I was just thinking about this.

3/10/2015 12:09:05 AM

k

3/10/2015 12:09:21 AM

GRU-SEX FUN + GOOD; HAVE THEM INTERVIEWS YES NOW PLEASE

3/10/2015 7:40:11 AM

Group as in, you're not the only applicant being interviewed?

If so, then yes, and you should get up and walk out of it immediately.

If by Group you mean you're the only candidate and there's more than 1 interviewer, then no, that shit's fine.

3/10/2015 7:49:33 AM

^This

3/10/2015 8:04:22 AM

Yeah, if I ever went into an interview and it was a group of applicants, I would leave. Group interviews are dumb.

3/10/2015 8:44:46 AM

retail jobs I had in high school had group interviews

they may be dumb but they are really easy to take control of

3/10/2015 8:52:22 AM

But we aren't in high school any more, if I go to one I'm going to ask them are the fucking serious and walk out.

3/10/2015 8:59:03 AM

fine up until you graduate

3/10/2015 9:05:35 AM

For professional jobs it's not uncommon to have a mixer or dinner or something with multiple candidates, do you guys run away from those?

3/10/2015 9:13:19 AM

Yes, if there's more than one candidate at the interview they can kiss my ass.

3/10/2015 9:18:15 AM

^^ I've done mixers the night before with multiple candidates but never an interview

3/10/2015 9:31:09 AM

I have had one group interview (when I was in college) and it was a bunch of ice breaker crap and to see who had the "most outgoing personality." It was apparent that was not the job for me.

3/10/2015 9:44:33 AM

^ sales? seems like this is for people who sell things.

3/10/2015 9:56:41 AM

Desk job at an apartment complex. They wanted someone who can organize fun socials!! and ice-cream mixers!!

[Edited on March 10, 2015 at 10:01 AM. Reason : ]

3/10/2015 9:57:06 AM

or any other client facing position

3/10/2015 9:57:15 AM

Quote :

"For professional jobs it's not uncommon to have a mixer or dinner or something with multiple candidates"

This is in no way common, and is extremely unprofessional from a talent acquisition perspective. Social Networking events do exist and are a great way to meet potential candidates, but I have never heard of a mixer/dinner with multiple candidates for the sole purpose of interviewing/hiring.

3/10/2015 10:51:17 AM

As a candidate in one of those mixers used as a job interview, it's extremely uncomfortable. I don't see what is to be gained by a group interview/mixer, and I don't see how it could possibly benefit the company doing the hiring. Although it may arguably save time, it would turn off many qualified candidates, and how well are you really getting to know them?

3/10/2015 11:13:12 AM

^^it's done frequently at job fairs, i attended multiple as a student. i enjoy them, it's easy to do well and position yourself favorably compared to other people.

[Edited on March 10, 2015 at 11:17 AM. Reason : ^]

3/10/2015 11:15:42 AM

Who interviews any more? I get all my jobs by referrals and networking within my industry. Come on guys, we are in our 30s. Get on my level.

3/10/2015 11:17:23 AM

I think there should be 0 other applicants in the room, and not more than 2 interviewers for a first in-person interview. (maybe a direct supervisor, and next in command or HR)

In companies where people genuinely work in collaborative groups then maybe a larger group of interviewers could be justified for a second or third tier interview, but most jobs are not like that.

Anything outside of that that says the company values their time more than yours, which makes you wonder what its going to be like to work there.

When the economy was in the shitter and I was looking for a part time job I remember AT&T having like 7 managers on one applicant at a conference table. Most of them were playing on their laptops, acting bored and disinterested. Once in a while one would jump in and throw out a question that had already been asked just to pretend they were participating. It was definitely the rudest, most impersonal, gloomy, & negative interview I have ever been in.

T-Mobile had 2 on 1 but both gave undivided attention. Very good experience.

Verizon & Alltel were by far the best, very professional, high level interviews. I could tell both companies had a good culture by how that went. During that time they were being inundated with applicants from my industry (they told me this) but still took the time to treat each applicant like a potential asset.

I ended up with a full time job that had more pay than I expected & great benefits from those interviews, and actually learned a lot from working for both companies (since they merged while I worked there). I worked there for almost 3 years, made good money, multiple sales awards, and aside from the inflexible schedule really enjoyed it. When the time came to go back to doing what I really enjoy I went part time because that job was honestly hard to give up.

