fired without reason, overly cutesy video interviews, and more

by Alison Green on June 8, 2013

It’s short answer Saturday — seven short answers to seven short questions. Here we go…

1. Company offered me a job, then pulled the offer, then offered it again

In the past 3 weeks I have been involved in the interview process with a large restaurant corporation, I have recieved a verbal offer which was rescinded. However, when I inquired as to the reason for this the HR manager said she would make a call and subsuquently the offer was reinstated and put in writing as the same offer that was given verbally. Should I take this position or am I just the running the risk of being unemployed once more in a short duration? Any insight would go a long way right now!

I’d be really wary of accepting the offer without understanding what caused it to be pulled the first time, since you want to be able to be confident that the same thing won’t happen a week after you start the job. I’d call her immediately, say that you’re really glad to have the offer and would love to work with them, and ask if she can give you some insight into what caused the offer to be pulled earlier. If she’s vague, it’s reasonable to say, “I’d love to be able to accept, but I’m hesitant to do with worries about how secure the job is.”

2. Would this be too cutesy for a Skype interview?

I’m doing a video Skype interview with a company in a different state. It’s the third interview, to determine if they want to fly me in for the final round, but it will be with two people I haven’t talked to before and one person I have already interviewed with once (my potential boss). It’s a creative job, for a company that is a little quirky and generally laidback (for example, their dress code is: must wear clothes). I will be Skyping in my home office, and I was thinking of buying some paraphernalia from the state or the state’s teams and hanging that behind me. Like, a sports flag saying “Go Transylvania Teacups!” or whatever, just as to reinforce that I would want to move for this job. Cute or too much?

This is so very much not much not to my taste that it’s hard for me to give you an unbiased answer. But the more important point is that things behind you really shouldn’t be very visible in a Skype interview; your face and upper shoulders should take up most of the camera frame, and anything else visible should be a neutral background so as not to distract from your interviewer’s focus on you and your answers. (Yes, that’s somewhat of a dodge, but it’s still the answer.)

3. Employer fired me during a training period and won’t tell me why

I was recently hired in a new position. The work wasn’t set to begin until August, but I was hired with the understanding that I would begin training immediately. For the past month, I have been completing the online training program and have attended two in-person training meetings. There is no compensation for the training portion of this job. This week I received a phone call that my services are no longer needed. No additional reason was given. I emailed my direct supervisor and asked if she could clarify why I was let go, but I haven’t received a response and I don’t expect one at this point. I know it can simply be a case of a personality mis-match, but I can’t help but feel perplexed and I’m dying to know what happened. I hadn’t received anything but positive feedback prior to that call. Am I right to just leave it alone, since it’s clear that there’s no intention to provide any additional information?

It’s ridiculous that she didn’t tell you why, particularly when you asked directly. But you can’t make her tell you. I think you could try one more time (and when you do, being extra polite about it will increase your chances of an answer, e.g., “I understand that things sometimes don’t work out, but I’d so appreciate any insight you can give me into what I can do better in the future”), but after that you’d need to drop it and move on.

4. How to respond when asked if I’d accept a lower-level position

A few months ago, I applied for an internal position with another group at my company. This was a non-management position that would have been a small promotion and pay raise from my current position. I never heard back from that application.

Two weeks ago, I applied to a management position within that same group which would have been a huge promotion and pay raise. I was quickly called in for an interview. At the interview, the hiring manager made it very clear that I was there interviewing for the management position. At the very end of the interview, she mentioned that she noticed that I had also applied for a non-management position in her group. She then stated that the interview panel had also been evaluating me for that position as well in case they didn’t offer me the management position.

I was caught off guard. When she asked me if I would accept the lower level position if it was offered, I told her that I would not and I was only interested in the management position. At the time, I felt if I agreed to accept the lower position that it would come across as me not being confident that I would be chosen for the management position. She was visibly not happy with my response. What’s the best way to handle a situation like this? I feel like I killed my chances for getting either position with my response.

There’s no ideal way to handle this, but applying for two positions and then saying that you’d only accept one (without a broader explanation) when asked does come across a little strangely — after all, you already applied for that other position, which is certainly an expression of being interested in it. In any case, the best answer is usually something like, “I’d certainly be interested in talking about the other position if this one doesn’t work out, but this is the one I’m most interested in and which seems like the best match for my skills and experience level. I’d want to talk more about the other one before being able to give you a definitive answer about it.”

