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>I'd certainly give the manager the benefit of the doubt,
>but I don't want to work for anyone who thinks this sort
>of technique really is a Good Idea. But I'm still puzzled.
>Does anybody have any idea what these people are
>thinking?
Dave guessed bestly:
<some of us snuck into the industry when jobs were plentiful: you could be a
good writer and show some social savvy and the ability to learn, without
being the andrewplatonic ideal of the technologically all-knowing technical
writer.
If a company's been burned by that before, they're going to be a lot more
rigorous in today's environment about examining the knowledge and skills of
their employees.>
Well, yes. But that doesn't really answer the question: unless they really
have been bit by the andrewbug, why would they think that being aggressive
and rude during the interview will get them any real information about the
knowledge and skills of a potential employee?
I wouldn't walk out of an interview: wotthehell, I'm there, might as well
deal with it. But if I got it via an agency, I'd call the agency afterwards
and say that I wasn't impressed with the interviewer's manner. (Well, it
would depend how hungry I was, of course. But if I had a job at all, unless
I was really desperate to leave, I wouldn't move to a company where I was
expected to work for someone who felt free to be as rude and aggressive as
they liked.)
The real question is - why do some people conflate aggression with
authority? Was Ryan's interviewer having a bad day or was he one of those
people of whom Miss Manners (Judith Martin) courteously remarks: They appear
to think they are being charmingly candid when in fact they are only being
rude.
Jane Carnall
The writers all stand around a cauldron chanting and occasionally tossing in
a small job interview. Unless stated otherwise, these opinions are mine, and
mine alone. Apologies for the long additional sig: it is added automatically
and outwith my control.
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