don’t you hate it when you’re being interviewed and they’re like, “tell me about yourself”?
ma'am, i do not have enough of a sense of self to accurately describe myself. in fact, i try very hard to avoid self-perception. but i swear i can do the job, please hire me
When Do You Mention Shabbos Observance in A Job Interview?
Dear Jew in the City,When during an interview/hiring process should you bring up keeping Shabbos/Jewish holiday absence questions? At the time of offer? At the initial interview? What would a good response be to the question, “Are you available nights and weekends if we need you to come in?” Wondering how people handle this.– J
Dear J,Your question couldn’t be more timely as the U.S. Supreme Court just heard a case a couple weeks ago directly on this topic. Unfortunately, if the case comes out the wrong way, religious job applicants will be put in an incredibly difficult position with no good options, and the door to discrimination against religious job applicants—and in particular observant Jews—could be flung wide open.
But before I get to the legal issue, I’m going to first address your questions from a practical perspective…
Recently this funny video of a Millennial being interviewed for a job has been trending around, so I picked it up from my LinkedIn feed and watched it with two expectations: it’s going to be very amusing, it’s going to have some truth. I wasn’t disappointed and that’s what happened, because if you have worked in different environments you will immediately catch the drift.
The interview is a stereotypical gag of a busy young Millennial girl who is being interviewed by a Baby Boomer while using her smartphone. Standard questions on competences comes in on what tech skills the candidate has, but they are not your typical Microsoft Office package as the girl lists all social platforms she knows how to use.
One thing that struck me there is the gap between the two roles which represents the two sided of software each comes with: old VS new, spreadsheets VS tweets. It’s obvious the difference of tech understanding instantly pops out to highlight a current phenomena in the workplace.
The video continues with the stereotype of the easily-distracted Millennials that cannot put a way for a second the phone: it’s their totem that convey their social and communicative power and without it they are like Superman with Kryptonite. However, there’s a subtle message in this video which is not what appears to be the constant use of technology, but rather the inability for those two generations to connect and come to terms with their differences.
Please, don’t see this as a pernicious way to defame Millennials, but rather to point the fingers over those who despite their age haven’t caught up with how society interacts with the presents whether old or young. Side effects on the personal behavior can impact those who drown in technology or starve from it.
My personal experience with some Millennials struck me at different levels where young adults working in retail are lacking the social skills to communicate their knowledge. I’m writing about retail because that’s where you would see Millennials working while interacting with the public, places like the hardware store, the local restaurant, the supermarket; that’s where their early work experience starts.
Millennials might be introverted and awkward, it also comes with the age they are in; however, there is a large portion of them which has been living in a sheltered environment from their birth, overly protected by their parents and their early educational system, unable to experience the sour side of life. The result is the entitlements and high demands many wait to receive on the workplace.
This is not a trial on who is bad and who is not, but rather an instance to understand how to resolve this issue. Parents cannot expect to raise their kids without disappointing them or even without them to fail at some point in their life. It’s part of being human to let your guard down or to miss the target. What’s important is to get back on track and learn from what went wrong.
On a darker tone the last portion of the video highlights the worst part some Millennial might exhibit: pandering to imaginative external elements to justify their shortcomings. Blaming others without justification is the line of defense to use to make up for the lack of principles or knowledge and eventually personal responsibilities.
The Millennial girl asks to speak to a HR director for assistance after facing the fact she is not qualified for the position the job interview required. Millennials don’t take well rejection because difficult situations have been fixed by their parents during their years at school -if there’s a problem call the manager or mod and dad-.
I wanted to let you guys know that I finally managed to score a full time job at a fashion company! It’s a graphic designer and illustrator position too! I wasn’t sure if I was even going to get the job in the interview after many other let downs in the past but nope, I was hired the same day!
This is a good step for me as I can now start saving and working on this blog and my online store. In addition, I feel some of my creative juices returning. Posting a new comic will take me a bit so you guys won’t see a new comic until Sunday possibly.
Thank you all for supporting me! It’s been a long 4 and a half years of unemployment but I’m glad it’s over. I’m so excited, I start today!
Hey Heauxs, so I know this post isn’t sugar related, but as we all know, having multiple streams of income is only helpful in being a healthy and happy SW.
So after going through about 43 resumes with my supervisor today, I thought I’d drop some knowledge.
Note: Most of this is common sense, also, there are plenty of other helpful tips out there, this is just a list of what I encountered first hand today. These tips may not apply to all jobs, but still, pretty helpful information.
1. DON’T ask for a salary that is too huge for the position, ESPECIALLY if they mention the salary in the job description! (Ex: Our job posting says $55,000/year, there were people asking for $90-120k..those resumes were deleted off the bat)
2. If the job application REQUIRES a resume and a cover letter, do both! Better safe then sorry.
3. If you don’t not have some form of experience in the field you are applying to (preferably over a years worth) you probably won’t get the job
4. Make sure you submit you resume in a way that can be easily read! (One persons resume was getting cut off and another person had color designs, and the words couldn’t be read over the dark patterns)
5. To bounce off of that, limit the amount of patterns and designs you have UNLESS you are applying to a more creative field. If you are not, it is unprofessional.
6. They will google you, and look through your social media… pretty self explanatory what you need to do. Keep it PG13, PG if you can.
I will add more info as I get it. We started with 43, we are now at about 20 resumes (we have yet to review social media). My boss is going over the rest in detail and will likely chop another half, in which I will ask why, and make another post. Then it’s reviewing social media, and finally, interviews.
A golden rule of video conferences is that if you wouldn’t do it when someone is in the room with you, you shouldn’t do it on a Zoom call. Violations of this rule have made national news.Again and again.
I kind of can’t believe this needs to be said, but like… keep your clothes on??? Don’t touch your junk???? Cover your mouth if you have to cough, don’t check your text messages, don’t talk to anyone else—this feels suspiciously like kindergarten rules.
Not only will this help you avoid embarrassing social fuck-ups, but it’ll get you in the right mental space to impress your interviewer. Just because you’re not putting on a suit and walking into an office building doesn’t mean you don’t need to put on your game face!
That said…
Your camera is unidirectional. No one can see what’s behind your laptop screen or immediately to the sides. So fill that space with as many notes, reminders, and scripted answers as you can!
If you tend to ramble when you’re nervous, write a list of the key points you want to cover in your interview and keep it next to your keyboard! If your eyes tend to wander, stick some googly eyes on either side of the camera lens so you have something with which to make eye contact. And if you easily forget a question halfway through answering it, write it down on a notepad next to your computer while your interviewer is still talking.
Cocoon yourself in a thick, comforting cheat sheet just off-screen!
6th January: what is the weather like during winter in your country?
It’s supposed to be icy and cold and for the most part it is! But I live in London so it doesn’t snow as much. Also climate change is decreasing the frequency of icy weather.
Just a quick post today because I had the Savills Grad Scheme assessment centre all day and I didnt have time to take pictures! I cant really tell how it went as everyone was so interesting to speak to.