5. I sent my resume to a contact but now see a job posting with different instructions for applying

One week ago, I applied for a position that had “opened” after my friend in that position had resigned. I sent my letter of inquiry and resume to her manager, who I also know from within my industry. He replied, thanked me, and said he would let me know when the interview process would begin.

The next day, the position was posted on an industry job website. I have no qualms with the posting in itself, but it does ask for a salary history. Also, the contact info in the posting is for someone else at the company who I do not know. Should I send my information to this unknown person, with a salary history as directed (which I’m not crazy about doing) or just wait for my contact to reach out for me? If I do wait, how long, another week?

You could follow up with the original contact and say, “I noticed that the job posting instructs people to send materials to Jane Smith. Should I send my materials directly to her? I’d be glad to if so.”

But I wouldn’t just reapply — that’ll look odd if it’s not accompanied by explanation.

6. Why do companies change the posting dates on job openings?

Do you know why organizations change the “posting date” on their websites? A job I’m interested in originally had a posting date of May 4. Now a month later, the position has a posting date of June 7. I’ve been interviewed 3 times on the phone for this position by different people. The last person I spoke with was the hiring manager on Monday, and today I looked up the position the date has been changed. Do you have any ideas?

They’re keeping the posting live until they’ve filled the position, and many sites require that you repost after a month (or the posting expires). Also, some employers will repost just to keep the ad looking fresh. (If this was their own website and not an external one, it’s possible that they updated the job description or otherwise tweaked something.)

7. Why did this contact add me on LinkedIn?

The organization I work for has its own specialized health insurance company. Although our names are similar, they are a completely different entity. I have only dealt with them on a personal level to file my various health insurance claims. A few days ago, someone I have never met or dealt with from this insurance company added me on Linkedin. I was really put off by this as we are in no way professionally connected. I know it’s probably just easiest to ignore it, but part of me wants to message her and ask if there is some issue regarding my insurance that made her want to look for me on Linkedin. What would you suggest?

I think you’re thinking about it too much and you could just disregard the connection request, but if you’re really curious, sure, there’s no harm in messaging her to ask about it.

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{ 63 comments }

{ 63 comments… read them below }

  1. Sharon*

    Re #1: In 100% agreement with Allison’s advise. I’m not the OP but this makes my imagination run wild to all kinds of situations you do not want to work in. For example, what if it was like this:

    The OP happens to be black and the hiring manager revoked the job offer because of that. When the HR person asked and found out that was the reason, she gave the hiring manager a good talking to and insisted that he could not disqualify the OP for that, so the HR person wrote up the formal offer letter. I would absolutely NOT want to work with a bigoted manager, even or especially if he was forced to hire me by (well-meaning) HR. This is my overactive imagination of course, but…. well, yeah, you want to know what was going on there.

    1. Coco*

      No offense, but that’s a poor example. If a hiring manager was biased, no one (including HR) would ever know.

      As for the OP, it could be a myriad of reasons why they pulled the initial offer. From the letter, I have a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with a discrepancy on a background check. Having a wrong prior employment date or address on the application can make a background check come back as negative.

      In the end, I doubt the OP will ever know the real reason.

    2. Anonymous*

      Yup, that’s a little way out there. There could have been a thousand reasons for them to pull the offer, but discriminatory actions can come into play. Been there seen that.

    3. Mike C.*

      I really hate the “well you wouldn’t want to work for them anyway” line. It’s usually not a choice that people are privileged enough make. I just wish more people realized this.

  2. WSG*

    I’m not trying to bait anyone here, but I have to say I’m always amazed at how many questions or concerns could be handled if people took comments or circumstances at face value. #7, for example! Someone added you on a professional network site. So what? Accept or decline. The end. I get the same twitchy feeling when I read the “zomg! What does this email mean?!11” questions. Very few people have the time or energy to devote to cryptic messages and mysterious communications. Take these interactions at face value. When people are truly nutty, troublesome, whatever–ahem, invoice-sending-interviewee–you’ll know.

    1. Nancie*

      I can see why someone would be a little weirded out by it. The request came from someone who works for their insurance company. Someone who may have seen the OP’s name in relation to a medical claim, and thus may have seen medical or demographic details about the OP.

      It’d be like getting a request from someone you don’t know, who works in your OB-GYN or Urologist’s office. Potentially creepy.

