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Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

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81–90 of 144 posts

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#81

Treating me like a child because I'm applying for new grad/junior positions. If they looked at my birthdate they'd notice I'm 30. I'm trying to support a family, and I am unavailable during the days because I am working full time to support that goal, but they want me to participate in 2-3 interview steps which could range anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours and it's apparently rude of me to ask for that information…

This shit is so difficult. I took technical interviews in gas station parking lots on lunch breaks, used my 1 sick day per month to try to get a break out of my terrible entry-level law office job, where I too would be fired if I needed to take next Tuesday afternoon off without explanation. It took leaving that job and a little bit of a leap of faith to finally get some flexibility to get those interviews that were worth it.

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#82

Really minor but I interviewed with a big second tier tech company that you’ve heard of and right after asking me the first question decided that would be the best time to raise his standing desk, which was very slow to raise and required him to sort of weird hover and stand in time with the camera as it rose. Not rude but really distracting.

This is so minor that I don't think it belongs; I'm surprised you even remembered that it happened.

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#84
post #31

Mostly by fucking about the pay: - By refusing to disclose salary range and insisting I should go through the process before they can tell me. They don't get an interview. - By trying paint their company as a startup despite over a billion dollars in investor money or, in one case, being publicly traded. Used to justify below market rate salary. - By claiming role is fully remote and then slashing salary range at the…

Eh, that's how negotiation works. In this job market, it's certainly a two-way street. Instead of asking them for a salary range, you should be giving them a salary range. And if they change any expectations during the process, call them out.

If there isn't a salary range in their job posting AND they are reaching out to me IMO it's perfectly fair for me to either ask for a salary range or for them to confirm my expectations are within their salary range before I commit my time to the interview.

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#85
post #4

They(rude interviewers) think that you are taking something from them, that you are after something they have. They believe that we(people looking for a job) are parasites, so they want to avoid us.

This isn't a useful observation unless you can tell us why you think so.

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#86
post #62
post #31

Mostly by fucking about the pay: - By refusing to disclose salary range and insisting I should go through the process before they can tell me. They don't get an interview. - By trying paint their company as a startup despite over a billion dollars in investor money or, in one case, being publicly traded. Used to justify below market rate salary. - By claiming role is fully remote and then slashing salary range at the…

I'm curious, do you mean you're applying to companies where the interviewers actually have a say in salary negotiations? AFAIK, interviewers almost never a say on compensation, except in very small companies where your interviewer is a co-founded or partner.

I'm not looking. I've got companies reaching out to me. If there is no recruiter or recruiter defers to interviewer to discuss salary range then I want that question out of the way before I spend my time interviewing.

It doesn't matter if they tell me what the salary range is or confirm my expectations are within their salary range for that role - I just want to know upfront before everyone involved wastes their time.

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#87
post #62
post #31

Mostly by fucking about the pay: - By refusing to disclose salary range and insisting I should go through the process before they can tell me. They don't get an interview. - By trying paint their company as a startup despite over a billion dollars in investor money or, in one case, being publicly traded. Used to justify below market rate salary. - By claiming role is fully remote and then slashing salary range at the…

I'm curious, do you mean you're applying to companies where the interviewers actually have a say in salary negotiations? AFAIK, interviewers almost never a say on compensation, except in very small companies where your interviewer is a co-founded or partner.

^ this - unless looking at reporting to a CXO or director the interviewers, even the HM, are usually only slightly less of a minion than the candidate. They may have a range, but it's nowhere near what you think it is and if they want you they will offer the top of it.

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#88

Really minor but I interviewed with a big second tier tech company that you’ve heard of and right after asking me the first question decided that would be the best time to raise his standing desk, which was very slow to raise and required him to sort of weird hover and stand in time with the camera as it rose. Not rude but really distracting.

The 3rd person view of this in my mind is hilarious.

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#89
post #37
post #31

Mostly by fucking about the pay: - By refusing to disclose salary range and insisting I should go through the process before they can tell me. They don't get an interview. - By trying paint their company as a startup despite over a billion dollars in investor money or, in one case, being publicly traded. Used to justify below market rate salary. - By claiming role is fully remote and then slashing salary range at the…

cost of living in california is 4x what it is in western europe

London is very expensive

Re: Ask HN: How are your interviewers being rude to you?

#90
post #31

Mostly by fucking about the pay: - By refusing to disclose salary range and insisting I should go through the process before they can tell me. They don't get an interview. - By trying paint their company as a startup despite over a billion dollars in investor money or, in one case, being publicly traded. Used to justify below market rate salary. - By claiming role is fully remote and then slashing salary range at the…

Salary ranges don't define a generic position for experienced people. When we're trying to hire we think of the position we're trying to fill and write up an ad for that. But you get varying quality and experience and sometimes great candidates might be worth fighting HR for. It's not the first time I've applied for a more junior position but when my experience becomes apparent then the hiring manager will fight for extra budget allocation to bring in the extra experience. It's a two way street so salary can't really pigeon hole candidates ahead of time as those must hire candidates would slip away. Generally be the time you're talking salary then the rapport is there and honesty is key. We'll ask you what you're looking for and try to make it happen. There are various tools companies have such as stock, sign on bonuses, etc, to allow compensation flexibility. You have to be willing to work with the hiring companies.
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