Are interviews just more casual now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please forgive tech tardiness. I have had calls I was confident I could just click the link on NOT work for various reasons.

It’s difficult to practice by getting on early too at a different company. You could jump on someone else’s call, or trigger a notification that the call has started!

SAME - if it's a new software (like Blue Jeans or something proprietary to the company), I always try five minutes early, but sometimes even that five minutes isn't enough time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't do thank-you notes because a job interview is not a one-sided expression of generosity. The company wants an employee and the employee wants a job. Under ideal circumstances, both wants are fulfilled. i've nver had a company send me a thank-you note for interviewing with them, so I see no reason to send them as a candidate.

It’s to show them that you’re interested in the job, even after the interview. It shows YOU are not one-sided and provides an additional method of demonstrating writing skill.

My manager lost a few candidates because the nature of the job - tedious and high attention to detail. So he didn’t follow up with the candidates who didn’t write thank you letters because he assumed they won’t be interested.

Or maybe the candidates could tell that the job was tedious and weren’t interested enough to send a thank you.

[Anonymous]

I just spent 6 months interviewing for higher level positions. Even for my very last interview, I still was not sure what I should wear. Yes, I did hair, makeup, something nice on top. But I work suit jackets a few times and it seemed like too much given what the interviewers were wearing.

Everyone should give everyone grace in terms of getting onto online meetings. I was early or on time except for once where Zoom was buggy and wouldn't open the meeting. I started 5+ minutes beforehand and still ended up a few minutes late. If an employer can't understand that we don't have perfect control over technology, that's not the place to be.

I generally didn't send thank you notes on the premise that we were all benefitting from taking time for the discussion. We thanked each other for that at the end of the interviews and I felt that that was generally sufficient. Of course, I also wasn't interested in continuing to pursue many of those employers. For the one I wanted to pursue, I intentionally sent notes to signal that interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do you expect the candidates to take the interview from if not their current office? Their car? Rent an uber to sit in if they take public transit? The bathroom?

They shouldn't be sloppy but I think you have some odd expectations.

I always send thank you/follow up emails after interviews and think it is kind of odd when people don't, but I do a lot of interviewing. Less than 10% of people have ever sent them, in person or virtual. Also, I've noticed usually recruiters seem to set up the virtual invitations and I rarely get the interview panels' email addressed directly. Usually I can figure it out, but not always.

Anyone can position themselves against a wall. My "home office" is set up so that my back is to my bed, but when I have my camera on and can't blur the background, I pull my desk out and position myself so that my background is the wall perpendicular to my desk.

[Anonymous]

As an interviewer, I usually put on a nicer shirt when I'm doing interviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't do thank-you notes because a job interview is not a one-sided expression of generosity. The company wants an employee and the employee wants a job. Under ideal circumstances, both wants are fulfilled. i've nver had a company send me a thank-you note for interviewing with them, so I see no reason to send them as a candidate.

It’s to show them that you’re interested in the job, even after the interview. It shows YOU are not one-sided and provides an additional method of demonstrating writing skill.

My manager lost a few candidates because the nature of the job - tedious and high attention to detail. So he didn’t follow up with the candidates who didn’t write thank you letters because he assumed they won’t be interested.

Or maybe the candidates could tell that the job was tedious and weren’t interested enough to send a thank you.

I mean we don’t sugar coat the job during interviews. There is no point training someone to lose them. We want people who can do tedious work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently had a virtual interview and was given prior instructions to dress up (I had already planned on doing this, a no brainer) but was surprised to see the interviewers in hoodies/tshirts.

thank you notes are pointless. Either interviewers don't reply or employers aren't allowed to reply until the hiring decisions have been worked out.

I recently hired an occupational therapist for my daughter and the intake meeting was virtual. I was SHOCKED when she joined in a hoodie (with a cut collar), visably dirty messy hair thrown on top of her head, and a sweat band-ish headband. This is someone charging me hundreds of dollars an hour and can't even be bothered to pretend to care

This is a weird comment. Are you not familiar with what OTs do all day? They wear workout clothes because they are being active with your child. She's probably going to the Zoom meeting straight from a session. You expect her to put on a suit and get her hair done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you notes are outdated. It’s an employee’s market rig but now.

