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?

@lljkk

I'm finding thread funny because who gets an in-person interview nowadays. It's all telecon.

No, they aren't all via zoom or teams at the moment. My industry especially.

Lots of places are still carrying out face to face interviews, with safety measures In place.

Also, face to face interviews will become the norm again in most companies when the pandemic is over.

@Gwenhwyfar

"Pre Covid, part of the interview process would involve candidates having coffee and/or lunch in the staff room to see how well they slotted in.

You can teach practical skills...you can't teach someone to be the right fit for a particular workplace culture"

I think that's unfair. You can't tell how someone is going to fit in by how they are on the very first day. Talking to strangers is totally different to talking to colleagues you know and that 'test' unfairly favours the extremely confident or extroverts.

Obviousky that would be taken into account.

We've ruled out far more over confident people that way than shy ones...

Yes, some people really do need to be told this stuff. Always make friends with "lowly" staff and they will do more for you. I'll always go out of my way to do a favour for those people. A lot less likely to want to help people who constantly treat me with rudeness.

@PucePanther

The Mail article says “A Reddit user shared how a candidate recently came in for a job interview and was rude to the woman he believed was the receptionist”.

The actual post on Reddit says:
“Today, a candidate blew his interview in the first 5 minutes after he entered the building. He was dismissive to the receptionist. She greeted him and he barely made eye contact. She tried to engage him in conversation. Again, no eye contact, no interest in speaking with her. What the candidate did not realize was that the "receptionist" was actually the hiring manager.”

That doesn’t sound rude to me. Perhaps extroverts might find it rude. But for anyone who’s introverted or has social difficulties, anxiety or ASD, that’s just normal behaviour. Just another example of the gatekeepers blocking non-extroverts from employment and progression. If you’re not “bubbly” you’re out.

It's the behaviour of NT people who think you're not worth looking at, much less their breath or mental effort in sneaking to them.

Although, seeing as I have ASD and approached learning to communicate effectively with people (as I needed to eat) as a Scientific discipline, perhaps I'm just slightly better attuned to telling the difference in body language and tone between somebody who is anxious and somebody who thinks I'm (or somebody else is) an inconsequential bit of pondlife.

Lots of smugness and stealth boasting on this thread

First job after leaving school was as a trainee with the local council. Spent 3 or 4 months in 1 dept. Before moving on to another. Started September in housing and it was ,overly. Then moved to Environmental Health it was truly awful, the sort of place where a trainee could not speak directly to some one above your grade apart from, or through your direct supervisor. 3 of the women and 1 man who worked together decided to make my life a misery. Would ask for tea etc and then spill it over me etc. Not pass messages on etc. Come the works Christmas Party I was given strict instructions as to who I could speak, etc. On the evening it was fantastic, they did not know that my boyfriend was the son of the chairman of the Environmental Health Committee. There I was arriving in a chauffeur driven council limousine and sitting on the top table.

The attitude that you are not worth bothering with because of your job isn't just confined to reception staff, cleaners or security guards sadly. I have been on the receiving end of this in a public sector regulatory role. Most recently I was copied into an exchange to my director (only one grade above me) objecting to having to deal with me as I am not the decision maker and therefore not senior enough to be involved in the meeting. Maybe I'm not, but I am the person whose job it is to create the recommendations for the decision. My director wrote back immediately and said that I was the official dealing with the matter and it was unprofessional to send such an email copying me in. I find that in the sector I work in, it is rife that unless you are very senior, you are considered "admin", which is really not the case.

We had someone come in for interview who practically ignored the people in roles requiring fewer qualifications. I then took her down for the work canteen and she clucked her fingers for service at the (lovely) canteen staff member. I was visibly cringing. After the interview the boss was fairly positive about her qualifications and the interview but the rest of us told him we wouldn't be happy working with her and so she didn't get the job.

@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

Oh I know that one. I managed a pub while doing my MA and regularly had people ask me why a 'bright young thing' wasn't trying to do anything in life 🙄

@kennelmaid

Lots of smugness and stealth boasting on this thread

Sorry. I know I am guilty of that, but I just wanted to give examples of how it can pay off.

"Maybe there should be a receptionist who sees that you've arrived online and talks to you before the video screen changes to the interviewers grin"

There is still interaction wit secretaries though e.g. they might be the person fixing the appointment or, as happened to my friend, they may do a trial run of the software with you.

Allergictoironing Most impressive, as i say you never know when you will need x for a project or a friend in general, plus the information you can also pick up, can be invaluable, id rather be in the middle of the hustle and bustle of various sections, and gathering various information and connecting with people, as you never know what gems you will come across.

