Nice people thread 2 - now even nicer

lostinrates

DH did loads of these weird questions when going for jobs...building towers out of paper, which people dead or alive he'd want to have to supper, etc etc. One friend of our was given leadership challenges, cam first then was told they wouldn't proceeding as they wanted people who wouldn't ever out do team mates.

The interview for current employer the partner asked him about his hobbies, they chatted jazz, they chatted bringing children up in different countries the partner seemed to seek advice: of course what he was doing was seeing who DH really was, putting him at ease so that DH was, not how well dh interviewed. DH says he learned so much from that interview.

fc123

lostinrates wrote: »

FC, you are such a good friend. It seems so odd we've never physically met!

After a good old fashioned tantrum I think the issue is ok. Its a short time frame, but a doable one. I spent most of today trying to calm down after using words like ''honourable'' very loudly.. TBH I think I'm quite lucky in who their agents are: they have succeeded in annoying them to with all this.

We wil we will...one day we will...I got a lovely PM from someone who we both respect and get on with and it was tactfully suggested I ''Make Time For Me Moi I'' at some point....and I absolutely agree. ...it's just tricky right now as chose to grab the ops that came our way...

..but I hope those opps pay off to result in a surplus in the bank and some leisurrrrre time. I can't enjoy leisure time when there's only a tenner in the company account...stresses me out a bit.:D

Your agent seems to be a specailist in this type of thing and if some ''you know what' employee chooses to ignore his advice and go all 'Daily Mail weekend supplement ad'' for a few moree quid then he's a fool....amd I am sure the agent has said that in a far more polite and eloquent way.

I was going to PM this tale...so I hope the PM recipient see's it here instead...I saw one of my neighbourly squatters get knocked off his bike today.....and boy, it made my heart go in my mouth. It was a big FO BMW 4X4 thing, just swung the corner, the guy went flying (thank god nothing coming the otherway) and the bike was totally jammed under the front of the car all mangled up.
He went into shock and, thankfully, was wearing the squatter uniform of tough canvas army surpus so he wasn't grazed up from skidding across the road.

Life is really random sometimes and we can plan and plot but, sometimes, things just happen out of the blue. My son had a similar bike accident likewise myself at 21 (and bot of us have never ridden on roads since) so...why al I writing this...no idea...just wanting to empathise really.:)

nembot

Yeah, a structured approach to the interview and a little informal chat afterwards is far better than the old school "complete this test" then make a decision on the results.

I've only regretted one person we hired, which admittedly was before we started the laymans psych evaluation process.

Certainly helps the older applicants, who previously struggled against the younger generation for the same role.

Ageism is becoming a thing of the past and about bloody time too!

fc123

nembot wrote: »

I think these type of questions are becoming more common in interviews, especially in larger companies were you are customer facing or dealing with clients globally.

You can teach decent people technical skills, but idiots with a specific skillset are almost useless - unless that is, you can lock them away in a room away from the sensible people.

Common sense is something people have, but there's no way to measure it - a few cunning questions, to poke the applicant a particular direction soon highlights any concerns that an apptitude test would miss.

I've dismissed people due to their responses from that exact question.

One guy got really annoyed, when we gave him the answer and simply would not accept it - unsuprisingly, he wasn't offered a position.

Funny isn't it? I would never even think to ask that type of question.

I interviewed recently and, similar to LIR dh, ended up some with personal chit chat....which told me alot about them....kind of gives you the essence of the person if they drop their guard a bit.

I am thinking that as I employ in my micro business but within a corp environmemnt, it's a bit different to something 100% corp.

fc123

lostinrates wrote: »

DH did loads of these weird questions when going for jobs...building towers out of paper, which people dead or alive he'd want to have to supper, etc etc. One friend of our was given leadership challenges, cam first then was told they wouldn't proceeding as they wanted people who wouldn't ever out do team mates.

The interview for current employer the partner asked him about his hobbies, they chatted jazz, they chatted bringing children up in different countries the partner seemed to seek advice: of course what he was doing was seeing who DH really was, putting him at ease so that DH was, not how well dh interviewed. DH says he learned so much from that interview.

This scares me yet fires me up at the same time as I know I am now totally unemployable PAYE style...
I wouldn't know what to say and then would panic so would ask why they are asking me that? A dead cert then to be seen as 'challenging'' or something.

I have had a lot of corpy meet ups recently and have had to pause before saying what I instictively want to say....fortunately, due to what I do, they don't expect conventional opinion.

fc123

nembot wrote: »

If they ask "is a jaffa cake, a biscuit or a cake?" the correct answer is "cake"

I've used it when interviewing quite a few people, their answer really isn't important - the reaction to the question is, especially if they disagree.

