AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggh!!!!

That I never got. How someone would fake a sick day when heading to an interview.
I think that’s pretty shameless.

At least, spend a vacation day!

I think you can fane a sick day if it is a last minute interview, it happens, but just don’t post about it on Facebook man! C’mon now.

Ha, in the end i think you should be happy then that he is gone now and not 6 months after he does real damage… stupid is as stupid does.

^^ silver lining. :slight_smile:

I agree, it’s just a pain to find good people at that position. Oh well.

A couple weeks ago was “bring your kid to work day”. As you can imagine, working at a chocolate company this is quite the event with TONS of kids. That day I had a meeting with our VP of R&D. As I was walking with him to a conference room a kid about 7-8 years old comes around the corner and yells “Hey (VPs first name)!!!” He politely stops and talks to the kid. Afterward I asked him if he knew hem and he said no, then asked “Whatever happened to Mr and Mrs?”

I have noticed this as well. My neighbor’s kids who are 7 and 4 call me Justin which is what their parents told them to call me. When I was a kid if there was an adult in the room I referred to them by Mr and Mrs. Hell my wife called my dad Mr Coble when we were dating until he told her to refer to him by his first name.

I just hate seeing these old manners fading.

J

Those “Old Manners” are LAME. It’s not respect; it’s vapid traditionalist jargon. Super prevalent in the South, it carries no meaning other than being a tired and superficial gesture. Growing up it was “Mama” & “Papa” and “Yes” and “No”. Adding “Sir” doesn’t make your “Yes” any Yessier or your “No” any more “Noish”. It reeks of the military and other bureaucratic organizations where wearing fancy clothes and saying the Exact Right Thing At Every Moment is Very Important and Proper and Deviation from The Norm Is Unacceptable to the point where I find using the terms almost insulting.

My wife, however, grew up in a traditional Southern home, and so she’s got my daughters saying “Ma’am” & “Sir”, but, what the hell, it can’t hurt, right?

Still creeps me out a little.

I try to avoid using “Ma’am” and “Sir” as much as possible unless I’m talking to police officers or judges, who I make a point to avoid as much as possible.

So just know, if you interview me, I’m not going to call you “Sir”. Well, unless I think you’re an asshole. :smiley:

I have some other pet-peeves too, if you want to hear about them :wink: And no, I don’t actually wink at people, it’s creepy.

I feel like I winked at people twice in my life and immediately felt like a creep. Strange that we emoticon so much winking and use it so little in real life.

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Hmmmmm. perhaps i would be a fit… :wink:

Im also a safe drive and past my mid life crisis////

Powaz - Thank you for your reply. I was not claiming that you should be referring to an employer by Sir or ma’am. Actually I think that is a bit inappropriate in the workplace. But I will say growing up in the south this is how a lot of people are raised as kids and I see nothing wrong with it. If you came in for an interview and referred to me as sir I would politely tell you to call me Justin.

Now to point of my post…A child referring to an adult as Mr and Mrs especially when they don’t know the adult I think is common courtesy. There should be a level of respect given to adults by kids.

KenoLeon - I sure hope you dint tell an employer to go to hell. Remember the design work is small and people talk. Never good to burn bridges.

J

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Not to deviate too far from the conversation. But what are your guys thoughts on applicants that re-apply to companies? Is this intrusive, or does it show moxy?

I remember when I was applying for internships out of school I applied to this big consultancy where I really liked the range of work. They politely gave me the ‘you need to step your game up’ denial ‘but keep it up’. I took a summer at some smaller internship, then re-applied to the big one. Got a little more attention, but in the end they pretty much told me the same thing. I actually took another year at a slightly better place in an effort to ‘step my game up’ yet again. I re-applied, got a few more of their eyes on it, but got the same response. I was feeling that I just wasn’t their fit and I haven’t applied partly because it would be a little ridiculous and I am at a good place right now. Has anyone been on the other end of this, I would be interested to know the senior people’s thoughts.

Personally, I feel like I did at some point cross a boundary and that’s why I ceased, but couldn’t this also demonstrate eagerness and a passion towards that company? If I was in correspondence with a student for a decent duration and have seen many iterations of his/her portfolio, I would see value in their efforts to improve themselves for me. Thoughts?

+1 for this. I have a few places in mind where I’ve been in this boat of initially being on the radar and not good enough and am now at a point of showing improvement. How fine is the line between showing initiative and growing to just being a pain in the backside?

As long as some time goes by and you truly do step up with new and better work, there is no harm in this. People could have moved on, the kind of person they might be looking for may be different, and you have new work. I would think 2 times a year is fine.

I agree.
Watching someone progress is a great thing and if a candidate re-applies with better, fresher work then that’s great to see.

This is key though. Otherwise, it will just back fire and frustrate anyone looking at it for a 2nd time.

Lots of times, the employer might see a lot they like and identify the potential. But then the skill level isn’t there and the employer is worried that the candidate might need too much guidance and take up too many resources to get going.
In that case, re-applying is a great way of getting back into the game.

I’ve gotten some re-applications. Unfortunately they looked exactly as they did the year before. Because I had actually brought some of these candidates in, I would have appreciated some more reasoning in their opening letter. “We met last year, since then I worked on this and this and this and I feel I would be excellent candidate now”. Make it easy for the person reading your application to know why they should call you again.

If they are actively looking and you have applied 3x then I would just stop. They should know you well by now that a) if they needed someone they would contact you or b) they don’t remember you or do not want to hire you for whatever reason.
Maybe you do have initiative and show improvement but the skill level might still not be to their standards. I have seen some students that do improve immensely from their junior to senior year but then we also see students that can design/sketch effortlessly.
Keep in mind that they probably get hundreds of applications from eager students. Maybe there are others better than you. At the end of the day, your portfolio does the talking. Your work ethics, personality and resume support your portfolio.
Make sure you know why or what areas you need to improve on and work on those. You already have a good job so stay there and continue to improve your skill set by doing some fun personal projects on the side. Maybe in one or two years you can re-apply.

I’m usually pretty honest and try to provide constructive feedback of portfolios so students have some feedback. Some applicants appreciate it and send a polite thank you email and some don’t respond…aaaaarrrrrrrgggggh!..which makes me feel like I wasted 15-30 min for nothing.

We had a gem this afternoon…the poor kid sent an email out addressed to every firm in the city and must have forgotten to BCC. Surprisingly he had a lot of email addresses associated to actual people, like he had managed to swipe the bosses digital rolodex at a previous internship.

The bulk email classic! Maybe he was trying to show that if you don’t give him an offer, sone of your competitors might, so act fast?

I wouldn’t do this because it would be mean, but it would be hypothetically funny to reply all with a fictions offer and start a mock bidding war.

So much of these things come down to relationships, it is really amazing. I think if a candidate apply the design process of research, empathize with a user, identify problems, and craft appropriate solutions, it becomes much easier to get a job. If you focus on the needs of the hiring manager and how hiring you will solve those needs, you quickly eliminate the bulk email from your solution set.