A question I pose... In my line of work as the 'hiring manager' at my job, I interview numerous amount of people. Lately the applicants have been slim picking. As some points I bring people in in hopes they are a diamond in the rough (sp?).
This interviewee tells me that she quit her prior place of employment because she didn't like how another manager worked things. Keep in mind this was a fast food business. She told me that the manager was upset about working late night and when it came time to close down the store the manager would take their laptop into the dining room and fool around on it. The interviewee then tells me that everyone else had to do the managers job for her. OK, this is kinda where I stop listening and make the finial decision to NOT hire her.
Thinking to myself that this is not a horrible person, decide to lend some subtle advice to her. I gently explain to her that is an employee of mine can do my job for me, that makes them very valuable to me. If I have certain responsibilities that must be accomplished and I delegate them out, then I am doing my job. And if I can make it through my entire shift as a manager and NOT do anything then I have become a VERY good manager. To some unfortunates, there are some aspects of my job that hourly employees are not allowed to do, an example is... employee files.
So, your feedback. If I see that someone I am interviewing has made a horrible mistake in interviewing, should I 1) stop there and end the interview with no explanation 2) do as did and politely suggest or imply that this is probably not the right thing to say in an interview and hope they have better luck the next time they apply for a job OR 3) continue with the interview and lead them on?
WOW...this post makes you sound like such a douche bag, pardon my language. Managers are NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LAZY ASSHOLES, and clearly you are confused about this.
ReplyDeleteLAZY ASSHOLES didn't make America the greatest country on this planet...America's best and brightest get their hands dirty, you know, the ones we all remember for their ACTIONS.
May I venture a guess that you're a liberal?
"To some unfortunates, there are some aspects of my job that hourly employees are not allowed to do, an example is... employee files."...I mean, look at that sentence...what kind of arrogant, elitist individual are you?
GROW UP.
No actually whoever the anonymous poster is you are wrong. The job of a manager is to (drum roll) Manage people and assure that all objective tasks are competed within the designated parameters. Most managers are people who have rolled up their sleeves and at one time or another completed the job that they too are designating an amployee should do, and as to lazy- well you obviously are assuming quite alot there and we all know what assuming does. I personally know the blogger and in fact he was a co-manager with me and worked ten times as hard as any employee on the job - so take your snobbery and shove it asshole. You obviously have never been a manager in the F&B industry nor worked the 60-80 hour weeks that he and myself have, otherwise you might understand or grasp the concepts presented in this blog point. And BTW to quote a more definitive source than myself --
ReplyDeleteManagement” (from Old French ménagement “the art of conducting, directing”, from Latin manu agere “to lead by the hand”) characterises the process of leading and directing all or part of an organization, often a business, through the deployment and manipulation of resources (human, financial, material, intellectual or intangible).
John
Ah, you're right to a degree. I never said I was lazy, or that I could ever do NOTHING but that if I could do NOTHING wouldn't i have not met the pinnacle of my job and need to move on to doing something different? Perhaps then it is time to open another store and train and do it all over again? Again the question, should I as an interviewing manager, suggest to interviewees not to say certain things in interviews such as 'bad mouthing' other previous managers?
ReplyDeleteWould you rather them wear a shit eating grin? I'd rather someone just be honest about why their previous job didn't work out...it helps to reveal what their expectations are for the new job....and then you can be the judge as to whether it would work out between the interviewee and your company based on their history. Everyone seems to forget the importance of history.
ReplyDeleteAs your management functions similarly to her previous experience, clearly this job wouldn't work for her either, but I have a strong distaste for lazy people that think they can just coast by....Managers have duties, and when one can go through the work day and think to yourself that you have done nothing...why should you even be paid?
I see the problem that exist here. My work ethic or perhaps the lack of is not the question of debate here. Im rather curious of people opinions of whether I should sit in front of a perfect stranger and try to suggest to them better ways to interview. There are certain Key points to hit on and NOT to hit on in interviews. An article on yahoo page today even talked about things that should be or not be brought up in interviews. Bad mouthing previous managers is not a very good idea, and would think that the majority of hiring people would agree. So, to someone who has very little interview skills, do you try to help or do you say it's not your business and don't even try?
ReplyDeleteI say you should help them out. How else will they "learn" to interview?
ReplyDeleteI think that point is that you would never take your laptop into the dining room and play solitaire, but she wants to feel like she is on equal footing with her manager and they will do things with her. Of course, any good employee would know the difference. My boss is bogged down with taking in applications, answering the phone, filling in the lines on the computer and checking out customers that is essential to keep our clients happy and put money in my pocket.
ReplyDeleteIt would be silly for me to think she is going to come and do my job for me.
She works 12/14 hours a day 5 days a week and I know that when she leaves early it is because she doesn't feel like she has to supervise/babysit us and trusts us/me.
I wouldn't have hired her either, but I would have coached her and asked her if it was even essential for that manager to be there? If she was only employed a short time, they could have been looking for a unit aid to close at night, etc. If all you get out of that person is that the other person bitched to much and she quit, then hell no. There is always that person that complains, if you can't deal, then you live in a fantasy. If her manager was really a problem, she should have taken steps to get that person in trouble, and in the food industry, it's not the hard to tell on someone- come on!
I know the service industry isn't a pretty place, but just like anywhere else, if you work hard, regardless of the circumstances around you, you can excel, and that's what you are looking to hire. I probably would have told her that so that she can decide that yeah, it is ugly.
And as for you being lazy (I really don't know how that person go that impression from reading your article)
Anyone who works 10 hour shifts 5 days a week from 1st to 2nd, and yes 3rd, is not lazy or elitist (and I love that they called you liberal, too, just from reading two paragraphs).
Just-wow- good thing that person doesn't work for my boss!