      1. Jessa*

        This. If it’s in the US I keep seeing HIPAA violation written all over it. I just…if it’s not someone you’ve become friendly with, or someone you’ve dealt with for other reasons than insurance claims, I’d be very much “WHAT?” about it.

        1. Sourire*

          It doesn’t sound like there is any kind of medical information being discussed or disclosed in any way, so I don’t really see how there could be any type of HIPAA violation.

          1. Nancie*

            It’s probably not a HIPAA violation, but it’s in a similar vein. Like Jessa, my brain went there.

      2. Anonymous*

        “Every facet, every department of your mind, is to be programmed by you. And unless you assume your rightful responsibility and begin to program your own mind, the world will program it for you.”

      3. Spreadsheet Monkey*

        I didn’t take that away from the letter. I see that it’s her insurance company, but it also reads that the insurance part is a sister company. I don’t see anything creepy about it. I get LinkedIn requests from people who work for other divisions of my company.

      4. Startled Networker*

        My OB-Gyn’s office actually *did* follow me on Twitter, and I was deeply weirded out over it for a few hours.

        (But then I started digging around and realized that they followed most accounts located in our metro area that have over 1100 followers, and I happen to be one of those heavy users. Which made it at least a little less weird. I don’t think the person who did the following realized I’m a patient–it’s a big practice.)

        1. Jamie*

          I would prefer my Gyn’s office have better things to do with their staff’s time than follow people on Twitter…this would bother me more than I can express.

    2. Sarah*

      There seems to be a thing on linkedin where you can email all of your email contacts and request to be added. I think people do this by accident. I occasionally get these linkedin invites to my work email address (which is not the one on my profile) from fairly un-tech-savvy folks.

      1. AP*

        I get a ton of these – LinkedIn will mine your email inbox and send an invite to anyone who you’ve ever emailed with! Potential landlords, people you arranged a job interview with once ten years ago, someone you emailed with when you bought something from them on Etsy. Accept if they’re someone you want to be connected to, ignore if you don’t.

        1. dr lemur*

          I suggest turning this off by going into your email acct settings and revoking LinkedIn’s access. But of course it will still know if you are in someone else’s contact list.

      2. Michael*

        That’s what I thought too. It’s totally possible in the OP’s case that the requester didn’t even realize who all has gotten a request.

      3. Artemesia*

        This. I hate linked in for this reason. I have more than once gotten tagged by someone who is an acquaintance to find that everyone they ever met got ‘invited’ to link by some automatic process.

    3. Lindsay J*

      This one didn’t bother me as much, but the one a couple days ago that was pretty much, “I interviewed and sent them a thank you email, then got an email back saying, ‘It was a pleasure speaking with you yesterday about the job and your background.’ What does this mean? It doesn’t say I got the job but it also doesn’t say I’m rejected?” made me really twitchy. Seriously. It says right there in English what it means.

      With this one I would chalk it up to somebody at a company trying to link to everyone else in their company and other related branches of the business in a misguided networking attempt. I doubt they looked up the OP directly and instead are linking to everyone at Chocolate Teapots Inc and Chocolate Teapot Health Insurance Inc. However, if you’re not familiar with LinkedIn and come from other social networks where connecting to random people is uncommon you might not realize that people d0 that.

  3. Anonymously Anonymous*

    #4 Agreeing with Allison. I have done this in the past but I always keep in mind that I applied for x and y positions and just because they call me in for y doesn’t mean they won’t try to offer me x. Sometimes a company will evaluate you for different positions without you applying specifically — but that’s not the case here. Perhaps your enthusiasm to join caused you to apply for a couple of positions but don’t forget that you applied to two positions especially when called in for an interview. And be prepared to negotiate preference based on strengths and etc. Your interviewer was probably unhappy that you didn’t take it all into consideration.

    Just recently a company posted positions for x with 2 locations. I applied for position and specifically checked off only those 2 locations when submitting my application materials, because those locations was geographically reasonable for me. Then after the closing date for position x, they posted the same position x in another area–much farther for me to travel. Thinking I would send a follow up email to include my interest for the the latter position to increase my chances—I stopped myself because I knew I would not want to accept that position if I was called in for an interview and then offered the farthest location. A week after the closing date for the latter position, I was called for an interview. They may still try to offer the farthest location but at least I know I didn’t apply to it and it won’t look odd if I turned it down. Most likely I was disqualified by checking the boxes in the initial application.

    1. Riki*

      Yes. OP, just keep doing what you’ve been doing and you’ll be fine. You don’t need any gimmicks to stand out because you already do stand out. You wouldn’t have made it to round three if you didn’t. Good luck!

