Interviewer had not read my CV

cloudatlas

I think the theory that the h.r. person was called in unexpectedly and having to do the interview cold doesn't fly as the O.P. says that the woman said 'I never read C.V.'s' plus it would be unusual not to give a colleague notice of a series of meetings. The tricky dick explanation of putting someone under pressure by being rude to them is also unusual and unprofessional.

I think it's unfair to say that the O.P. is arrogant, he just sounds angry to me. I was in a similar situation where I had spent a considerable sum to travel for interview and I found that the people interviewing me had not read my c.v. and it transpired that I was way more qualified than they expected for the job on offer. My theory, the h.r. folks chose me for interview and because it was entry level the bosses hadn't bothered to read the c.v.'s.

I know people are going to say nobody forced you to attend but in this climate you have to try for anything and everything. I think what it boils down to is rudeness and lack of professional courtesy which reflects badly on them.

smcgiff

Bootros Bootros wrote: »

Interviews are extremely important for your company. Prepare. At least 30 minutes. Take notes. Ask questions related to what they claim to have done.

Where are you getting the impression this is not done? You've hardly invented the taking notes idea.

drumswan

Martin567 wrote: »

Do you not think that the technical person interviewing might be able to figure this out for themselves without the help of a HR person?

Maybe, but thats not how it works in reality so I dont think its relevant.

Martin567

drumswan wrote: »

Maybe, but thats not how it works in reality so I dont think its relevant.

I thought we were discussing whether the way things work in reality actually make sense and lead to effective results. Obviously not?

Zulu

Martin567 wrote: »

I thought we were discussing whether the way things work in reality actually make sense and lead to effective results. Obviously not?

welcome to the real world

Bootros Bootros

smcgiff wrote: »

Where are you getting the impression this is not done? You've hardly invented the taking notes idea.

I got the impression this was not done by people on this thread including the OP saying they didn't read CVs going into interviews or met interviewers who hadnt. This is what the thread is about.

Bootros Bootros

skallywag wrote: »

I will always look for a reference (preferably from someone I know in the industry) up front. I don't mean an official written reference, but more a short email / call asking their opinion of the candidate.

I really can't see that working. Do you go two jobs back? People are hardly prior to interviews going to give referees in their present jobs.

skallywag

Bootros Bootros wrote: »

I really can't see that working. Do you go two jobs back? People are hardly prior to interviews going to give referees in their present jobs.

In my own case most CVs that I currently receive are from those working as consultants and looking for fixed term contract work, hence providing a live reference from their current engagement is not usually an issue, as it's due to wrap up on a fixed date in any case.

I certainly take your point re candidates who are full time employees with another company at the time of application though.

starlit

I do think she may have come across as lacking interest based on what you have mentioned in your post OP. It would have been polite of her to have at least scanned through the CV and took note of what was important to highlight when asking questions in the interview and had that prepared. I'd agree with the other posters she was testing you, and assessing you from a different perspective but she still shouldn't have said she hasn't read your CV that would seem a bit 'I don't care' attitude towards the candidate. I'd think she should have just asked 'tell me about yourself, give a quick run down of your CV' or approached it in a more professional way the way she asked questions.

HR is less likely to ask the technical stuff more likely to do with personality and competency type stuff but she been better off asking questions in relation to teamwork, how would you deal with a difficult person in a group/customer/employee or something like that. Give me an example of a time when....give example with 'STAR' approach to answering to those type of questions which is generally the more common type of questions I've experienced when doing interviews though each interview/job is different. She was assessing your personality but I think she could have approached it differently.

For me I've rarely been to an interview where they asked questions based on my CV but when they did the majority of interviewers read my cv and asked questions based on my CV. Any other interviews didn't require a CV just an online application and they stuck with questions in relation to the application others was a combination of the two it varied depending on the job and interview which they focused on more. For the phone interview they focused on the CV more than the online application, in face to face interviews they focused on the application and anything else that was required such as a presentation topic.