fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3730 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3730 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[Movie: 8Uppers, Actor/Singer: Nishikido Ryo]

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03.

[Psych, Shawn/Jules]

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04.

[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]

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05.

[Yuri on Ice]

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06.

[Irish comedian Ed Byrne and the Great British Bake Off]

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07.

[Pokemon B/W]

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08.

[Overwatch]

Notes:

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Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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I'm filling out a questionnaire and I've decided the question I hate the most is the "Why do you want to work at 'company name'?" Because the honest answer is I hate the place I work at now and will pretty much work at any place that isn't there.

It's like the one question I have trouble bullshitting.

I wish, "I need money for food and shelter," was an acceptable answer.

"Why do you want to work here, Homer?"

https://68.media.tumblr.com/a70dbc2a25bef5725b3c349a2b17a106/tumblr_inline_nu2826Ryyi1sqx52u_540.png

Exactly!

I had an interview today where someone had reached out to me based on my resume, and he still asked me that

Fucking weird as hell, man

Almost every company website has an "About Us" section. Just go there and pick a random rah-rah sentence to use as the reason you want to work there. Even if they figure it out, you'll probably still get brownie points for actually bothering to look at the company website.

This. Look for anything that says vision or mission statement, mandate, anything like that, and regurgitate it.

NAYRT but this is the kind of thing that drives me crazy. Not because I can't do it, but because I can't see any justification for it. I just cannot see any possible way in which that is a useful predictor of actual job performance, you know?

It lets the interviewer(s) know you're A) invested enough in the interview to want to do well B) are familiar with interviews and interview questions C) At least you did the bare minimum of looking up the company's website. Your reaction(s) to the question(s) sometimes speaks louder than the answer itself.

nayrt and yeah, this exactly.

Lots of these questions aren't intended for literal answers. What really matters is if you've researched the company and if you're presenting professionally.

Because I was (mentally) unwell for a while and therefore unemployed for ages, I've been enrolled in a program that helps people look for jobs. It includes training for interviews. They never spelled it out as such, but from what I understand, when people ask that question what they want to know is: do you know what we do here? Did you do research into our company, our views, our way of working. So if they're a huge sprawling multinational you can saw sth about lots of room for you to learn and grow. Small start-up, well you love getting new things off the ground and it's so much more fun when everyone knows each other. I remember one job, admin at a local college, where I'd pretty much just talked about how important education was and how I'd loved my college experience and wanted to do my part to ensure the same for the current generation.

Basically, research the place until you find one or two things you like or can pretend you like. If you can't, circle back to the job's content, the actual tasks. Varied, challenging, I like helping people, etc. And if you can't find a single positive aspect about the company or the job itself, maybe consider not applying. I know if you're unemployed you feel like you have to apply for every job you might be slightly qualified for. But it might be better saving the time and energy spent trying for jobs you don't want, for the applications you actually can get excited about.

NAYRT

But - again - how much of that kind of blatant putting-up-hoops-for-you-to-jump-through stuff is actually useful and predictive when it comes to actual future job performance and fit?

They do this because they can. In an increasingly cutthroat capitalistic society (some would say "late stages capitalism"), people put up or shut up. You dance to their tune, humble yourself and kiss ass, and if you're lucky, you get a job so you can afford not to die. Welcome to capitalism.

Maybe it's more complicated than that. But I don't think so. Workplaces regularly do things that hurt the moral and output of their employees...because they fucking can. Some workplaces will literally rather pay the (slap on the wrist) OSHA fine for killing someone that prevent workplace accidents. They'd rather let people DIE, anon. Think about that.

They want you to be afraid, hopping in place, and desperate. They don't have to pretend, but of course most of it's coded in bullshit language. There are hoops, they are artificial, if you won't jump, they'll look for someone who will.

It's not about job performance. It never was. It's about POWER and its ruthless display. This is the machine and people are the cogs.

tl;dr wake up sheeple I guess? :/

sorry for all the bold; only four words were supposed to be bold.

ayrt

There might be people out there whose job it is to do nothing but hire new people every day. But usually when you're interviewing for a job the person doing the interview is just winging it as well. Even if they've had to hire others before, it's probably not something they do all that often. So they ask the same stuff they were asked, maybe look around for some interesting new questions. It's getting-to-know-you stuff.

I'll admit there might be a cultural difference though. I'm not in the US. So we might get questions like that on interviews, but we don't have forms like that. We just have to send our CV and a letter or a form that has that info. And yeah, on an interview we technically can expect questions like that, but from what I've seen it really does just turn into a conversation to see how you'd fit into the department, if you could handle the job.

I don't think the questions and answers themselves matter that much, it's the conversation they start. It's sort of like the questions on online dating profiles. It's not just what you say, but how you say it. Often the person interviewing you will also be your colleague, so they want someone they can picture themselves getting along with, as well as someone who will do their work properly.

It isn't, but that's not what they're interviewing for. They interview to see which suitably-qualified candidate is a good cultural fit with that company.

I'm aware of that - I would just consider it part of job performance. I don't think it's a good indicator of culture fit, either.

If you're willing to jump through those hoops, and prove yourself willing, that's a positive trait in the corporate world. I'm not saying it's a good thing in and of itself, it's just seen as a positive checkmark.

I've been trying to answer in terms of job duties--"this is work that I enjoy doing and think I'm good at." No bites so far.

Try putting in an answer relating back to the company you're applying to.

YES. And the worst part is, you can't *really* answer, 'cause you *don't* work there, so you pretty much don't really *know* if you want to work there, until you have for a while.

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