set that the employer wants to pay $15 for, it might not happen. I don' t know if $15 an hour is reasonable for you or not, but if you' re getting offers of $12 over and over, that might be a message. Keep in mind too that a temp job for $12 is $12 more an hour than you' re making if you' re unemployed. It might just be a stepping stone into a job you do want.

It is correct, as fed-up as it is, it' s not personal. It rarely is when they barely know you. However, because of these very situations, I have been extremely cautious. By nature, I am very optimistic but I force myself to continue interviewing and not get my hopes up based on one likely match/offer alone.

As for references, that is tough. All you can really do is go down the line of job relation. That is why I think networking/personality is one of the more important attributes in your career growth. There must be several people where you work. This should be more a social exercise than a reference netting. There are also people that you just have a good professional relation with, you did a good job for them or something. If not, move on to your previous work/non related professional contacts (i.e. professors), then to personal contacts.

It' s perfectly natural to get your hopes up when hiring managers act as though you' re already hired. When they use optimistic words and phrases, what are you supposed to think especially if you are inexperienced, naive, and a little desperate?

They should be mindful of this fact and say or do nothing to lead the candidate to believe that the job is theirs until it actually is. Applicants need to realize that until there is a firm job offer letter, they should not assume they are being hired and should continue their job search and not get their hopes up. Applicants should not be afraid to ask the hiring manager who uses these optimistic words and phrases if they are getting a job offer or what the hiring manager means. Put your cards on the table and speak up. Hiring managers are not from another planet. They are like everyone else except for the fact that they screen, interview, and hire people for jobs. Don' t be in awe of them or worry about ruining your chances if you ask a question that should be asked by you and answered by the hiring manager as soon as possible.

If hiring managers are not completely sure that they can afford to hire someone for the position, they should not extend an offer. There is no reason for this other than failure to consider their financial situation before they start interviewing and misleading applicants. We all need to think before we act and consider the feelings of others!

The fact that this is business and not personal is no excuse to run roughshod over the feelings of anxious and hopeful applicants!

While I agree in principle that a hiring manager should not say or do things that lead a candidate to think they have a job when they don' t, my experience of many years on this board says that candidates hear what they want to hear. Any friendly tone, any "throw away" comment, any question about availability or starting salary and people are getting business cards printed up.

While it is terrible for someone to actually extend an offer then retract it (of course you' re supposed to think you have the job in that case), most of the posts on these boards are not like that. Just because the interviewer likes you, talks nicely to you, uses the word "we" or "us", shows you around the office, talks salary or start dates. or even just speaks nicely to you does NOT mean you have the job.

I do agree that people should not assume that they have something until it is there on paper. And perhaps not even then. Heck, I have heard of people who GOT the job, only to be "laid off" a week later because of some silly reason. Meanwhile they already signed a lease, bought a car, or similarly got themselves into debt...and now they will have a hard time getting out of it.

I just wish that more employers on Monster and other such sites took posting openings seriously. I am beginning to wonder if some employers are just posting positions to see what kind of candidates they get, with no real intention of actually hiring anyone. I have seen some of these "available opportunities" for months at a time...posted, reposted, and then posted again. Some of them I have applied for, even called...and they are always "reviewing applications."

As for it being "all business," that term wasn' t in vogue until "The Apprentice" went on the air. Now everyone thinks that they are Mini-Trumps, and they use his influence as an excuse to feel good about ruining other people. You should not feel good about saying, "you' re fired." Nor should you treat an interview process like you are the king or queen, and the candidates are all there to lick your boots.

Finally, I know that I am worth more than $12/hr. College grad, 10 years retail experience, 3 years management experience, more computer skills in my pinky than most candidates have period...$15 should not be an unattainable goal. It' s just that no one seems to be hiring, or just plain old bad luck.

Good points, They are true in many cases. Being human, many of us hear what we want to hear especially after we have had long periods of disappointments and setbacks! If candidates are not sure whether the hiring manager intends to offer them a job based on their instincts and what messages they' re getting, they should simply ask so they can stop wondering what is going to happen.

If they are afraid to do this, they are probably afraid of being disappointed or appearing foolish and over anxious. I would not worry about how I appear. I would just want an honest answer and either get ready for a new opportunity or begin again.

"Finally, I know that I am worth more than $12/hr."

Sure you are, Nick! So are a lot of people. In fact - most of us think we deserve much more than we are earning and what galls me is that grossly incompetent people do not even realize how awful they are and still think they should be making more money. I have never heard anyone say anywhere that he or she is making enough money and does not need to earn any more.

Your salary level has no relation to your actual worth and value as an employee!

However, employers pay what the job is worth to them and what they can afford. That is precisely why so many employees who had outstanding careers in the past and have excellent skills and impressive employment and educational backgrounds finally have to work at jobs which pay much less than half the salaries they used to make.

Career Tips

Build up to let down!