Smiley face on a job application.

[RunBackwards]

Please, just don't

Probably don't mention twice how good your "banter" is either, it distracts from the fact that actually, your experience could be just what we need.

@kleanex admit your a lousy employer who thinks your staff should worship the ground you work on and be available 24/7 the rest of their lives.

Retail is shit. Fact of life baby no one enjoys retail long term thats why its an unskilled low paid job.

[quote Shaniac]@kleanex admit your a lousy employer who thinks your staff should worship the ground you work on and be available 24/7 the rest of their lives.

Retail is shit. Fact of life baby no one enjoys retail long term thats why its an unskilled low paid job.[/quote]
I guess it suits you to think that way. So I say I don't value seeing interests on a CV and you decide that I'm a shit - it's a big leap. I say what people do outside work is up to them - I don't judge and I'm not marking them on it and I'm a shit for that? Fair enough 😁 We have people with all sorts of interests - but we don't employ them for their interests.

@Butterer thats so lovely you got such positive memories of your dad at work! My dad was in the army so rarely ever saw him he was quiet literally at war or away all the time and my mom worked in a supermarket where she was bullied but she instilled real work ethic in me and my brothers thats stayed with us all and we have all worked since 13 years of age.

When interviewing someone with a stammer please don't finish their sentences for them, and realise an interview is a stressful situation which makes the stammer worse, and it's really not that bad in day to day life.

And I'd have thought the ability to stick out a retail/customer facing job despite the low pay, the abuse from members of the public, the fact that even doing it part time it still seems to take your entire life up , would be a desirable quality akd not something to dismiss of someone just because they put they like reading on their CV.

And I'd have thought the ability to stick out a retail/customer facing job despite the low pay, the abuse from members of the public, the fact that even doing it part time it still seems to take your entire life up , would be a desirable quality akd not something to dismiss of someone just because they put they like reading on their CV.

100% this.

Also when your offering a low paid run of the mill job please dont ask for 2 years experience. I have been turned down for reception work as 6 months experience is not enough apparently. Ditto cleaning 6 months not enough.

My two faves:

When asked why he had applied for this specific job, replied “I heard you’ve got a really good pension scheme and annual leave and I love time off work.” Okaaaay.

Another woman told us all about losing her rag with her husband so much she [did X] causing [very specific, painful injury to herself requiring a lot of rehabilitation]*. It was hilarious but so not the example you’d use in a job interview. This was 20+ years ago & it still makes me smile when I think about it.

• It is so specific it could be outing if I post it.

Clearly @kleanex hasn't heard of transferable skills 🤣

I now hate the word "flexibility " in a job description too.

I've only ever realky done things like retail/bar work but there's been enough on other threads from these so called "better jobs" too , where flexibility seems to ve a required quakity. But its only ever one way.

It seems to mean permanent availability. Where despite the advertised or originally agreed hours, leaving is frowned upon as is refusing to do over time.

Doesnt matter what industry you are in, if you advertise a 15 hour a week job then rely on forced over time, and despite having managed without you throughout the advertising, recruiting and training process suddenly you are responsible for all the staffing issues should you say no, that just makes you look like shitty disorganised employers.

If interviewing for a job as a university lecturer, which includes responsibility for leading field trips abroad, do not say, when asked what you would do if such-and-such a problem arose on the trip, that you would ring your mum.

@Lineofconcepcion

Clearly *@kleanex* hasn't heard of transferable skills 🤣

Well no - excelling in horse-riding wouldn't really apply much to our industry. But no need to be bitter I am clearly in the wrong - so you'll have loads of offers from elsewhere.

Yeah its crazy thinking back on how these industries were in regards to women, gay men and anyone not a typical bloke. Hopefully they have moved on especially as they are good jobs to get into.

If you are asked to talk about a situation in which you successfully managed conflict, stop talking before you get to the part where the person you fell out with refused to talk to you for six months!

Well no - excelling in horse-riding wouldn't really apply much to our industry. But no need to be bitter I am clearly in the wrong - so you'll have loads of offers from elsewhere.

Aw, surely having a jousting final round for the interview process would be a lot of fun 😄.

I thought Kleanex didn't say they never want to hear / talk about interests ever. Just that candidates don't need to put it on a CV for an interview as it won't be taken into consideration for the shortlisting - but will be happy to discuss it if it cropped up during the interview?

When asked your weakness, do not say "my big brain as my colleagues find it intimidating". I am quoting verbatim.

Oh also when interviewing please dont just ramble about the company, ask me no questions and then basically start talking about sacking people and then imply you are not taking on more staff... Why did they even invite me to that interview?

@CherryPavlova

And no, we work with a huge range of boards/government groups and expect peoples communication skills to be sufficient that they can assess and flex to variance.

I am a Board member for a quite large UK organisation. We struggle with diversity on the Board and actively look at this. Certain areas are harder to fill than others. We dont use recruitment agents/headhunters - which you are quite clearly. I have been horrified by your posts on this thread. You are the sort of person who 30 years ago would have thought nothing about asking women what their plans were for a family. But your stereotypical posts regarding disability are just ignorant. You sound very out of date and not in tune with what organisations need. You are the type of "recruitment" agent I have had dealings with numerous times where you are veto-ing without the organisation having any idea.

I thought Kleanex didn't say they never want to hear / talk about interests ever. Just that candidates don't need to put it on a CV for an interview as it won't be taken into consideration for the shortlisting - but will be happy to discuss it if it cropped up during the interview?

That is exactly what I said - no need to torture yourself trying to think of relevant hobbies and interests to put on your cv - we don't judge, be who you are, like what you like - we are open minded bunch of people - we encourage candour - we encourage open conversations, I get challenged frequently and I challenge others and rightly so. I think we have a great working environment...we pay well enough - salary starts at £40k for recent grads, we listen to our staff, we empower our employees to direct their own training, we exchange good banter with one another - we do work hard too though and we encourage time off in lieu when staff have worked over their contracted hours, we give random days off, we give random bonuses where have taken in more profits than expected as well as regular bonuses and a good base salary - they can decide how they want to balance their salary base versus bonus. Maybe that's poor conditions for some - you can't please everyone. 😞

Someone above mentioned that turning down people for their clothing is wrong. I disagree.

I work in a sector that for the most part allows staff to wear casual clothing. However, interviewing for a new role is important. I scrub up because it's a sign of respect to the interviewees and to the role.

I don't expect people to turn up in Gucci - I'm a Sainsbury's girl myself. I expect clean, tidy and appropriate to an interview situation. No jeans.

When people start in my industry they wear smart clothes day one and jeans forever after.

Someone above mentioned that turning down people for their clothing is wrong. I disagree.

Yeah i disagree as well. An interview should be smart clothes or smart casual if thats the sort of job you are going in for. I once had an interview as a dental nurse which was nuts anyway, the advery said trainee no experience necessary, then when i got there i was asked if i was trained and told i had to go away and pay 2k on a course to be trained to come back and become a trainee. However i digress, i showed up in smart clothes and another woman showed up wearing skinny jeans, platform trainers and a crop top. It just seemed massively inappropriate.