    2. wowjustwow*

      That was my thought too. If you have to ask if something is too cutesy, it probably is, so don’t do it. Good luck with your interview using a simple clean background!

  5. Anonymous*

    #4 The OP mentioned that she applied to the first job a few months ago. In the absence of feedback, most of us would assume that the position had either been filled or that we were eliminated. I don’t think its wrong for her to state that she is no longer interested though it may be wise to explain why that is.

    It sounds like the first job was more of a lateral move (though she did call it a promotion) while the second job is a true promotion with a large increase in pay and responsibilities. Its human nature to go with the better position. Suggesting that either position will do doesn’t seem like the way to go here.

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      Most people who are still job searching aren’t going to suddenly have a reason for not being interested in a position they applied for just a few months ago (unless they’ve interviewed for it and can point to specific things, like the work or culture being a bad fit). But just the passage of a few months won’t be a reason. Hell, it takes a few months to be called for an interview sometimes.

    2. glennis*

      I’m in a similar situation. You apply for the opportunities that appear, when they appear. I think Allison’s answer is the best response – had the second, higher level opportunity not appeared, the OP would have been happy to accept the first and done a great job in it, but this one is more suitable for her.

    3. OP #4 (accept a lower-level position)*

      The lower level role was more of a lateral move. It was a promotion in title and small pay raise (<5%) but I would be doing essentially the same work.

      I applied for the lower role because I had been told by colleagues that I would only be considered for management after serving in the lower role.

  6. Clarity*

    #7-it is likely that the LinkedIn program popped your name up in the ‘people you may know’ section of the person who sent the invite (as in it detected you are connected through your employer). When I receive an invite without a reason why a person wants to connect I often will send them a message saying ” I always ask people why they want to connect when they don’t indicate this in the invitation. This way we both know what the benefit to connecting is and can share information appropriately” (or words very similar to that) 99.9% of the time the person responds with a very good answer. Nothing creepy there at all.

    As to your worry about it being regarding your insurance-it would be unethical to approach you in this way if it is a personal insurance matter and it doesn’t make any sense to do so-if it is about your insurance they would contact you as they would any client.

    Connecting on LinkedIn includes the benefit of connecting with people you don’t know and then getting to know them. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense to only connect with people you already know because you are already connected to those people. LinkedIn offers the opportunity to keep current with people you already know professionally as well as making new connections/expanding your network. It can make a huge difference if you plan to change jobs at some point.

    1. TheSnarkyB*

      I think the reason OP wrote in, though, is that it’s unethical. So I think they already recognize that. The most likely explanation is that it was some sort of automatic or email mining issue. But it’s still a legitimate thing to write in about because of the other, unethical, things that could be going on here. For instance, I’ve found myself looking through confidential files and thinking “oh my god we’d be amazing friends- that’s funny.” Someone with very poor judgment and boundaries could think, “well we work at kinda the same company. It wouldn’t be THAT out of the blue to just connect on LinkedIn…”
      Whatever, you get my point – there could be something bizarre and unbecoming going on here.

      1. Clarity*

        Or not at all. It is slightly maybe possible. But it is also just wildly guessing. I have been on LinkedIn since 2003 and I have only had one kind of creepy invite – so I just ignored it. You have to be smart about accepting invites but the example here could just be coincidence. LinkedIn pops up “people you might know” names for me all the time-they might have attended one of the same schools I did, or worked at a subsidiary of a business I once worked at, or were connected to someone else I am connected to-they do this so people will take advantage of it and connect with new people or find someone they may have been out of touch with. And sometimes my instinct tells me they just want to spam or there is something weird about it-then I ignore or report. And, you can remove them from your connections if you accept then decide it wasn’t a good idea for whatever reason. I have done all of the above.

        I just don’t get why this is all that weird-she can email back and ask them-why do you want to connect? Or she can just ignore it. Not really a big deal either way. If that person *did* in fact find her in the business records then hunt her down on LinkedIn-well that would be weird and creepy. She is only guessing that though. Considering the way LinkedIn provides these “people you might know” names is is far more likely that is what happened. But she can – ask the question, ignore them, report them-pick up the phone and call the insurance company and ask for the person :) All those things available.

