"Eh, I didn't think that you could handle the job"

Page 1 of 1 [ 12 posts ] 

BobinPgh
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 5 Apr 2012
Gender: Male
Posts: 355

09 Jul 2012, 1:04 am

Anyone else here get an explanation like that when they applied for a job and find out why they did not get it? And then, don't you start believing that maybe, you really cannot handle it. In my life, I have found this to be the number 1 reason for difficulty with being hired. Has anyone handled it well?

The other issue is "how do you handle stress"? What do all the neurotypical people say that gets them jobs? Even if I said something like "I love stress" would the employer actually believe an answer like that?



Palakol
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 2 Aug 2011
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 244

09 Jul 2012, 1:13 am

With me it's mostly my inability to "sell" myself and to tell the interviewer how super-awesome I am, as socially-successful tend to be able to enthusiastically do all the time. It also seems to translate well with meeting women, which I am also terrible at.

Most of the time I'm the one who doesn't think I can handle the job. I tend to be an underachiever, mostly applying for jobs that are apparently way below my qualifications (which is also not good). I don't know. I just don't like failing.



VIDEODROME
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,691

09 Jul 2012, 1:18 am

I think most employers and especially human resources departments are f*****g clueless.



redrobin62
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Apr 2012
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,009
Location: Seattle, WA

09 Jul 2012, 1:48 am

Or how about working like a dog at a place for months or years and they come to you and say, "Uh, your services are no longer needed because you, uh, don't fit our profile." And you wonder why some people go on killing sprees!



VIDEODROME
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,691

09 Jul 2012, 2:05 am

Sometimes I'm tempted to apply for an interview with the purpose on intentionally botching it.

Then wrap up saying that I'm sorry but your company falls to short of the qualifications I'm looking for.



Palakol
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 2 Aug 2011
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 244

09 Jul 2012, 3:11 am

VIDEODROME wrote:
Sometimes I'm tempted to apply for an interview with the purpose on intentionally botching it.

Then wrap up saying that I'm sorry but your company falls to short of the qualifications I'm looking for.

Sounds like a plan.



SilkySifaka
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2012
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,396
Location: UK

09 Jul 2012, 3:49 am

I've been told this once, when I was 18. I'd applied for a job in a factory that made biscuits. I was interviewed by a woman who worked in the HR department and at the end of the interview she said I seemed like a nice girl and she didn't think I'd cope with the job as the other people who worked there were mostly men and she said it was quite rough. Her actual phrase was 'You will be eaten alive'. She said she wouldn't want her own daughter working there and so she was rejecting me for my own good! I was a bit frustrated because I'm actually pretty tough and would have coped, but of course I'd made an effort in the interview to come across as a nice girl. It hasn't happened since then, thankfully.



Blownmind
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Posts: 825
Location: Norway

09 Jul 2012, 5:49 am

BobinPgh wrote:
The other issue is "how do you handle stress"? What do all the neurotypical people say that gets them jobs? Even if I said something like "I love stress" would the employer actually believe an answer like that?

I would correct their question to "How do I handle pressure?", and I would lie and tell them I focus on quality when under pressure to make sure I do not make silly mistakes while rushed.

..or something like that. It kinda depends on what type of job it is.

Stress to me is too many people around, loud sounds, bright lights, high temperature..but I think an employer would be more interested in how you handle big workloads more than things you find personally stressful.


_________________
AQ: 42/50 || SQ: 32/80 || IQ(RPM): 138 || IRI-empathytest(PT/EC/FS/PD): 10(-7)/16(-3)/19(+3)/19(+10) || Alexithymia: 148/185 || Aspie-quiz: AS 133/200, NT 56/200


hanyo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Sep 2011
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,302

09 Jul 2012, 6:50 am

BobinPgh wrote:

The other issue is "how do you handle stress"? What do all the neurotypical people say that gets them jobs? Even if I said something like "I love stress" would the employer actually believe an answer like that?


I wouldn't know how to answer that. I'd feel like I had to tell the truth which would be not well at all. If I had too much stress at a job I'd quit and never come back and maybe even walk out in the middle of my shift. I know that saying that surely wouldn't get me a job.

I've only done one interview in my life and was unsuccessful. The question that baffled me and I can't remember how I answered was "are you afraid of getting cut?" (it was at a fast food place) Damn right I'm afraid of getting cut (unless it's a bit of consensual s&m fun and not an accident) and I'm afraid of the hot grease too. A relative of mine got burnt pretty bad by grease working in a fast food place. Also I'm too socially anxious to run a register but I don't remember if they asked about that.



opal
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Age: 57
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,118
Location: Australia

09 Jul 2012, 7:48 pm

I've learnt that interviews consist of questions that have nothing to do with the job, often asked by HR people who have no knowledge of what the job is about. If you give the stock standard answer to their stupid question, you win regardless of whether it is true or not.



opal
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Age: 57
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,118
Location: Australia

09 Jul 2012, 7:54 pm

hanyo wrote:
BobinPgh wrote:

The other issue is "how do you handle stress"? What do all the neurotypical people say that gets them jobs? Even if I said something like "I love stress" would the employer actually believe an answer like that?


I wouldn't know how to answer that. I'd feel like I had to tell the truth which would be not well at all. If I had too much stress at a job I'd quit and never come back and maybe even walk out in the middle of my shift. I know that saying that surely wouldn't get me a job.

I've only done one interview in my life and was unsuccessful. The question that baffled me and I can't remember how I answered was "are you afraid of getting cut?" (it was at a fast food place) Damn right I'm afraid of getting cut (unless it's a bit of consensual s&m fun and not an accident) and I'm afraid of the hot grease too. A relative of mine got burnt pretty bad by grease working in a fast food place. Also I'm too socially anxious to run a register but I don't remember if they asked about that.


I answer that by saying I like to get myself and my workplace organised so I minimise stress/ pressure. (There is also the unstated implication that if there is constant pressure on the job, that maybe it could be organised better.) I'm not sure how good an answe that is but it's true, and it shifts some of the responsibility back on them. I don't think they should be expecting their employees to operate efficiently under constant stress.



Nick9075
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 19 Sep 2011
Gender: Male
Posts: 134
Location: USA

10 Jul 2012, 3:12 pm

BobinPgh wrote:
Anyone else here get an explanation like that when they applied for a job and find out why they did not get it? And then, don't you start believing that maybe, you really cannot handle it. In my life, I have found this to be the number 1 reason for difficulty with being hired. Has anyone handled it well?

The other issue is "how do you handle stress"? What do all the neurotypical people say that gets them jobs? Even if I said something like "I love stress" would the employer actually believe an answer like that?


This is why I get laid off or fired or not given any real work to do. I get feedback that "they didn't think you could handle or grasp the position'