OT: Dumbing Down of Americans or Stuffy Corporate Types Out of Touch ?

avatar for Papi_Chulo
Papi_Chulo
Miami, FL (or the nearest big-booty club)
Managers to Millennials: Job Interview No Time to Text

Newly minted college graduates soon entering the job market could be facing another hurdle besides high unemployment and a sluggish economy. Hiring managers say many perform poorly — sometimes even bizarrely — in job interviews.

Human resource professionals say they've seen recent college grads text or take calls in interviews, dress inappropriately, use slang or overly casual language, and exhibit other oddball behavior.
"It's behavior that may be completely appropriate outside the interview," says Jaime Fall, vice president of the HR Policy Association. "The interview is still a traditional environment."

Fall and other HR executives say such quirks have become more commonplace the past three years or so, and are displayed by about one in five recent grads. They're prompting recruiters to rule out otherwise qualified candidates for entry-level positions and delay hiring decisions.

The trend reflects a generation of Millennials — ranging in age from 18 to 34 — who grew up texting and using smartphones and social media, says Mara Swan, executive vice president of staffing firm Manpower.

"Life has gotten more casual," Swan says. "They don't realize (the interview) is a sales event."
So much off-the-cuff speaking in tweets and text messages has left many young people with stunted social skills, says Jonathan Singel, director of talent acquisition for Avery Dennison, a packaging and label maker.

Fall says Millennials also have been coddled by parents. "It's (a mindset of) 'You're perfect just the way are,' " he says. " 'Do whatever you're comfortable doing.' "

About half of HR executives say most recent grads are not professional their first year on the job, up from 40 percent of executives who had that view in 2012, according to a recent survey by the Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania.

The HR Policy Association recently launched a website, jobipedia.org, to provide advice to first-time job seekers about interviewing, resumes, and workplace behavior.

Why some job candidates flunked their interviews:

• Taking calls and texting. A male graduate student seeking a managerial position in Avery Dennison's research and development unit took a call on his smartphone about 15 minutes into the interview. The call, which lasted about a minute and wasn't an emergency, ruined his near-certain chance for a job offer, Singel says.
"If he thought that was OK, what else does he think is appropriate?" he says.

• Helicoptering parents. A man in his late 20s brought his father into a 45-minute interview for a material handling job on an assembly line, says Teri Nichols, owner of a Spherion staffing-agency in Brooksville, Fla. At Cigna, a health insurance provider, the father of a recent grad who received an offer for a sales job, called to negotiate a higher salary, says Paula Welch, a Cigna HR consultant.

• Pets in tow. A college senior brought her cat into an interview for a buyer's position at clothing retailer American Eagle. She set the crate-housed cat on the interviewer's desk and periodically played with it. "It hit me like — why would you think that's OK?" says Mark Dillon, the chain's former recruiting director. "She cut herself off before she had a chance."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100684583

14 comments

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avatar for thatguy6673
thatguy6673
12 years ago
Jeez....

Good thing strippers are more professional! never had one take a call while working - an no one's helicopter dad tried to increase vip prices
avatar for Alucard
Alucard
12 years ago
If these interviewees don't know how to interview it is their own fault & part fault of their school for not preparing them. DO it right or NO job.
avatar for Hugh_G_Rection
Hugh_G_Rection
12 years ago
Social skills for generation that was brought up texting?

Sounds like a job for Gunnery Sargent Hartman!
avatar for baconator
baconator
12 years ago
Dammit all. I wish to hell that those interviewers had stopped the interview right then and there (phone call, parent, cat moment, whatever) and asked the dumbass, "What the fuck are you doing?"
avatar for farmerart
farmerart
12 years ago
@baconator,

I did almost exactly that during a job interview when the idiot asked if he could take a call while we were going through the interview.

I was so pissed that he did not even think to shut off his phone for the interview that I told him to go ahead and take the call since the interview was now over and he was no longer a candidate for the job in question.

I did not drop an f-bomb on the idiot.
avatar for londonguy
londonguy
12 years ago
We are just as bad over here, hence the advice that some people feel they need to look up

http://www.employmentking.co.uk/intervie…

Personally I'd give the girl with the 'dont's' the job.
avatar for crazyjoe
crazyjoe
12 years ago
Getting arrested at an interview...wow that would be funny
avatar for mjx01
mjx01
12 years ago
yes America is getting dumber. The less intelligent the net population is, the less of a threat the common folk pose to the elite ruling class.

The elite are also out of touch with main street, but not for any reasons in the article of the OP.
avatar for motorhead
motorhead
12 years ago
I have never watched the show "Hard Core Pawn" before, until a few minutes last night. It takes place in a Detroit pawn shop. It's not exactly the same kind of pawn shop that Rick and the Old Man run in Las Vegas.

I about fell over laughing when they captioned with subtitles a customer's conversation. He wasn't some immigrant off of the boat. He was a born and bred young Detroiter and spoke such poor English they had to translate.
avatar for grand1511
grand1511
12 years ago
I have had a dancer check her texts while she was grinding her ass against my junk. Needless to say, there were no more dances after that...end of interview, so to speak.
avatar for jester214
jester214
12 years ago
In all fairness I've been reading about how sucky people are at interviews for at least the last 10 years. People messing with there cell phones during interviews has been mentioned since cell phones became common.
avatar for Ermita_Nights
Ermita_Nights
12 years ago
I'm not convinced it's getting worse. The most common mistake I see is showing up late, or not showing up at all.
avatar for sharkhunter
sharkhunter
12 years ago
I saw someone years ago, first day on the job at a desk, bring in a small portable tv so that she could still watch her soap operas during the day. As I figured the boss must have blown it when he walked by her office. I didn't see her anymore.
avatar for skibum609
skibum609
12 years ago
Its tough enough listening to them when they're strippers. Imagine interviewing them or worse, relying on them.
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