To be suspicious of job where the employer says at interview that they want you to 'hit the ground running'?

[TinselTarts]

It screams to me of 'we won't train you but will expect slave labour from you from day one'

Also, the interviewer at said interview also said as his first words to me at the interview 'Right, impress me!'

Were you interviewed by David Brent?! 😂

We have done a chunk of recruitment over the last few years. We are really clear when we employ people that they need to be prepared to work things out, design new processes etc and broadly speaking "hit the ground running". We explain that things have improved a lot, but after inspection results as poor as ours, it is a bit of a shit storm. I took my job knowing that and am happy wrangling things into some sort of order. Any one else we need to employ also needs to be the sort of person where that prospect makes them want to get stuck in, not run away.

We can't train people on every aspect of the system because nobody knows how it works, so working that out and making required changes is part of the job.

The rest of the interview sounds dire but I don't think just asking someone to hit the ground running is on its own a red flag.

I've worked for much of my career as an IT contractor. 'Hitting the ground running' is always expected.

But your interviewer does sound to be an arse 🤣

I told my employer I would hit the ground running when I start my new role in early Jan.

When I interviewed they said the wanted me to start ASAP - which would have been December. Then (for admin reasons) they pushed it to January.
I told them that starting in Dec would have been fine but having been through a gruelling few months applying for jobs, having a few weeks in December to myself would be very welcome. Then "I'll hit the ground running" means I'll be well rested and very keen to get started.

In fact I'm doing some freelance work which is frying my brain so I am not having time off, though it's on my own terms so it's a good balance.

Means you’re gonna be dropped in it with no support. Fine if you’re a highly paid consultant who gets parachuted in to put out fires, but not if you’re a standard employee.

If youve attended an interview where you suspect at a fairly early stage that the interviewer is a wanker and you dont want the job than you often feel free to be a bit mouthy. I went for an academic interview straight from my Ph.D viva and a couple of vodkas in the pub. So I was somewhat uninhibited. The prof in charge of the interview made a crass remark and I responded that that was the kind of remark I would expect from a 1st year undergraduate! I then weighed in and fought my corner with gusto.

Later that evening I returned from another session in the pub and a Chinese meal to a phone message offering me the job. I was not directly working with the wanker prof but another academic whom I phoned to accempt. When I told her that I was surprised to be offered the role as Prof X and I appeared to have very different vies she laughed. "Oh that was nothing personal. He gave all the applicants a tough time. But he really admired the way you defended your position."

I accepted the job. Later I told my manager I had come straight from the pub and gone back there afterwards. She laughed.

I think this depends massively on the job/field. I have been interviewing locum lawyers recently who are often keen to say that they are ready to hit the ground running and it is something we are looking for. It means they are experienced in the correct area of law and are used to managing their own caseload. We will of course train them on the systems and the inner workings of the organisation but not the job itself.

He was a nob for saying 'impress me' though 🙄

Yep! Small company and he was the owner. He also kept banging on about being 'world class'

I wonder if he says this line to the men he interviews... 🤔

This guy is stuck in the dark ages. If they offer you the job decline and tell them that the 1980s rang to advise him that he's due to attend interview training any moment now.

Really need a 😆😆😆 button. I cringe every time someone says “at pace”.

Wow.

Run for the hills! I was in similar situation-was a complete show!

Corporate bullshit!

I once had an "appraisal" with a boss who used all these in an hour long meeting

It is what it is
We have to look at the wider picture
The profession is changing
I see where your coming from
We're singing from the same hymn sheet
I think youve lost your mojo
Lets circle back
Put that on the back burner
Not rocket science
The exigencies of the service
At the end of the day

And others which I forget.

I handed in my resignation 3 weeks later.

I’d say go with your gut on this. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard. If you didn’t like the guy anyway, you’ll be looking for another job in 6 months.

I got told this, knew how to do the job but got dropped into an horrendous staffing issue dealing with a vicious bully, a non functioning member of staff hiding behind the bully and two years of the issue being left to fester by the 4 senior managers!! I dealt with it, but I then became the villain of the piece and never had any trust or respect for what I rapidly found out were the worst managers I ever encountered before or since!!

This!

'Also, the interviewer at said interview also said as his first words to me at the interview 'Right, impress me!'

Fuck that. No.

It all sounds a bit David Brent. However, phrasing aside, no, I'd not be suspicious if I was told I'd be expected to slot in and crack on without much training, because in some jobs that's exactly what's required and why they ask for certain pre existing skills and experience on the PS, rather than say 'training will be given to the suitable candidate'. It should have been clear in the application pack whether it was a trainee role or one requiring a fully competent person though.

What was the job and the salary?
It does sound like you dodged a bullet.

A comment like that would put me right off.

It would all depend on whether or not he asked male and female applicants whether they have children. I'm guessing it wouldn't occur to him to ask the male ones. That makes it sex discrimination.

What a total bellend.

Hitting the ground running is fine in certain types of jobs. They said that to me at the start of my current job and they meant they wanted somebody to jump in and work things out for themselves rather than needing babysitting for months. I was employed as a very experienced professional though and was happy with this arrangement.

The interviewer does sound like a knob though!

It should have been clear in the application pack whether it was a trainee role or one requiring a fully competent person though.
I'm a fully competent person but I still need to be trained on their systems! Every company has their own way of doing things and you need to be shown them - the implication (the "impress me" attitude) that it's up to you to sort it out screams lack of management support (or knowledge!), infrastructure and funding.
Definite bullet dodged.

In a similar vein, I never apply to "fast paced" companies.