        1. dangitmegan*

          I agree. While it is a possibility this person is doing something creeptastic it’s much more probable that she just isn’t as discriminating as other people about who she connects with. There are a ton of people who just connect with anyone and everyone just for the sake of having connections. And I’m reading it that you have the same parent company. That’s really not that far off if they are adding everyone at the parent company. If you are a person who wants to only be connected with people you already know, simply don’t accept. And if there was an issue with insurance I don’t think the first way they’d try to get ahold of you would be by a website when they most likely have access to your home address, personal and work phone numbers, and email addresses.

          I guess I just don’t really see the creep factor.

          1. IronMaiden*

            I don’t either. It’s highly likely there is a shared connection and the Linkedin “do you know these people” program linked them that way.

          2. Lindsay J*

            Yeah, I really doubt the person saw the OP’s name on any type of document and decided to later look her up and connect. I think it’s more of a misguided networking attempt where she wants to have lots of connections so she either is connecting to everyone at Chocolate Teapots Inc and Chocolate Teapots Insurance Company, she connected a work email address to LinkedIn and let it mine her contacts, or she saw the OP in the “people you may know” module.

  7. Min*

    If I’m reading #3 right, she’s spent the last month doing online & in person training for no pay with the promise of a job in August and now has been told there will be no job after all? That’s terrible!

    Now’s the time to send that invoice! (Ok, I’m mostly joking, but still…)

    3. Christine*

      My guess is that something fell through, most likely budget-related. It’s still pretty rotten to have the rug pulled from under you without a better explanation like that, though.

      LL – I was wondering the same thing; even if it’s legal, it’s definitely not cool.

      1. Christine*

        Aaaannnd I see I’m too slow, as per usual! I thought there had been a related post here awhile back, but couldn’t remember.

      2. Anonymous*

        I’m the author of question #3. My first thought was that there was a budget change, but there’s no reason for them to not disclose that. In fact, it takes the burden off of them and puts it on the state as this is a job in education. I’m led to believe that it’s something that I did given that they’re not discussing it, but I’m going to have to continue to wonder, since my email remains unanswered.

      3. Artemesia*

        But what kind of terrible employer wouldn’t say, ‘because of an unforeseen change in business demand, we are not able to bring you on board in August?’

    5. Grace*

      #3: Fired & Training Without Pay
      OP: “For the past month, I have been completing the online training program and have attended two in-person training meetings. There is no compensation for the training portion of this job.”

      I’d run this one by an employment attorney in your state, or even the free legal advice service from attorneys at avvo dot com

      1. Anonymous*

        Again, I’m the author of #3. There’s some wording in the employment paperwork that it is illegal to pay someone for this job until their fingerprint clearance has been received. They’re very clear up front about the fact that training is unpaid.

        1. Ask a Manager* Post author

          It’s not up to them if it’s legal to do unpaid training or not though; the law lays out when training can and can’t be unpaid. (See the post I linked to on that, elsewhere in these comments.)

          If the training doesn’t legally qualify to be unpaid and they can’t pay under the clearance, then they need to wait for the clearance before training starts.

  8. Anonymous*

    #2 – I agree with Allison and Greta. Please please don’t do it. All the best on your interview.

    1. tcookson*

      I agree, too . . . it’s like when you’re selling your house. Some people find those little seasonal/occasional flags (flags for Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s, Ladybug crossing . . . etc., etc.) winsome, and some people revile them as cloyingly annoying. If you’re dealing with people who like that sort of thing, it would be okay, but chances are you’d be dealing with people who would be, at best, underwhelmed. I’m prejudiced, thought, because like Alison, it just isn’t to my taste . . . I’m more in the camp that outward displays are kind of cloying and annoying. Stick with the strengths that have gotten you this far.

  9. Elizabeth West*

    #4–That happened to me. I applied at a company where a friend’s husband worked, for a position similar to the department admin one I have now (although I suspect it probably paid much less). I didn’t hear anything even after two follow-ups. Then, when I was waiting to see if I would get an offer from my current company, they called me and asked if I would temp for their receptionist, who was going on maternity leave.

    I didn’t want to commit to it; if the other offer came through, I would have to quit. So I asked if I could get back to them. Then I emailed my now-boss and told her another company was interested and asked what their timeline would be. She got back to me pretty quickly and offered me the job, and I called the first company back and told them no thank you. If I hadn’t gotten that offer, I probably would have done it just to get a foot in the door. But I didn’t have to, and my new job is much better than temporary front desk. :)

  10. Elizabeth*

    #4) I’ve had multiple occasions where we’ve had two positions open at once, one more senior than the other (or equivalent in level but with different duties), and it’s often not until the interview stage that we can truly tell that someone who applied for both is way more appropriate for one than the other. If I ask you if you’re interested in the junior position, it’s because you came across well in the interview and I think you might succeed in another position. This doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t get the more senior position — you might have been the first of five interviews, so I may not have made a decision yet — just that I want to know if you’re open to the possibility of being part of our team in general.