Dressing up is not outdated, even for virtual interviews. If there is a camera on, the candidate should look like they are going to an interview.

Saying thank you is never outdated.

Yes and often a good way to re-state key points you made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please forgive tech tardiness. I have had calls I was confident I could just click the link on NOT work for various reasons.

It’s difficult to practice by getting on early too at a different company. You could jump on someone else’s call, or trigger a notification that the call has started!

100% this ^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently had a virtual interview and was given prior instructions to dress up (I had already planned on doing this, a no brainer) but was surprised to see the interviewers in hoodies/tshirts.

thank you notes are pointless. Either interviewers don't reply or employers aren't allowed to reply until the hiring decisions have been worked out.

I recently hired an occupational therapist for my daughter and the intake meeting was virtual. I was SHOCKED when she joined in a hoodie (with a cut collar), visably dirty messy hair thrown on top of her head, and a sweat band-ish headband. This is someone charging me hundreds of dollars an hour and can't even be bothered to pretend to care

This is a weird comment. Are you not familiar with what OTs do all day? They wear workout clothes because they are being active with your child. She's probably going to the Zoom meeting straight from a session. You expect her to put on a suit and get her hair done?

This. Does PP think that OTs and PTs wear suits all day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just took a job where I did a Zoom interview in my bedroom. I was afraid that it would be considered to be unprofessional, so I apologized at the start and explained that my bedroom has been my de facto "home office" for the last two years (I will note that the room was neat and the bed was made). I am male and did wear a tie, but not a jacket. i would have worn a suit to an in-person interview, but it seems kind of awkward to do that at home. This was for a tech job, though, not a banking or legal job. I guess that the setting didn't matter in my case. If I were on the other side, I would expect the candidate to dress professionally--hair combed, nice shirt, etc.

I do think that being on time is important. Being late is disrespectful of others' time, and I hate when my own time is wasted by people who are late to meetings. I could maybe understand tech issues pre-COVID, but I would hope that most people would have figured out Zoom (and other software of its ilk) by now.

I don't do thank-you notes because a job interview is not a one-sided expression of generosity. The company wants an employee and the employee wants a job. Under ideal circumstances, both wants are fulfilled. i've nver had a company send me a thank-you note for interviewing with them, so I see no reason to send them as a candidate.

You know your Zoom background can be changed to another picture, right? You don’t have to have your own bedroom as the background. It’s an easy thing to change in the settings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to focus energy on job fit and skill fit, not petty details like where they dial in.

Disagree. You may be able to find multiple people who have the right skills but it’s so much harder to find good reliable people with those skills. Don’t ignore the other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just took a job where I did a Zoom interview in my bedroom. I was afraid that it would be considered to be unprofessional, so I apologized at the start and explained that my bedroom has been my de facto "home office" for the last two years (I will note that the room was neat and the bed was made). I am male and did wear a tie, but not a jacket. i would have worn a suit to an in-person interview, but it seems kind of awkward to do that at home. This was for a tech job, though, not a banking or legal job. I guess that the setting didn't matter in my case. If I were on the other side, I would expect the candidate to dress professionally--hair combed, nice shirt, etc.

I do think that being on time is important. Being late is disrespectful of others' time, and I hate when my own time is wasted by people who are late to meetings. I could maybe understand tech issues pre-COVID, but I would hope that most people would have figured out Zoom (and other software of its ilk) by now.

I don't do thank-you notes because a job interview is not a one-sided expression of generosity. The company wants an employee and the employee wants a job. Under ideal circumstances, both wants are fulfilled. i've nver had a company send me a thank-you note for interviewing with them, so I see no reason to send them as a candidate.

You know your Zoom background can be changed to another picture, right? You don’t have to have your own bedroom as the background. It’s an easy thing to change in the settings.

You know that not all computers have this capability, right? And that some companies disable it, right? So that, no, not everyone can change that background. You knew that, right? Right?

Not looking so smart now, PP.