There's an article in the DF about being nice to the receptionist at a job interview

[fancyginglass]

Some rubbish article in the DF today but it reminded me of a conversation I had with a summer student who came in to work. He was at Uni and had massive plans to be a high flyer but he told me his mum had told him that you have to be nice to everyone at an interview including the receptionist. I said to him why would you treat the receptionist any different - no one is any better than anyone else. What a self entitled little prat who actually gave up Uni a year later. Does someone actually need to be told this stuff?

@SchrodingersImmigrant

Yup. People can genuinely be dicks and it's quite sad they need to be told.

When I first saw this online my first thought was that I can't wait for posts on LinkedIn 😂
"I went for an interview and the receptionist obviously had a bad day and was quite frazzled. So I took over her work, risking me being late, prepared fresh sushi for her lunch, gave her a massage all while handling her admin and checking in other interviewees. It didn't matter to me that I will miss mine. This is what #kind people do. What a surprise she was the interviewer and I got a job! My mum always told me to #bekind and it paid off"

😂

ha ha

I don't think treating junior staff nicely is even a surefire sign that the person is decent.
I once worked in a pub and we had a regular customer who'd be nice as pie to me and to the other bartenders, and then go back to his table and roundly verbally abuse his partner for the evening - very nasty man. Was flummoxed that he didn't realise he was in earshot so all his smarminess at the counter was for nothing.

@Emilizz34

Also , when my dd was at medical school she worked as a waitress during weekends /summer . The rudeness of some customers was unbelievable. One regular customer told her that she seemed quite bright so she should go back to school to try to get a better job like working in an office or something . What makes people try to belittle others by telling them their job isn’t good enough . All jobs are important in our society . Poor self esteem themselves no doubt

Same with one of my children. There are some people in our village I now see in a different light because of how said child was treated while waiting on tables. Some surprises: for better and for worse.

why is that even an article though?

Oh and my favourite members of staff are Mary in the coffee shop who is notoriously highly strung. If you actually speak to her like she’s a human being she makes the best hot chocolates, and Glynis the cleaner in nursery, I used to stop and chat long past time my two had left.

I remember a chap who would only speak to my boss. If anyone else answered and "the boss" was not available he'd just hang up without a word.

Sadly for him my boss left and I was promoted. He never sold another product through us again. Cost him £ms in lost distribution

I can’t say how I know this as would be outing....but yes many people do have to be told this and many people are incredibly rude to people they think are beneath them....
I worked for an employer who intentionally planted ‘lower status’ people to get their feedback on candidates. I couldn’t believe how many got ruled out in this process. As someone who behaves politely to everyone I wouldn’t have thought there would have been much point to this charade.... I was very mistaken!

When I first saw this online my first thought was that I can't wait for posts on LinkedIn

The home of stealth boasting. If I see one more ‘I gave a job to a drug addled homeless mass murderer and now he’s my best employee, aren’t I amazing’ bollocks post, I might delete my account.

@skipsurvey possibly as a reminder to some DF readers that they need too watch their manners?

i try hard to say goodbye to the cleaner

life is difficult behind masks and screens now, if that story is real/up to date.
because that is how we communicate now

[quote PearlclutchersInc]@skipsurvey possibly as a reminder to some DF readers that they need too watch their manners?[/quote]
I think I saw it on ladbible first. It's just a pr, innit

Agree! The receptionist are my work is the most 'people person' at my office. If someone doesn't sit well with her they have no hope with the rest of us.

At my work I meant

I worked in a middle level job in a large organisation. I dealt with people at all levels, from the people at the top to those at with very humble jobs. I always treated everyone with respect and courtesy and expected them to do the same. Interestingly I found that the least respectful of others were those in important roles who had been promoted beyond there ability.

i had to cut short any communication with our previous cleaner as he had no off button, he talked for hours if he could,
just a quick hello

I've had similar to @Emilizz34 DD's experience. I worked in retail during university and full time in the summer holidays. Had grandparents and their teenage GD come to my till. They proudly (and very randomly) declared DGD was at university (poor GD looked embarrassed). I asked which one, turns out the same as me. When I said "oh I go there too, what are you studying?" The GM's face went from smug to like she had stepped in dog shit and suddenly went very quiet. Sadly had a few similar experiences to this.

Unfortunately there are a lot of arseholes out there who look down their noses, it's not they haven't heard to be nice they just choose not to be. Luckily there's also lots of nice people out there too. It opened my eyes to how full of their own self importance many distinctly average people are.

Why was he a twat? I don't understand? Presumably he was planning to be nice to the receptionist?

It’s a shame people need to be told, isn’t it?

And a shame to present it as a tactic rather than just being common politeness.

I used to work for a professional body (think along the lines of architects) and they had a black tie awards dinner every year in a hotel. The office staff were there to greet people and we also had a merchandise stand to sell branded goods for the organisation. Many of the guests presumed we were hotel staff and were pretty rude. But as nice as pie when we sat down to dinner or had to mingle afterwards when they knew we worked for the professional body rather than being hospitality workers.

The Fail as behind the times, as ever, I see...

I haven't had a face to face job interview since 2014 - well before Covid. The 6 I've had since then have all been video conferencing - and I don't think that's going to change any time soon. Online interviews save the interviewers' time, saves the interviewee's time and means the company doesn't have to shell out for travel expenses.

Interestingly I found that the least respectful of others were those in important roles who had been promoted beyond there ability

I suspect this is a mumsnet trope, like the one about all properly rich people driving old cars covered in dog hair.

I read the article. It didn’t say he was rude or unpleasant to the receptionist. It said he barely made eye contact and wasn’t interested in chatting. Maybe he was being dismissive of someone he saw as beneath him. Or maybe he had autism or other social difficulties. This is a typical example of an NT person assuming that because someone isn’t chatty they’re purposely being rude, which is not always the case. As someone with ASD I would treat the receptionist exactly the same. Not because I’m rude, but because I struggle with small talk and making eye contact regardless of who I’m talking to.

I am not ASD and I am not usually interested in chatting to receptionists.