The Work Thread 2 - Get back to work!

[Lagamorph]

Despite not being a manager I've been asked to help with interviews for a replacement for someone that's leaving and look over the questions and one of the questions the manager has is "Why do you want to work for us?"

I hate that question on interviews. Why the hell do you think people want to work for you? Money, why bother pretending otherwise and putting people on the spot to come up with some bullshit, ego inflating nonsense answer?

[Oblomov Boblomov]

It's a question designed to see if the person has done any research on the organisation/department or whatever sort of knowledge/understanding it is within the context of the recruitment.

It's been pretty obvious to me in my years of recruiting that the people who come up with good answers to that tend to excel in the assessments and the rest of the interview. It's just another positive indicator. They've done the extra work beforehand, they're more likely to be proactive/well-prepared in the role itself.

It's certainly not a question designed to peer into the heart of the applicant .

[Victor Mildew]

Despite not being a manager I've been asked to help with interviews for a replacement for someone that's leaving and look over the questions and one of the questions the manager has is "Why do you want to work for us?"

I hate that question on interviews. Why the hell do you think people want to work for you? Money, why bother pretending otherwise and putting people on the spot to come up with some bullshit, ego inflating nonsense answer?

I got asked that as the first question in a phone interview just after I'd been made redundant, and I certainly got the feeling it was purely for the guy's ego.

Why do you think I want to work for you? I'm unemployed and need a job, and you've given me an interview.

[Dual]

"Well you appear to be a forward thinking company in the industry and Im familiar with your previous projects which I was impressed with also I'm afraid of state imposed violence against me and my family if we fail to make our mortgage payments next month so a job would be great"

[Hexx]

Dual's actually right - it's a bullshit question but it has a purpose. Not "I need a job" but "I've done the bare minimum research on your company to be able to list X previous projects/sucesses etc".

You'd be surprised how many people haven't even done that before a job and it quickly separate's them out.

[Lagamorph]

As long as someone can do the job (In this case a technical IT job) I don't see why the hell it matters if they know about some of the publicised products/services of the company or not. Unless you're going for a job in PR/Marketing then it's utterly pointless information.

[Cuttooth]

"Ah I see you've read our About Us page! How soon can you start?"

[Hexx]

"Ah I see you've read our About Us page! How soon can you start?"

Precisely. Its like 2 minutes of effort, but informative to how they approach things.

It's not "Hire them if they have" but it's strawberry floating huge black mark against them if they haven't put even that token effort in,

"Ah I see you couldn't even be bothered to read our "About us" page. Are you this low effort in all your tasks?"

Beyond "getting the name of the company right" it's the most basic level thing.

[Cuttooth]

I get it's something that people ought to do because it's expected but I see it as one of those little rituals whose worth is set by it being a ritual more than anything actually tangible.

[Hexx]

I get it's something that people ought to do because it's expected but I see it as one of those little rituals whose worth is set by it being a ritual more than anything actually tangible.

Oh it's incredibly rote but it's rote for a reason.

[Lagamorph]

Personally I couldn't give a gooseberry fool what they know about the company or not. It's a technical IT role, not a Marketing role. Why does it matter if they know the company has products X, Y and Z?

[Outrunner]

...What was being displayed in the bogs?

Just the usual bollocks about keeping women safe from transwomen and not delegitimising the identity of ciswomen.

Christ in my work bogs all we have is 'Just Wash Your strawberry floating Hands'.

What's the general attitude to trans people like in Hong Kong? What about LGBT+ overall?

LGBT+ came up in a Q&A regarding our year abroad in HK. We were told day to day we should be fine but were told taking a "don't ask don't tell" attitude may be sensible.

On the topic of trans rights and work, it's becoming increasingly obvious that a lot of the people I work with are transphobes. It's quite depressing really.

[Oblomov Boblomov]

Personally I couldn't give a gooseberry fool what they know about the company or not. It's a technical IT role, not a Marketing role. Why does it matter if they know the company has products X, Y and Z?

You're still missing the point. It's an assessment of someone's attitude to ensuring they are well-prepared before carrying out tasks. The knowledge itself, in isolation, doesn't mean anything.

...What was being displayed in the bogs?

Just the usual bollocks about keeping women safe from transwomen and not delegitimising the identity of ciswomen.

Christ in my work bogs all we have is 'Just Wash Your strawberry floating Hands'.

What's the general attitude to trans people like in Hong Kong? What about LGBT+ overall?

LGBT+ came up in a Q&A regarding our year abroad in HK. We were told day to day we should be fine but were told taking a "don't ask don't tell" attitude may be sensible.

On the topic of trans rights and work, it's becoming increasingly obvious that a lot of the people I work with are transphobes. It's quite depressing really.

