When Job Interviewees Go Postal on the One Holding the Keys to the Cubicle

We’ve all heard about job interviews that go off the rails, usually caused by potential employers asking things they shouldn’t and forcing job candidates to jump through outrageous hoops just for the possibility of an interview.

What about when a job interview becomes hell on Earth, because of a snippy job seeker?

Last week, a potential employee exploded at me, within the first 15-seconds of the interview. I hadn’t even got off a single question.

I began as I always do, introducing myself, thanking him for his time, outlining the objectives of our meeting, and just as I took a breath he interrupted me saying: “Look, I’ve been around the block a few times, let’s cut to the chase. I currently earn a six figure income, have people begging me to work for them, and really just want to know if this is a contract, if it’s salary-based, if there’s a commission, and when do I start?”

I was completely unsettled by this abrupt interruption, by someone who’s last position on their resume was dated June of 2012.

I hadn’t expected to run into someone working at some mystery company that isn’t listed on their resume, earning a “six figure income” for a job where the industry average is about $60K. 

Nor did I expect to be pushed into a corner by a hostile job seeker that has “been around the block” and has “people begging him to work for them.” Though he did ask when we’d hire him.

I understand looking for work is a precarious and fragile situation. Some may be on their last nickel and dimes literally, as their prolonged job hunt bleeds their bank accounts dry. Others may have gone through the horrendous downsizing that unfortunately has become the new norm, replaced by temporary contractors. They themselves may have fallen into the unstable temporary contractor world, where the only jobs they seem to get are the ones with a start date and an end date.

I understand how horrible all of those pressures are.

But I never, NEVER – EVER – would have anticipated that pressure would explode, unleashing the worst in people – at a time when people are trying to show their best.

I’m not new to hiring people, and I always like to start off introducing myself, the company, the role, and then move into the job candidate’s background. I don’t conduct interviews, I like to think of them as conversations. 

It’s not my management style to lock people in a room and demand action, I’ve always had an open door policy, where I encourage an atmosphere of collaboration and openness.

However, I might reconsider that open door policy, as this hostile job candidate wasn’t the only job seeker to attempt to hijack the interview.

Several others over the course of the week jumped off my traditional job interview course, demanding I hire them at outrageously high salaries, with benefits, because as one job seeker declared: “I’m sick and tired of working on contracts that don’t materialize into anything ever good.”

When I was a kid, growing up, I was taught to always go into a job interview with a freshly pressed suit and tie. I still remember my high school guidance counselor telling our class: “to make sure your socks are pulled up, your shoes are shiny, your hair is perfectly combed and you don’t have any stains on your perfectly white dress shirt.”

I was taught to show up early, give a firm handshake while looking the interviewer directly in the eye and to be respectful and polite at all times.

Back then, the notion of interrupting your potential boss before you even had the job was not even a thought in the most devious of delinquent minds.

Our world certainly has changed for the worse over the past few decades.

I blame recruitment firms, staffing agencies, and the corporate managers gullible enough to think recruitment firms are the messiah of their staffing needs.

Recruitment firms and staffing agencies go in with these slick presentations – I’ve seen them myself – telling employers how it’s not cost effective to hire people anymore. It makes more sense to hire a third-party company (the recruitment firm) to source “resources” (that’s how they refer to people) on a per project-basis.

My biggest problem with recruitment firms is they don’t care about the people resources they deploy. Which is understandable – they are a business, and a business’ primary interest is to make money.

However, they are in the business of supplying people to companies, so it’s ultimately not in their best interests to show such disregard for their primary product – people.

I’ve seen the end result this week – the people that have been shuffled in and out of the meat grinder of the recruitment firm’s temporary contracts become bitter, angry and disenfranchised with the world of work. Because they’ve been spun from contract, to contract, they no longer have any respect for those conducting job interviews.

Again, I get it. I understand the horrors of being bounced from company to company, department to department. One month having a decent pay cheque, the next you are flipping sofa pillows desperately looking for change to buy a loaf of bread as your bank account is negative.

However, I’ll never hire a hostile job candidate.

They don’t give me the respect which I expect everyone in my company to give each other.

And that’s the ultimate tragedy here, because chances are, the hostile job candidate that claimed he was making a six figure income is the guy sifting through his sofa, looking for change, because he’s been without a real job for a very long time.

