Odd question was asked before setting up a interview from a manager?

[JakeSCH]

Yeah, another issue hiring managers experience is that they do not want to give you an offer for you to turn around and use it for a raise at your current company. It has been happening a lot.

I recently interviewed for a great position on the front range but they wouldn't give me a written offer until i verbally agreed. I ended up leaving a ton of money on the table to stay close to family while my child is born (due any day now).

 

[Elite]

I would have end the call immediately !

Why is that? The tone wasn’t rude or off putting


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[Elite]

I am an Operations Manager for a combined cycle power plant, I do the hiring for our operator positions. I see it every time I have a job listing, someone with a "background" in the industry will apply for an entry level operator position and when I call them or email them I will get one of two responses:
1. I see its an entry level job, I've been a control room operator for 10+ years. I'm not interested (why the heck did you send me your resume then!)
2. they will wait until they get an interview and then tell me they are not interested due to pay. (the starting pay and benefits were listed in the job ad).
I definitely feel like asking people if they are serious or just testing the waters but I don't actually say those words.

That’s a good example and definitely understandable of not wanting to waste either party’s time, I think if he would have thought I was under qualified and happy to get the job or interview he wouldn’t of asked


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[DRP]

He definitely should have given you some sort of explanation or idea of why he ask you that question. I would be curious myself.

 

[JRMiller]

People thought i was nuts when the final question i asked in an interview was “ when not at work shoes or sandals do you wear most of the time”
Why? I found %99 of the time people who said flop flops turned out to be lazy...

 

[mike.adams.467]

At that point I would have pushed the End Call on my phone. Sounds like a real dick to me. But that's jut me.

Then you would have been doing him a favor.


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[hobbes]

He wouldn't have called if you aren't qualified. Those applications/resumes are filtered out and don't receive a call. The interview process is a lot of work. You sometime have a pile of applicants and you have to toss out those considered no responsive that clearly didn't read instructions, sort out those that clearly do not meet the posted requirements, rate those that do, decide which folks to interview, call them all and set up interview times. A series of interviews over a couple days is a lot of work.

 

[Crowmangler]

Quote Clarence Thomas: " I would rather die than withdraw my nomination."

OK, maybe a bit dramatic, but you'd get the drop on him...

If I were interviewing someone & they quoted Clarence Thomas I'd hire them on the spot

 

[rgroves79]

Yeah, another issue hiring managers experience is that they do not want to give you an offer for you to turn around and use it for a raise at your current company. It has been happening a lot.

I recently interviewed for a great position on the front range but they wouldn't give me a written offer until i verbally agreed. I ended up leaving a ton of money on the table to stay close to family while my child is born (due any day now).

I never send someone an offer letter until I explain the offer and they verbally agree. I try to get any questions or negotiation out of the way before I spend the time drafting it up.

I am not the one that is usually directly involved in hiring for our entry level positions but if I do get involved, I usually try to convince them that they don’t want the job and see what their response is. We get ‘ghosted’ by a lot of people even after they spend a couple of hours interviewing and going through our hiring process.

I can’t blame the person for trying to qualify how serious someone is before they invest the time in an interview.

 

[DanimalW]

Really can’t be serious about any job opportunity until you’ve had an interview and the opportunity to ask them questions too. Or really until there’s been an offer. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for more, even if it’s an extra week of vacation for hunting season. The best time to negotiate more is when you have a job (don’t NEED one) and they want to hire you. Be reasonable though.

 

[Titan_Bow]

If he’s been having the same issue I have with finding candidates, he was probably amazed to actually get a qualified client! Seriously, I’ve had two positions open for over a month, and the majority of the candidate applications I’ve received have been from outside the US or not even remotely qualified. It’s amazing how hard it is to find quality candidates right now!


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[Rich M]

People thought i was nuts when the final question i asked in an interview was “ when not at work shoes or sandals do you wear most of the time”
Why? I found %99 of the time people who said flop flops turned out to be lazy...

LOL! You aint from around here (FL). What happens if they say crocs?


OP - I wouldn't take it personal. Probably just a screening question. Hiring folks is tedious work and takes him away from his everyday duties that need to get done anyway.

What folks never think about is having a conversation with the interviewers - there is this expectation that you get asked questions, answer em and that's it. Go in and have a dialogue, ask questions, talk about things you've fixed or improved at your job. Just don't complain about coworkers, boss or company. You are always looking to improve your circumstances, new challenge, more growth, etc. Positive spin to everything.

Be likeable, naturally get along with interviewer, have experience needed for position, get job.

 

[summs]

Wrong thing to ask on his part... But with indeed and linkedin, people just hit apply to all position without reading what they are applying for.

We were hiring for a summer tech job internship, i.e. college kids looking to get their feet wet, learn and have fun. We had people apply with their masters in communications and 10 years of experience in a human resources. And another a bachelors and 7 years experience as a sys admin, and 3-7 other applicants with 5-15 years experience in a completely different field and full blown careers. And they were applying for a $15/hr summer tech internship.

We hired 2 college kids that applied.

 

[5MilesBack]

"Yes I'm serious, otherwise I wouldn't waste your time, or mine."

Lots of people out there wasting their and other's time these days. It's unreal how many people are getting hired and then never show up for the job, or show up the first day and then quit. But when they have that government free money fallback option, it's hard to motivate them to actually work.

 

[JRMiller]

LOL! You aint from around here (FL). What happens if they say crocs?


OP - I wouldn't take it personal. Probably just a screening question. Hiring folks is tedious work and takes him away from his everyday duties that need to get done anyway.

What folks never think about is having a conversation with the interviewers - there is this expectation that you get asked questions, answer em and that's it. Go in and have a dialogue, ask questions, talk about things you've fixed or improved at your job. Just don't complain about coworkers, boss or company. You are always looking to improve your circumstances, new challenge, more growth, etc. Positive spin to everything.

Be likeable, naturally get along with interviewer, have experience needed for position, get job.

Flips flops was the only wrong answer, i was good with anything else, crocs included

 

[BigNate]

I have worked in the private power sector for many years. It has been common lately to get people fishing to see if they can get a little more, but they aren't interested in actually relocating for similar or slightly better compensation.
Millennials in particular have been an issue. After going through the entire process applicant's turn down offers because they think they're magically better than their experience and training reflect.

 

[Jimmy]

He sounds like he's dealt with a lot of people who either didn't really want to work, or were just job shopping and didnt accept it when it was offered to them. Some people also just look for a new job so they can leverage more money out of their current employer.

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

He probably said that because the unemployed have to look for jobs to continue to get their unemployment checks or at least that's how it used to be. People would just half ass look for a job just to get the check. Its probably frustrating for employers.

 

[FLATHEAD]

What if I go barefooted?

 

[Nomadx2]

So I had a manager of a large corporation call me wanting to set up a interview, But his first few words were a little different then I have had in the past, He basically first came out and said on the phone. “Not sure if you are serious about this job or just testing the waters” I am definitely very interested in this job which I explained to him. But I am not sure how to take why he said that or said it right away? I guess if I was under qualified for it he maybe wouldn’t of said it? Any suggestions?


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Stop overthinking and do a good job on the interview.

^^^^ what Squicher said. I do hiring of higher level employees for my company and too many know it is an employees market these days. Been burned several times by folks who just used us to get an offer after 3 interviews just so they can either leverage their current employer or another potential employer.

Very dishonest as the interview process consumes our time and internal resources. My first question to any candidate is ... Why did you apply for this position? .... if you struggle with this one, interview is very short.

The manager asked a relevant question, he is testing you, your job is to answer honestly.