Things that should be obvious when on a job search.

I so agree. Deadlines for design were usually set in plastic by people with no idea of the work involved, re monetary concerns.

I've been through a few recessions. So it goes.

I've also only worked at small firms or my own. One of those was prestigious, too bad I was only the intern type then - 9 of the 10 of us laid off in recession. I was amused by resumes. Best one, in felt tip, by a senior architect.

As part of a two person design firm for a bunch of years, we got many resumes in the mail when we had no plan on hiring.
We tossed almost all of them, saved one or two for interest, though, as mentioned, we weren't hiring.
Some people had the idea to call, and I always talked with them honestly, sometimes at much length. It takes balls to call, I did that too.

Not every company is a large corporation.

I have no problem with calling employers. But I also get the reverse. Plus, in IT land, it's often that way.

In applications I put "The best time to call me is (eg) between 3 and 4 pm mon - fri however please feel free to call me at any time convenient to you."

note to employers.
Dont bullshit about where the job is located or the hours you want me to work in a standard day when advertising your job. Dont waste my time and I wont waste yours.

Please do acknowledge reciept of my resume. If you don't i'm gonna call you to make sure you have it. Dammit this job is important to me, I dont want to miss out because some of some IT glitch, spam folder or secretary oversight.
When the selection process ( or short listing) is over :-
Either tell me you havn't chosen me OR tell me at the end of the interview "If you havnt heard from us by monday 25th we have selected someone else". I can then get on with my life.

At the end of the interview, DO express interest in getting the job.

There are some good ideas and insight here.

I couldn't help but notice the poor grammar in many of the posts discussing other people's poor communication skills.

It think it's a sign of the times. We have so much written communication now with forums like this, email and texts that sloppy has become an accepted standard.

There's a big difference between informal communication, such as this forum, and formal communication, such as a resume or cover letter.

Something that happened yesterday, with an applicant that showed up for a group interview.

I had not screened this person myself, as we were doing this interview as a favor for a remote location.

He showed up on time....good.

A little later, when the group showed up, I went and sat in the conference room with them, going over what little I knew about him.

My conference room has a glass wall, that looks out onto the reception area.
I noticed at one point that the candidate was sitting there, texting.

I don't care if you're applying for a job with Facebook. You don't text while waiting to be called in for your job interview.

Wait, it gets better.

When I went out to get him, he was still sitting there texting.
I said "All right John, we're ready for you, come on in"

He stood up, not looking at me, but walked toward me, still texting.
I absentlmindly turned and took about 2 steps (thinking about something else), then realized what he was doing.

I stopped, turned around, and he kept walking toward me.

I said "We'll wait right here until you finish texting" and just looked at him.

Without looking up, he said "Ok, I'm finished" BUT STILL KEPT TEXTING!

He finished, and it wasn't until he looked up and saw me standing, looking at him expressionless, that he seemed to realize this was not a good thing.

If I had not done that, there is no doubt in my mind he would have entered the conference room, where 4 other people waiting, texting all the while.

Thing is, this was not for some entry level position. He was a man in his early 30's.

Incredible.

So, did he get the job?

You freakin' crack me up on a daily basis girl.

Just trying to prevent another terrible episode of mass suicide.

Yes, i'm lurking, and i know now how to use the quote button!

Basically i agree with chai. Texting, waiting on job interview, big no-no.

Maybe he should have sat on his hands, while ya'll made him cool his heels.

OK, I have a question...

If I go to a job interview, and they park me in the lobby to wait while they locate the interviewer, and I work a crossword while I'm waiting, is that going to count against me?

Yes, it is a big no-no. BUT... i wouldn't judge an applicant because of this. I would give them a fair interview.

And since chai is assuming that the applicant was going to keep texting once inside the interview room, i'm going to assume and say, how could anyone who is at work logging on to Able2Know every now and then, playing around, company time and money.Then condemn an applicant, texting, in the waiting room. Just sayin.

ok, I have questions as to how you phrase this question, and the comment about "cooling your heels" in the above posts.

In my office, no one is "parking" you anywhere, or making you "cool your heels"

When you have an interview set up and you arrive, I want to get you into the interview as soon as practical. However, the interviewers need to be ready. They need to be throughly debriefed. Believe me, this is going to present you in a much better light to them.

What the interviewee may see as being made to sit and wait, is a bit egotisical. The interviewer(s) are generally not sitting behind closed doors munching toffee and talking about the last episode of Mad Men. We are looking over your resume, listening to the highlights of my screening with you, including points they need to probe further. Questions are being asked about you, and information supplied, so that when the same thing is presented to you during your interview, it can be compared to what they now know you have said before.

Like I said, in my office, anyone in the reception area can actually look through a glass wall into the conference room. They can see that for a few minutes before they are called in, papers are being passed around, notes may be jotted down, questions are being asked, and background is being related. We may be discussing if this person might do better at a different location that where they applied for, if potential for management was seen, how they came across to me, since I may have spent up to 45 minutes on the phone with them already, etc. etc.
We aren't fooling around. We aren't making you wait.

The people who are going to interview you are busy. They are coming over from various locations, to spend a specific amount of time here. We want to do things as efficiently as possible, so they can concentrate on the moment, but also be able to get back to their jobs as soon as possible.

Good interviewing is not some slap dash affair, where someone has to "go find the interviewer" as if that person will be able to just come in the room and jump into it. They have to get into the proper mind set.

That said, the interviewee needs to be in the proper mind set when called in. They should be using this time to mentally prepare for possible questions, take the opportunity to observe the environment, etc.

I personally would not sit there working a crossword puzzle, as I wouldn't be able to concentrate fully on the interview to come. I wouldn't bring a book I'm engrossed with from home. I, at the most would flip through a magazine, knowing I wasn't going to get absorbed in any particular article. If you feel you're too important to be patient and wait for 5 or 10 minutes, while your qualifications are being discussed, sorry. If I felt that way, I'd try to find a job somewhere else where my importance, before even being met, was recognized.
Honestly, there have been times when, while debriefing the interviewer I can see them sitting out front, and don't appreciate what I see. Everyone is facing me, so can't see them. Most people either just sit, sipping water or a soda that had been offered to them, some flip through a magazine. Once in a while I'll get someone who looks at their watch every 2 minutes, get's up and wanders around, going over the line in checking things out, like disappearing down a hall , looking perturbed they are waiting literally 5 minutes.
Again, sorry, that's how it is. What you are doing is showing what you're going to be like to work with.

Then, what you don't see through the glass wall, is how for a half hour after you leave, we discuss you, and how everything went. You don't see us going through the decision process of whether or not to move you forward.

Oh, wanted to add something else...

I've seen people come out of their group interview looking absolutely shell shocked. Not because it was a rough, bad experience, but because it obviously never occured to them that they were going to be asked to give in depth answers to anything, or really think about how they felt about something.

Maybe they were too busy thinking of a 10 letter word for a foolish person.

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