Lost Your Job? Get Over It In These Five Stages – If You Want a New One

They say losing a job is just like losing a close friend or family member.

I never believed that, a job is not a friend or a family member – it’s a job. 

That is until I started networking and interviewing people for my team. I was reminded of this the other day.

I was talking with someone looking for another job, though he’s only been in his current role for less than six-months. So, naturally, I asked him why he was looking for work.

BIG MISTAKE

I always seem to make that mistake, though as an employer, it’s not a bad thing to know these things. It could be the company is going bust, has been sold and the new management has changed the direction and vision. Or it could be, as I painfully found out yesterday, this guy just wasn’t getting any satisfaction.

For the next ten-minutes, I had my ear chewed up and spit out, as this job seeker complained about how much money the company makes from his hard work, and how little he sees in return. He ranted on, and on, and on.

“Don’t they still advise people looking for work to never say anything negative about their current or past employers,” I thought to myself, as the guy continued his horror story.

I just kept quiet, and let him vent.

What else could I do?

Here’s some complete stranger, coughing up the spittle of spite and angst in his life.

I’m just glad it was over the phone, rather than in person. I hate spittle.

Though I’ve had that too.

I’ve sat across the table from someone I’ve just met moments before, go on a verbal assault of their current or past employer.

And again, I just sit and listen.

Just Let it Go

I realized in these, and other similar situations, that losing a job really is like losing a friend or member of the family. It’s part of the healing process we all go through when anything traumatic happens in our lives.

When we lose a job, a friend, or anything changes dramatically in our daily lives, we all go through the five stages of loss and grief:

1. Denial and Isolation

At first we protect ourselves from the loss, by blocking out the world and hiding from the reality of the situation. It’s a natural defense mechanism that helps us rationalize what happened. And that rationalization leads to the next level.

2. Anger

As we try to rationalize and come to grips with the loss, the pain re-emerges and as we are still not ready to move on, we’re still vulnerable. Because we no longer can deny the loss occurred, because we thought about it, we become angry.

This anger may be aimed at things (like your car, house, or a pillow), friends, family, or as in the case of the job seekers I’ve discussed, complete strangers, like me.

We logically know the thing or person we aim our anger at isn’t to blame, however our emotions run high, as our memories of the loss bring back the intense pain, which makes us more angry, and we need to release that anger.

The best course is to talk it out with someone who'll just listen. It helps to just get it out into the open and off your chest.

3. Bargaining

Eventually, as the anger subsides, we feel helpless, and still quite vulnerable. We try to regain control of our lives by 'thinking what if.'

What if I had worked harder on that last project?

What if I had only gone to the corporate holiday party?

What if I had only tried to be a better person?

Naturally, you don't have to try to be a better person, and there is nothing you can do now that you've already lost your job.

This is our mind's way of constantly rationalizing what happened, while looking for solutions to the problem. It's the lack of immediately available solutions that leads to the second last, yet hardest stage. 

4. Depression

This is the hardest hurdle to overcome for anyone going through these stages. Some people never fully get through their depression, which is the ultimate hardship, because if you don’t get past depression, you’ll never move on with your life.

There are actually two types of depression we go through during the loss of a job, a person, or anything close to us. The first is the actual reaction to the loss:

I don’t have a source of income.

I don’t have a job.

I don’t have a regular routine.

l'll never see my co-workers again.

What will I do now?
How will I survive?
What if I can't find work ever again?

This is often dealt with through talking it over with friends, family or a therapist, all of which offering support and encouragement that you’ll get another job and be in a better place soon.

The second form of depression is the more private and sometimes harder one to get through. It’s that little voice in our heads still trying to rationalize what happened, however at this point, we are now starting to also think towards the future and trying to figure out how to say good-bye to once was. 

Saying good-bye to a job isn’t easy. It’s not like you can just show up where you once worked and start shaking hands as you make your way out the building. 

Security!

Don't do that.

What you can do is WRITE. It helps to write out your thoughts and good-byes in a journal, or even a letter or an email – just don’t send that letter or email! This way, you can actually say good-bye to those you worked with, your boss, your co-workers, even the office pooch if there was one. Some even write a good-bye to their desk, their chair, their stack of papers and projects -- sounds silly -- but it does work.

