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Re: [PLUG] OT: (outta sight!) making IT in Philly?
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On Sun, March 12, 2006 2:31 pm, K.S. Bhaskar wrote:
> As a hiring manager who still understands the technology enough to
> administer my own Linux laptop at work and Linux based network at home,
> let
> me offer a small bit of advice: *never* lie. It's legitimate to call a
> half
> bottle of wine either half empty or half full, whichever suits you better
> -
> it's entirely your choice to present yourself in the way that highlights
> your strengths - but if you lie, I can see right through it even if I am
> personally not an expert in that area, and that's the end of our
> discussion
> and the end of your chances of being hired by me or my company.
>
> -- Bhaskar
> _
I also totally subscribe to the "never lie" policy. While, as Jeff said,
you can BS on some of the more vague manners, if you're asked a question
that you don't know the answer, just admit it - would you want to work at
a job for which you don't know the things they want you to be working on?.
Also, I found it sinks pretty nice if you ask them what the correct answer
would be. I was asked terms at some interviews I never heard of. I
admitted, and asked what it means. I also made a note on my notebook to
look it up, and they had absolutely no problem in explaining what the term
was. I was also offered the job(s) in which this happened. Sometimes they
don't expect you to know something, just curios if they do (I did that
also a couple of weeks ago when I was interviewing my replacement for
co-op). From my point of view, an applicant should show enthusiasm for the
job, express in some manner that they want to learn new things and _never_
lie. I asked one of the people applying for my job a technical question,
it was obvious to me he had no clue, yet he tried to BS his way out of it.
We said "Thank you for coming over" and that was that.
I do however know someone who just got hired for a programming job at a
corporation and has _no_ idea how to program, not to mention no knowledge
of the programming languages needed for the job. I know that because I
TA-ed for him and he also told me he BSed his way through the interview.
My best guess was that the people interviewing were total morons and
didn't ask him enough questions - I know this guy, and there's no way I'd
hire him even if I just met him.
Sometimes you might get lucky and get a job without knowing anything about
it, but that's not, by any means, a guarantee that you'll actually keep
that job - there are bets between the people who know the person mentioned
above on how long he'll keep the job. Maybe they're aware of his lack of
skills and are willing to train him (which might also happen to you at
some jobs), but I doubt it..
Bottom line, IMHO - honesty is much more appreciated at an interview, and
if you don't know things they ask you, learn them so that it doesn't
happen at your next interview.
-Cos
--
GPG key fingerprint = DE9F 4664 E666 2BD1 903E 4F4D EA31 5FB1 C7F9 08C1
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