am I supposed to remember the details of every job I apply to? by Alison Green on July 20, 2021 A reader writes: I lost my job recently when the small company I worked for went under. I have a little savings buffer, but needless to say, I am job hunting vigorously. I usually put in two to three applications a day and I spend hours trying to write thoughtful and personalized cover letters, so […] Read the full article →
do employers set up secret “gotcha” tests for job candidates? by Alison Green on July 13, 2021 A reader writes: A few years ago, I was applying to a position (entry level, only about a year or so out of college) and I noticed a fairly obvious spelling error in the job posting. It has been a few years so the exact error escapes me now, but it was one that was […] Read the full article →
my interviewer asked about my personal finances by Alison Green on May 27, 2021 A reader writes: Is it normal for a hiring manager to ask, somewhat insistently, how a candidate has been supporting herself financially during a period of unemployment? If it’s not normal, which is my suspicion, what could possibly be behind this? I work in a niche field and was laid off last year in a […] Read the full article →
I flew out for an interview — and they ended it after one question by Alison Green on March 15, 2021 A reader writes: I went on an interview for a position in another state that I was really excited about. I work in a niche field and jobs rarely open. I prepared well, researched the company, and prepared answers about how my experiences align with their core values. I felt great. I had to fork […] Read the full article →
my interviewer berated me and called me a liar by Alison Green on November 10, 2020 A reader writes: I royally screwed up today in the middle of an interview process and got weird reaction from the recruiter in the process. Where do I go from here? I’ve been underemployed as freelancer for the past few months due to COVID-19 and have been actively job searching and networking to not much […] Read the full article →
why don’t people walk out of bad job interviews? by Alison Green on January 13, 2020 I hear a lot of stories about terrible job interviews – the interviewer who demanded to look inside a candidate’s purse, interviewers who are rude and hostile or even explicitly insulting, candidates who are left waiting for hours after taking time off work, and much more. One common denominator in these stories is that when […] Read the full article →
I was invited to a 300-person cattle-call interview, and now the company wants to know why I’m not interested by Alison Green on March 18, 2019 A reader writes: I’m having an odd time with a company and was wondering what you thought of this process. I applied to a position on LinkedIn for a communications assistant on Friday. On Saturday at 6 am(!) I got an email asking me to schedule an interview for Monday. On Sunday I figured why […] Read the full article →
was this interview as bizarre as I think it was? by Alison Green on January 3, 2019 A reader writes: I recently went on my first interview in my field after finishing school two weeks ago, and the interview was odd in a few different ways. 1. Although I’m white with a British background on both sides, my last name is one that one would assume is Korean or Indigenous. The first […] Read the full article →
employer said I didn’t have enough “passion” when I couldn’t interview on a Saturday by Alison Green on November 20, 2018 A reader writes: I recently applied for a job and was excited to receive an invitation to interview. They were looking to fill the position fast and wanted to know if I could interview two days later on Friday. That was tight, but I moved forward since the job seemed like a great fit for […] Read the full article →
a job application asked me to rank if torturing a person was worse than prostitution by Alison Green on February 12, 2018 A reader writes: I’m trying to change fields from copywriting freelancer to something in the admin assistance sphere. It could be that my greenness is showing, but is it typical for applications to ask you to rate atrocities? After submitting a resume and cover letter, I was directed to fill in an online form. The […] Read the full article →