YOU HAVE TO SAY GOOD-BYE.

That's the hardest part -- finally realizing that your life is different due to circumstances which may have completely been out of your control, yet you MUST SAY GOOD-BYE to the life you once had, or else you'll never move on to the final stage.

5. Acceptance

This is the breath of fresh air that suddenly appears out of nowhere. It’s like a light bulb suddenly ignited into brightness overhead, as you realize you are whole again, and ready to tackle the world. 

You’ve said your good-byes, got over your thoughts of denial, anger, bargaining and depression. You’re now ready to look for your next job – or maybe you’ve learned the hardships of relying on others for a pay cheque, and will take the bold step of becoming an entrepreneur?

Take it from someone that knows. Not just from interviewing potential job candidates, but even I have gone through all five stages.

We all do at some point in our lives. It's the natural course of dealing with a dramatic, often sudden and unpleasant loss in our lives -- be it the loss of a person, a pet, or a job.

And, after writing this, it got me thinking. There have been job interviews that I've blown by going off the handle as I was still going through the five stages of loss and grief while I looked for work while in the corporate world.

I learned my lessons of grief and acceptance, and about work too. It's far better to risk it all and be your own boss, than take the easy road and rely on someone else for a pay stub.

But that doesn't mean I'll never go through the five stages ever again -- that's just part of being human.

Struggling to Find Work? Don’t Flip-Flop Hop-Skip and Jump Your Title

I attend many social and business networking functions, and I’m always amazed and saddened by the number of people at these events out of work and looking for their next job.

A handful of years ago, I’d guess fewer than 10% of the attendees were unemployed. Now, it’s more like 80% are either unemployed, or severely underemployed.

What shocks and horrifies me more is the reason why so many people are struggling to find work.

As I go through the LinkedIn profiles and resumes sent to me, I see many have flip-flop hop-skipped and jumped from job to job, to job.

I’ve seen several LinkedIn profiles where each person has worked for no more than four months at any one employer.

Traditionally, a work history with such brief stints at any one company would be a big red flag. A warning beacon about a person unable to hold down a steady job.

Today, it is a sad sign of the new economy, as companies of all sizes hire on short-term project-based contracts, instead of thinking of the bigger long-term picture.

Want a career, with benefits, a decent salary, and job security? Don’t come to North America – we don’t have that here.

Gone are the days when companies of all sizes – of any size really – hire qualified people on staff.

Gone are the days when companies hire people period. Most companies these days don’t hire anyone, instead they just contract out their work to temporary staff

Temporary staff – AKA you -- are only paid for the hours you work, so any statutory holidays you must take (because the office is closed) or you voluntarily take (so you don’t burn out) are unpaid.

The temporary employment agency that recruited you tells you, there is occasional overtime. However, your “employer” (the agency’s client”) tells you that they don’t pay overtime, yet they expect you to put in those volunteer hours on your own dime.

There is no job security. Your contract can be terminated without any notice, rhyme or reason.

And you are constantly lead to the promised land, as both your temporary agency and their client tell you they love your work, and are considering hiring you on staff, with benefits.

That’ll never happen. They tell that to everyone. It keeps you motivated, and makes them appear to care about your well-being, which they don’t.

They didn’t put you on a temporary contract to try before they buy. Nope.

They put you and most of the other unfortunate hard working folks around you on temporary contracts, so that they can get rid of you.

And they will get rid of you.

You’ve probably already gone through this routine, which is why your resume flip-flops and hop-skip and jumps around so much.

Despite my own understanding of this new world of work, I’m still hesitant to hire someone that hasn’t held a job longer than a couple of years.

Perhaps I’m old fashioned in my aging years. However, a piece of me also knows that many of those titles are manufactured just because.

I know people who have created their own one-person consulting businesses. They tell me they are proud entrepreneurs. They’ll never work for anyone else, ever again.

Yet these very same people change their title on LinkedIn and probably on their resume, every time they land a new contract.

That’s not very entrepreneurial – in fact it reads just like everyone else looking for work, as they flip-flop hop skip and jump their titles.

What’s worse, is it shows how confused and desperate many have become. So much so, that they confuse creating their own job, with being hired on a temporary contract.

