Friday, January 30, 2009

BUSTED!!!

Turns out, he was most definitely full of shit! But it makes for a good story:-)

First of all, he seemed kinda perturbed that his interview was with me and not with someone a little higher on the food chain. He probably thought that he wasn't getting a chance to meet the decision makers or something like that...in truth, almost any one of us has veto-power on new hires to the investment staff. Not entirely, but you basically have to pass everyone's muster.

So...first issue...his resume didn't list his title. That is kinda weird, but if you have been promoted a couple of times, maybe you don't want a separate entry for every job at the same company...I dunno. But, his work experience clearly implied that he was a VP-level person (it said things like "led the deal team" etc...)

Upon asking, I found out that he is not a VP, but is an Associate who will be promoted soon. A little more digging, however, revealed that he was just promoted to Associate recently...I wanna say it was probably within the last six months. That means that he is probably two years from being promoted again. His progression from Analyst to Associate was pretty normal, so I wouldn't expect him to suddenly jump the line and accelerate a whole lot.

Which is why no one knew him...he had worked on the things that he said he did, but our interaction would have been with his superiors, and no one from our firm ever came into contact with him. So, that was his first big strike...he really, really stretched his resume beyond what is usually acceptable.

Second, he was kind of an ass. I guess it would be kind of annoying to have someone clearly junior to you (me) telling you that you don't really have the experience that they are looking for. But, sometimes you have to recognize a gatekeeper when you come across one:-). And mentioning at least three times that you "hope to speak with someone more senior" is not really going to help.

So, I would say that the whole meeting was a little awkward, but not too bad. He could tell that I was on to his exaggeration, and seemed to be trying to talk his way around it. I guess he felt like he just wanted to get into an interview and then could hopefully impress us enough to talk to him. Which means that he was desperately lobbying for a follow-up with someone other than me:-).

I told him that we didn't really have anything for him, which I was told to say, and he probably left feeling like he wasn't given a fair interview, since he didn't meet with any of the "decision makers". However, one of my bosses is sending him a longer email today that is a bit of a more formal rejection...I have been promised to be copied on that, but I haven't seen it yet.

So, that is kinda the whole story...at a minimum, it makes for an interesting interview story:-)

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. Chicken fingers last night with The Boy, Smoking Hot Roommate and The Rocket Scientist...fun as always. Munchkin's date with the the dorky kid is tomorrow (they are seeing Verdi, and I am kinda jealous)...right after she talks to Frenchy the Boyfriend. I tell ya...it is tough being the popular girl;-)

Have a great weekend!

6 comments:

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

OK, so maybe I'm one of those people with ridiculous morals. And maybe I'm just stupid. But, I haven't really ever stretched my resume. You know why? Because I'm a TERRIBLE liar. And I figure that stuff will eventually catch up with me. No thank you. That guy was pissed because he got caught at his own game. Deservedly so. I hope you taste the sweetness that is victory!

Still just me said...

We do group interviews here. We ALL sit in and ask questions.

The theory is that we work as a group, so we all decide together if the candidate is someone we all feel we can work with.

Intimidating for the candidate, but the questions coming from all of us are pretty inventive.

Rachel H. said...

Wow! That's crazy?!

laurwilk said...

Desperate times call for desperate measures, it seems!

boohoo said...

That's why lying doesn't get you anywhere... ;)

Anonymous said...

It's annoying that he kept asking for an interview with soemone more senior..but I'm sure he was just desperate for a position....