New College Grads Can't Do An Interview

[bjl584]

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

"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."

[disneysteve]

This doesn't surprise me at all, and it really isn't a new phenomenon either. Cell phones have definitely aggravated the problem, though. People now see absolutely nothing wrong with using their phone anywhere and everywhere. I regularly have patients answer their phones in the middle of me examining them. I even have patients pulling out their phones and making calls while in the room with me. They have lost any sense of manners or boundaries.

With job applicants, I agree that it is at least partly due to societal changes. Parents no longer discipline their kids. They let the kids run the household and get away with everything. They don't teach respect, manners, proper behavior. The schools are part of the problem too. They also coddle the kids. At my daughter's high school, if you don't do well on a test, no problem. Just come in and retake it at a later date to try for a better grade. Miss an assignment? Same deal. There are simply no negative consequences anymore. Where is the incentive to study hard and do well if you just get another chance if you screw up the first time?

The article didn't mention resumes but I know that's part of the problem too. Nobody knows how to write a resume anymore. People turn in hand-written applications on a sheet of paper torn out of a spiral notebook. Formality is non-existent.

[JoeP]

My company partners with a local university to recruit paid IT interns. One time, I walked into the break room where informal peer interviews sometimes occur, and saw an employee talking to a young guy who hadn't shaved in 3 days, wearing a hoodie, knit cap, baggy jeans, and staring at the table. Didn't think too much of it until I saw another employee talking to the same guy a short time later.

I asked one of the employees what was going on, and he said the unibomber was being interviewed.

The guy must have had "mad hax0r skillz yo" because he was working here a short time later! Either that, or my company didn't take the opportunity to provide a lesson.

[Baby_nurse]

I'm not surprised, either. Most of the new grads I see can barely put a coherent sentence together.

[bjl584]

I'm not surprised, either. Most of the new grads I see can barely put a coherent sentence together.

How R U? I M Good. LOL. TTYL.

[Grigory]

Oh please... The vast majority of decent jobs out there are given out through the good ol' spoils system - it's all about connections and having somebody on the inside recommend you. I'm not saying job interviews are useless, just mostly useless.

[disneysteve]

Oh please... The vast majority of decent jobs out there are given out through the good ol' spoils system - it's all about connections and having somebody on the inside recommend you. I'm not saying job interviews are useless, just mostly useless.

I think you are right to some extent. One of the best ways to find a job is word of mouth. Many jobs get filled without ever being posted to the classifieds section. That doesn't mean there aren't interviews involved, though. We've hired people at my office by asking current staff if they knew of anyone who might be interested. But still when people came in they got interviewed and if they weren't right for the job, we didn't hire them. The recommendation got them in the door but it was the interview that determined whether or not they got the job.

[Gailete]

One of my last jobs my boss had me look at the resumes that came in to her as a second set of eyes. We consistently got the same statement on new graduate nurses resumes "720 clinical hours served in various units of the hospital". These folks were counting their clinical practice time in a hospital under direct supervisor by their instructor (and many things like giving meds, IVs which they couldn't touch without supervision) as 'work'! What is with that? Obviously some class had taught them that for sure as something to put on a resume, but it was the same as some English major saying they had 16 hours of English literature as their 'work' experience. The icing on the new nurses grads cake was insisting that they get Monday through Friday 9-5 work---ROFL, like that will happen to a new nurse. Do your time and earn the right to first shift and a desk job!

Yes, I believe that many get jobs via the who you know system, and I rarely knew the right people so I had a hard time getting jobs that I was more than competent to do.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Gailete, that's really interesting that they put on their resume things which are a given. But I sure hope the things described in the article are rarities!

[Gailete]

Unbelievable but not in relation to how I've seen kids grow up lately, but in general our society just doesn't seem to show respect anywhere for protocol/etiquette of any sort. Used to be at Christmas time that was the one Sunday that you knew everyone would be dressed in their absolute best going to church. Now no one bats an eye at someone coming in in blue jeans and their favorite football team sweatshirt (I saw this on a woman). All rules of etiquette seem to be made to be broken and younger people especially see absolutely no reason for them. It is a plague that is infecting all of our society. Lots of people say etiquette doesn't make any difference in life but it does. It gives one a set of rules to follow in certain occasions where everyone will feel comfortable and understand what is happening. These kids that don't want to bother with doing the right thing during interviews, don't deserve to get the job, which is all part of why they are being interviewed in first place.

The only possible reason for bringing a pet into a job interview is you are either on your way to or from the vet and it is too hot to leave the animal in the car. In that case you ask the interviewers secretary/assistant if you can leave it in the outer office during the interview. I can't think of any possible reason to bring dad, mom, brother, sister, or spouse on a job interview, much less using a cell phone during the interview unless you have already told the interviewer that some one close to you is hospitalized and may die at any moment (in that case you probably should have rescheduled).

[Wino]

Oh please... The vast majority of decent jobs out there are given out through the good ol' spoils system - it's all about connections and having somebody on the inside recommend you. I'm not saying job interviews are useless, just mostly useless.

As a guy who interviews several times a week, and who has hired three people in the last week, and over ten since the beginning of the year, let me tell you how true the original post is, and how completely wrong your statement is.

I don't hire anyone because of who recommended them. The recommendation gets them the interview. The way they interview gets them the job. Or not.