It's disgusting. Just reminds me of how it was socially acceptable (and no doubt many people still think it is) to say something like "I don't have a problem with it but don't wave it about in my face".

The transphobia is on another level still. I've noticed one of the key tactics these pricks use is to turn it on the other people and declare them a misogynist. I can see it being very, very uncomfortable for a lot of men to maintain any sort of active defence against or rejection of transphobia if they end up with a bunch of people accusing them of hating women.

[Skarjo]

I wouldn’t say it’s quite that bad. Again, you’d need to speak to actual LGBTQ people for a better insight, but I work in a Christian school with openly gay teachers and none of the gay couples I know feel any need to hide that part of their lives. I’m sure it’s not perfect, and it may be a different story for locals, but I think ‘disgusting’ might be an over reaction.

[Rik_]

Despite not being a manager I've been asked to help with interviews for a replacement for someone that's leaving and look over the questions and one of the questions the manager has is "Why do you want to work for us?"

I hate that question on interviews. Why the hell do you think people want to work for you? Money, why bother pretending otherwise and putting people on the spot to come up with some bullshit, ego inflating nonsense answer?

I actually did half-jokingly say "money" when they asked me that question in my first ever job interview when I was 16 or so I did end up getting the job because I'd already done work experience at the shop and the manager liked me so it was basically just a formality but somehow i think the assistant manager who did the interview wasn't particularly impressed lmao

[Oblomov Boblomov]

I wouldn’t say it’s quite that bad. Again, you’d need to speak to actual LGBTQ people for a better insight, but I work in a Christian school with openly gay teachers and none of the gay couples I know feel any need to hide that part of their lives. I’m sure it’s not perfect, and it may be a different story for locals, but I think ‘disgusting’ might be an over reaction.

It's hard to measure/define these things with certainty and ultimately it's always going to be driven by people, who will have differing attitudes in different places at different times. My 'disgusting' remark was aimed at whatever prompted the people talking in Outrunner's Q&A session to make the "don't ask, don't tell" suggestion. I meant in in more general terms rather than specifically against Hong Kong, but I can see why it came across that way.

[Skarjo]

Personally I couldn't give a gooseberry fool what they know about the company or not. It's a technical IT role, not a Marketing role. Why does it matter if they know the company has products X, Y and Z?

It’s funny though, because just last night I was having a conversation with a mate who’s currently in a position to hire another one of our mutual friends for a job but won’t because it’s clear that he hasn’t done the barest background research about the school.

I’ve always done a few hours research about the school before an interview and make sure I can make specific points about their ethos, values, mission etc. Call it rote fluff if you want but showing you’ve got a basic bit of background knowledge never hurts.

[Bunni]

Despite not being a manager I've been asked to help with interviews for a replacement for someone that's leaving and look over the questions and one of the questions the manager has is "Why do you want to work for us?"

I hate that question on interviews. Why the hell do you think people want to work for you? Money, why bother pretending otherwise and putting people on the spot to come up with some bullshit, ego inflating nonsense answer?

I get a lot of answers about their previous employer being gooseberry fool so they want to move out rather than move in. While I totally see that as motivation for going, I hope they'd research us to have a reason why X won't happen with us. That differentiates someone whether it's an employer problem or just the individual. If your last manager denied annual leave during Christmas, that's gooseberry fool but I might not be able to help you win that request with us as a new employer. If your practice has been questioned and you didn't like getting chewed out by a manager, I'll probably chew you out for the same reason.

[Peter Crisp]

This is the first time I've posted in a work topic but I need somewhere to vent.

I just stormed out of work the angriest I think I've ever been.
I work in a warehouse and they've now got someone working with Covid.
I have kept work fully up to date on the fact that I live with my elderly parents and my Mum is in the highest tier of risk and will be screwed if she gets covid.
None of the supervisors or management bothered to tell me we had a covid case wandering about where I work and they seemed totally shocked when I told them I'm going home.

They tried to make out I was in the wrong which just made me angrier as I reiterated my position with my Mum.

I'm at a point where I don't care if I have to go unpaid and will happily sit before disciplinary for being rude as the health of my family is non-negotiable.

Anyway, sorry about that rant folks I'm just totally pissed off.

[DarkRula]

No worries. Rant away. It's shocking that they think covid is nothing to worry about. That the effect of it is somehow lessened. Hope nothing too serious comes from your actions (and that you haven't caught it yourself), but being lax about covid has seemingly become common again. I distinctly heard someone coming out of Sainsburys mutter "what are people still wearing masks for?" And what with the amount of people wearing them (pretty much no-one), it feels a pretty common sentiment by much of the public.