I wonder how many of the companies that treated applicants like shit when the economy was shitty are having luck attracting talent now? These days if I walked in to an interview the way ATT does it I would probably walk out. A horrible first impression is really hard to overcome.

3/10/2015 2:26:26 PM

Depending on which job is being interviewed for, we will have at minimum 2 people, and then typically rotate through 1-2 more. We have the Office Manager, who would be the direct supervisor, the HR Director, because HR, and then a peer who may come in for a few minutes so the applicant can ask questions. If it's a position that also requires attorney supervision, the attorney will come in as well. I have no issues with bringing in multiple interviewers, but definitely not multiple interviewees.

3/10/2015 2:33:36 PM

I realize this thread is about group interviews....which I do not dispute. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

3/10/2015 2:35:36 PM

Quote :

"it's done frequently at job fairs"

I think you're the only one here talking about job fairs. I think the rest of us are talking about a situation where you receive a phone call from a recruiter asking you to interview in-person with a company, and showing up to find out you're 1 of 7 people they're talking to at the same damn time.

^That's a good rule of thumb to follow. The only time an interview should go beyond 2 interviewers is in the very final stages of the interview process. Pulling more people into the interview process is a sure-fire way to make the candidate feel unnecessarily uncomfortable, and waste everyone's time.

You'd be amazed at the talent acquisition tactics applied by businesses today. I consulted for one company in Colorado that had a 9-interview process, where no less than 15 people interviewed a candidate over the course of six weeks. Another client started out with a 'group interview' of 8 interviewers, which was basically a giant intellectual pissing contest where the team would take turns asking the candidate increasingly harder and obscure technical questions until the candidate got one wrong, then claiming the candidate wasn't good enough. They wondered why their positions were open for 6+ months.

3/10/2015 2:43:45 PM

^^ this


because of this I have started to say, "Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight" in my daily life....much to my internal chuckles

thank you tdub

3/10/2015 2:51:50 PM

when doing the interviewing i'm generally doing it with 2 others

but it's also generally the only interview they have to go through, so eh

3/10/2015 3:05:38 PM

I had an interview for a government job...6 fucking people for an analyst jerb.

waste of time.

3/10/2015 3:09:44 PM

all of my big boy jobs have been group interviews. I like interviews though, when else do people have to sit and listen to you brag about yourself?

3/10/2015 4:10:16 PM

Do you mean you were one of multiple candidates present at the same time in the same interview, or that you were the only candidate and there were multiple interviewers?

3/10/2015 4:12:42 PM

I had a group interview, and now I'm the dreaded “Business Sales guy" with an Internet startup that "just needs a technical guy". Could it get any worse? Yes - I also worked for random companies in sales positions and have failed with a few small business ideas.

...but please put down the weapons - I have some redeeming features!

I am currently in the position financially to work 40 plus hours a week on this latest venture(Portal 4D) which is a first in my life(27 years old for those who must know). The past two months I have built the first real concept working on market validation and segmentation, have been working with consultants and tech incubators to get to the point of having a minimum viable product.

I have been working for pre-seed round funding and one thing that was impressed on me was that I need a technical co-founder. I agree.

Portal 4d is not currently built other than some wire framing ideas.

I'm looking for someone who loves the Portal 4D concept, particularly if they have worked in a customer service environment or with large companies that can not provide adequate customer service. I'm not married to a particular development platform and will be open to all suggestions.
The general concept is a virtual customer service employee who from our call center will provide our clients customers with trained assistance via video conferencing on a mobile phone or tablet.
Joining full-time would be dependent on me getting further funding (unless you really want to start full-time now which I would prefer). I haven't really started pitching seriously yet, but off the back of a few industry connections I have some pretty good investor interest.

Equity etc to be discussed!

About me: in a former life I was a in the construction business, with a degree in Construction Technology. So while I can't do much with Java, I used to be pretty good at solving real world problems with out of the box solutions. My goal is to find a co-founder who believes what I believe and work together so that we can all succeed.

Comment if you like

3/10/2015 4:29:44 PM