"You should also bear in mind that many people are feeling pretty awful just before an interview. They might be concentrating on not throwing up when they first walk into the building.
It has been well known fact for decades that your interview usually starts the moment you walk into the building. So being netvous in a waiting room, is bit late already."

People can't help it! You sound quite insensitive. Most interviewers aren't like you and they often start off with an easy question as you calm down, like asking about your journey there.

A lot of people on this thread seem to be confusing being polite with being chatty.

It isn't necessary to make a lot of meaningless chatter with someone in order to come across as polite. Normal courtesy is all that's required.

Be pleasant when speaking to people and don't forget to say please and thank you, is more than enough.

You should also bear in mind that many people are feeling pretty awful just before an interview.They might be concentrating on not throwing up when they first walk into the building.

A bit nervous is normal for some, but such an over-reaction is not! It doesn't stop you from being polite.

I used to go to uni recruitment fairs on behalf of my company and I couldn’t believe the number of students who would be rude to me thinking I was ‘just’ from HR (I wasn’t, I was a member of the teams they were hoping to join, not that it should make a difference). I swore that if I ever saw any of them come into the office for an interview I’d tell the hiring manager as soon as they left.

My friend was once asked to show candidates out after their interviews. The interviews were to join the team she was in, at the same level as her. With one candidate she made a friendly comment about hoping it had gone well, and he snorted and said of course it had, the role was sooo basic and easy and he’d be able to do it standing on his head. The hiring managers asked her afterwards if she had any thoughts and of course her response was ‘anyone but him!’

Funnily enough I've just had to withdraw a job offer from someone who was rude and uncooperative to several of my team who were just trying to get them through our complex onboarding process.
If the candidate couldn't cope with that, they'd never have managed to do the job.

Years ago I went to work in a buying office. My job was to jeep the system updated so the buyers knew when their parts would arrive and chase them up and update the system if they didn't arrive on time.

I was the only woman in the office and all the arrogant buffoons who also expected me to make them coffee worked in confusion but the polite freindly buyers who treated me with respect had their information updated and knew how efficient I was.

@Warpdrive that just reminded me of an account manager we hired who wouldn’t fill in some of the HR forms because it was private information. Stuff like his home address, emergency contact information etc. He just gave them his full name and national insurance number. It was so bizarre, and was indeed and indicator of how awkward he would be. He refused to have a company phone and left his laptop in the office every night even when he was going away with work. He didn’t last long.
He was nice as pie to all the support staff though.

Many, many years ago, I took an evening cleaning job at the HQ of a bank while studying at university.
The manager was absolutely lovely, very humble and always spoke to me nicely, even including me with a Christmas box.
One particular evening one of the office workers, a young man asked me if I had seen his colleague and said ' oh, she's another scrubber ' while looking down his nose at me.
I complained to the lovely manager about being called a scrubber.
Suffice to say that the man left the manager's office with a very red face and an apology to me.
It costs nothing to be polite.

A few years ago I was driving my son to his special school and there was a stranger trying to find a parking space in the busy car park and blocking the way for parents drpping of pupils. Trying to be helpful I suggested where she might park and she was very rude. We met again later as I was also chair of governors and iwe were nterviewing for a new teacher. You should have seen her face when she walking in and saw I was on the panel.

I think there's some Walter Mitty types on this thread.

And I don't believe the lift story, surely they couldn't sack him over a throwaway remark.

Also sushi lady who also gave a massage,pics it it didn't happen.

And I don't believe the lift story, surely they couldn't sack him over a throwaway remark.
If you are the Head of the bank, you can dispense with whichever contractors you like.

Also sushi lady who also gave a massage,pics it it didn't happen.
You realise that post was satire?

I worked in a school where they had interviews for Vice Principal. One of the candidates basically shoved me out of the way and was very rude to an admin member of staff. I told the Principal. She didn’t get it.
Another time I was waking a candidate through the school and whilst waiting outside a classroom he was chatting to a cleaner and picked something up for her. I also told the Principal that too. How you behave when no one ‘important’ is about can be very telling.

People shouldn’t have to be told, but it’s amazing just how many do. I suspect it stems either from insecurity or a false sense of superiority but I’ve seen it time and time again. In my last job you had to show a security pass to get into the building. I sometimes had left mine on my desk but security used to say “Oh, go on then” and wave me through - I always said hello and smiled, maybe a bit of small talk if we were in the coffee shop queue together. The “Don’t You Know That I’m A Senior Person” types had to sign in as visitors and made to wait in reception while a representative of their company came to collect them

You can tell a lot about someone by how they treat those who they perceive to be junior or inferior to them (especially waiting staff) which is why it forms part of the interview process. Our old receptionist was always asked her opinion on candidates!