Shame that a cake can stop someone getting a job, but that's how it goes

GL!

OK nembot, I am still stuck on this question...and I read the other post too about the guy who got dismissed as he still insisted a Jaffa Cake was a biscuit.

1;Is it because they should know the VAT category? A cake has to have VAT added I think.

2;Is it because McVities (?) decided to call it a cake, so even if someone thinks it's a biscuit, because the creator labelled it cake, that's what it is?

3; Is it just a way of seeing of someone will accept the 'correct' answer without question even though Jaffa Cakes are always displayed/sold in the biscuit section?

nembot

To be fair LIR, it wasn't that he got the answer right or wrong, but he argued the point in a way that would not be conducive to a happy work evironment. Gawd blimey, that is corporate - but going forward

It was taxation, just googled and found an easier way to explain.

Under UK law no value added tax (VAT) is placed on biscuits or cakes. But critical to the controversial issue of Jaffa Cakes’ name, when a biscuit is covered in chocolate it becomes subject to the standard VAT rate of 17.5%. Mcvities, the market leaders for Jaffa Cakes classed them as cakes, not biscuits, but this classification was challenged by Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise in 1991.
In the end the case ended up in the courts and the court were forced to answer the question of when something should be classed as a cake and when it should be classed as a biscuit. Answering this general question would then lead easily into a decision related to ‘Jaffa Cake, cake or biscuit?’
So what happened? Is a Jaffa Cake a cake? Happily for us Jaffa Cake lovers who would not relish the prospect of having to pay another 17.5% for our Jaffa Cakes, the court ruled in favour of Mcvities. One of the critical aspects of the argument was related to what happens when biscuits or cakes go stale. The court found, as anyone who has forgotten to put the lid on their biscuit tin properly will know, that when biscuits go stale they go softer. But when cakes go stale they go harder. The test was done, and when Jaffa cakes are left exposed to the air they get harder. So Jaffa cakes are definitely cakes and not biscuits. We recommend that you do the test to see for yourself, because unlike disgusting soggy biscuits, when Jaffa cakes go stale the new harder type of Jaffa cake you get is actually still delicious.
Just one more interesting Jaffa Cake fact all about their name: During the court battle between Mcvities and Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise, Mcvities baked a giant Jaffa Cake to prove that Jaffa cakes were really cakes and not biscuits. I don’t know what you think, but our taste buds are definitely watering thinking about a giant Jaffa Cake!

It's a strange world innit?

lostinrates

nembot wrote: »

To be fair LIR, it wasn't that he got the answer right or wrong, but he argued the point in a way that would not be conducive to a happy work evironment. Gawd blimey, that is corporate - but going forward

It was taxation, just googled and found an easier way to explain.



It's a strange world innit?

TBH, I think a work environment in which they said : here is a challenge to test your leadership, we really want everyone to strive to win...all to weed out ''natural leaders'' isn't one conducive to trust in the work environment...it wasn't a question IIRC, it was one of those team challenges. I remember him getting quite excitable about it.

My father has just retired and I've watched him get all excited about various psychometric evaluations his H R dept have explored...until after DH got this job and was packing, we were all talking about it and my dad admitted he wished he could just take people to the pub for a pint and get them talking.

edit: also tbh this friend can be a bit of a prat, and I probably wouldn't employ him in a team situation either....but I know that from chatting. Next time he comes maybe I should get him to do a paper tower to confirm my suspicions.

nembot

lostinrates wrote: »

My father has just retired and I've watched him get all excited about various psychometric evaluations his H R dept have explored...until after DH got this job and was packing, we were all talking about it and my dad admitted he wished he could just take people to the pub for a pint and get them talking.

You know what LIR?

I'd suggest that to HR because it's a brilliant idea, but Health & Safety would put the knockers on it, as we'd have to cross a road to the pub, which can be dangerous.

We had a 45 minute presentation (which i'll never get back) on how to sit in your chair, you just can't make this stuff up!

lostinrates

nembot wrote: »

You know what LIR?

I'd suggest that to HR because it's a brilliant idea, but Health & Safety would put the knockers on it, as we'd have to cross a road to the pub, which can be dangerous.

We had a 45 minute presentation (which i'll never get back) on how to sit in your chair, you just can't make this stuff up!

LOL, my dad also has issues with H&S. My mother and I almost wet ourselves laughing when his last post expanded to included managing H&S. And the road thing is funny, because one of his H&S reviews included a thing about crossing a road while on the job and how dangerous it was, despite everyone having to cross the same road in order to GET to the job.