    1. Elizabeth*

      I should add that in the OP’s example, it’s possible the resume didn’t get selected for the first position because the OP looked over-qualified (hence getting picked for the manager position), but then at the interview maybe the OP didn’t have the level of experience (or another candidate had more) that the selection committee inferred from the resume details, so they asked if the OP was interested in the more junior position.

    2. OP #4 (accept a lower-level position)*

      I could only guess to why I wasn’t considered for the lower level role in the first place. I would assume they already had an idea who they were going to place into that position when it was posted. Either that or they are trying to fill this management role first before filling the lower level positions.

      There is also good possibility that there were other openings that hadn’t been posted yet. The hiring manager may have seen this an opportunity to fill one of those positions as well.

  11. Penguin*

    #1- I’d be weary too… but I agree with the other reply about the background check being the probable cause. Or just something as simple as the Hiring Manager wanting you and giving you a verbal offer, and then their boss/ HR saying “not so fast, we need to discuss this/ do background check/ interview the director’s friend first”.

    Please do update!

    1. Artemesia*

      But what a bummer to not know that you failed a background check and why in case there is something minor that could be fixed or an error was made. If one knows they have felony convictions, well no surprise, but something like ’employment dates didn’t match’ could easily be an oversight or mistake easily corrected.

  12. Anonymous*

    I am the author of question #1. I did not interview with a hiring manager, I interviewed with an HR person via phone first, and then with a district manager in person. After the in person interview the HR manager contacted me with an offer said they were excited to have me and gave me a start date, ordered my uniforms, and told me where to report for my first day And the contact information for the district manager I would be assigned to. After all of this I had not yet received a hard copy of my offer, I inquired with the HR manager and she told me the offer was rescinded. I ask her how could that be when I already had a start date and uniforms ordered, and she had already told me my background was fine and my references. She told it was info she didn’t get until today and she was going to make a call and call me right back. She did call back and said the offer still stands, an electronic copy would be sent in the am and a hard copy by Monday that I would need to sign. This is my first choice job and I held the same position in a smaller franchise where I was wildly s successful. Should just go to work and chalk it up to a minor error or just forget about it?

    2. Anonymous*

      It sounds like you checked out with corporate, but something is happening with the particular location where you applied too. Is there something personal with the hiring manager or local HR? It doesn’t have to be business related, it could just be BS regarding someone at that location.

      1. Anonymous*

        I just moved to this particular region a year ago, and I work a ton so dont think that is it. Well I guess I will just see if I don’t end up getting the offer rescinded again before my start date.

  13. Lindsay J*

    For #2 I would definitely not do that. It reeks of trying too hard and being one of those people who will say or do anything that they think the hiring manager wants in order to get a position.

    Instead, if an appropriate point comes up in the interview I would just mention then about how excited you are about moving to the new area, taking on new challenges, etc.

  14. Penny*

    #6- it could be to keep it fresh on job sites that pull job postings from company’s websites. That way new potential applicants see it to apply. Don’t take it personally. They could love you and want to offer you the job, but for all they know you could be made another offer at any time or decide you don’t like something about the company, so they have to have a backup plan. Or they still want to see what’s out there and not miss out on any great applicants by being too focused on one.

  15. Rachel*

    I’m super late to this, but just wanted to chime in on #2. I got a job copy editing/proofreading for a food website because, in part, I did the video interview in my kitchen. But it was subtle, and when called out on it, I could say, “Oh, well, this room has the best light in the house” (which was true). So I’d err in favor of doing something cutesy, but not so obvious as the sports pennant, if possible.

    But that’s just me….

  16. Mary*

    I don’t think the LinkedIn invite is weird at all due to it being a sister company. I get requests all the time from other people in my field, across the country, that I’ve never met.

    I’ve also gotten requests at a different email than the one listed in my profile because of that “email your whole world” option. I don’t read anything into these requests.

    I agree with all of the “what does this mean” comments too. As great as Alison is, she isn’t a mind reader, especially of people she’s never met. :-)

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