So long as you are on any form of employment contract with anyone, you are not an employee, nor are you an entrepreneur working for yourself.

Instead, you are a piece of paper, being filed, stamped, and stomped all over.

So long as you are on any temporary employment contract with anyone, you are no different than a stapler, or any other office resource.

And that’s the real problem with our new economy of temporary contracted out people. Because when you’re nothing more than a stapler, and another stapler comes along, willing to work for less than you, you’re suddenly out of work.

Yet you’ve shown your commitment and dedication by updating your social media profiles, your LinkedIn, your resume, maybe even your business cards.

Don’t Flip-Flop Hop-Skip and Jump Your Title unless you really are an entrepreneur and there isn’t anyone that can fire you but you.

Having a work history that changes every few months isn’t very professional, shows a lack of judgement on your part, and could end up costing you your dream job.

And this is coming from someone that understands the new world of temporary work, and goes through a lot of resumes and LinkedIn profiles as I build my business ventures.

How Un-Canadian: Canada’s Big Banks Are Ruining the Country’s Economy

Last year, reporters across the country salivated over the story about Canada’s largest bank, The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), firing long-term salaried Canadians and replacing them with imported, foreign workers.

For the next couple of months, RBC’s public relations team fought back, claiming they didn’t know their policies were affecting Canadians, and that they would take steps to ensure it never happened again.

However, as a former consultant with many of the large financial institutions, I can tell you the practice of importing cheaper foreign workers had been going on for several years, and just like trying to quit smoking, it’s a tough habit to quit.

When I worked in the banking sector for some of the largest banks in the country, it wasn’t all that uncommon to see entire departments – hundreds of people – from outside of Canada, working here on temporary employment contracts.

When I worked for American Express’ technical division, American Express Technologies (AET) in Markham, Ontario, Canada, out of a department of almost 300 people, you could count on one hand the people that weren’t imported from India or China.

A similar situation reared it’s ugly head at BMO Bank of Montreal. When my team was re-located temporarily to the First Canadian Place BMO Tower, we had an amazingly beautiful view from our 52^nd floor window over Toronto’s downtown. And right across from my team, sat about 100 people from the trading help desk – all of them Chinese – except three other people on that team.

I mentioned to my colleagues numerous times that the hiring practices of that team didn’t appear to fit with the written policies and procedures of BMO Bank of Montreal to be a reflection of the Canadian population, and not discriminate based on race.

As with many things at big corporations, I was told not to worry about it, it wasn’t our team, so it’s not our responsibility.

However, when Canadians are put out of work because of unspoken hiring practices, isn’t it everyone in this country’s responsibility to speak up?

According to the Canadian Banker’s Association, over a quarter of a million Canadians work for Canada’s top five banks. The association also claims that 108, 740 people are employed by these banks in other countries. That’s 40 percent of the Canadian banking population NOT being Canadian.

By farming out jobs that Canadians can do to other nations, Canada’s banks are harming the Canadian economy.

Displaced Canadian workers are stuck looking for work, often being forced into short-term employment contracts with no job security, no benefits, and little chance of ever seeing a pay increase.

In fact, when you work on a contract for our Canadian el-cheapo banks, you’re lucky if you keep earning the same amount from contract to contract.

Every time my contract at BMO Bank of Montreal came up for renewal, I’d ask if I could get an increase. Obviously, they liked having me around because they were offering me another term. 

Most of the time I was told no.

Twice my pay actually went DOWN – they told me they didn’t have the budget to keep me at my present wages, so if I wanted to have the privilege of working for them, I’d take the pay cut.

Well, okay, they didn’t quite put it that way – but I did have the choice of two evils – take the pay cut or be unemployed.

What other company in the world rewards it’s team members for a job well done, by telling them they can keep their petty jobs, if they are willing to take a reduction in earnings?

Canada’s big banks are killing our Canadian economy by forcing more people into short-term contracts, creating an unstable society, where only a handful of people can afford to have a life.

The rest can be homeless and on the streets for all the big Canadian banks care.

Just so long as you pay your mortgage, and those crazy service fees to take your own money out of the bank, they don’t give a rat’s ass.

Maybe if we all started keeping our money in our sock drawer, instead of with the evil banks, then they’d wake up?