“Well, at least now he has an answer the next time someone asks about his biggest mistake.”
A man who told an interviewer he made no mistakes was called “arrogant and conceited” by a career counsellor. Ask a manager.
The anonymous reader, who posted his question on the website in what seemed like an honest attempt to gauge what was wrong with his answer to an interviewer’s question, shared their personal anecdote.
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It’s worth noting that the same post is trending on Reddit, where several users of the website cited the man’s complete lack of self-awareness when it comes to measuring his skills at work, along with his assessment of how things are shaping up in the practice. his interview.
The applicant opens his piece by saying, “I was rejected for a position because I failed to answer an interview question,” while mentioning that he had all the necessary skills to excel at the job he applied for. The job seeker even stated that both the hiring manager and recruiter “loved him.”
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However, the problem arose during the “final round of interviews” process, where the applicant mentions that he found it strange that the boss’s boss, whom he calls a “grandboss,” was there to interview him for the position: ‘ I had a final round of interviews – a colleague from the recruitment team, a colleague from another team I would be working closely with, the director of both teams (so my future grandboss, which I thought was weird), and then finally a technical test with the hiring manager I had already spoken to.”
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He added that while he didn’t think it was relevant to bring up, “he is a man and everyone (he) interviewed with was a woman.”
The applicant said that all the conversations he had went smoothly until it was time for him to talk to the grandboss. Not understanding why she was interviewing him, he asked her why she was there to interview him in the first place.
“I asked why she was interviewing me, because it was a technical position and she was clearly some sort of middle manager. She told me she had a technical background (although she had been in management for ten years, so it’s not like her experience was even relevant ), but that she applied for things like communication, ability to prioritize, and soft skills, I still thought it was weird interviewing with my boss’s boss.”
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He went on to say that the woman’s questions were boring, but he answered them, until he got to one question in particular where she asked him about the biggest “mistake” he ever made on the job and what he did to set this straight. the situation. According to the applicant, he said that he has never made a mistake.
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“I told her I’m a professional and I don’t make mistakes, and she argued with me! She said everyone makes mistakes, but it’s all about how you deal with them and prevent the same mistake from happening again in the future. told me maybe she made mistakes as a developer, but since I actually studied for it, I didn’t have that problem. She was fine with it and we continued with the interview.’
However, the applicant thought his answer was incorrect because he eventually received a message from the recruiter telling him that he had not gotten the job. Stunned that he didn’t get the position, he asked the recruiter why he lost the job.
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Their response? There “were other candidates who were stronger.” Not satisfied with this answer and having a sneaking suspicion that the “grandboss” was the reason he didn’t get the job, he asked the recruiter if the grandboss was to blame.
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The recruiter’s response was similar to the previous one: “The hiring panel made the decision to hire someone else.”
The applicant was still not satisfied with this response and wanted to know if it would be wrong for him to send a message to the grandboss, whom he was stalking on LinkedIn.
“I looked up the boss on LinkedIn after the rejection and she was a developer at two industry leaders and then an executive at a third. She was also connected to some well-known C-level people in our city and industry. I’m thinking about emailing her on LinkedIn to explain why her question was wrong and to ask her to consider me for future positions at her company, but my wife says that’s a bad idea. How about I email her and explain?”
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The Ask a manager The expert did not hold back in their response to the applicant, stating that the poor behavior and communication skills they displayed in their interview with someone ‘several levels above’ him is likely a telling sign of how oblivious he is if it comes to that. on his general interactions with others as a whole.
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According to the career expert, the applicant most likely had no idea how bad things were going for him.
Not only did the expert advise that the applicant should refrain from sending messages to the “grandboss” (as this would likely get him blacklisted from all future jobs in his industry), but the expert also explained explain why the man’s answer was so terrible.
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“Managing someone who is convinced he or she won’t make mistakes is a nightmare. And it’s an absolute non-starter when hiring, as you’re announcing that you’re going to resist feedback and that you won’t be in capable or willing to learn and grow. his own candidacy would have torpedoed your candidacy, and that’s before we even get into the snotty part.
The expert concluded his answer to the job seeker with an advice not to be arrogant and try to listen to others: “I’m not sure what your work life has been like so far – I suspect that you are either at the beginning of your career and don’t yet understand how work works, or you’ve progressed but aren’t aware of the extent to which interpersonal skills deficits can hold you back – but this should be a wake-up call to treating people with contempt and arrogance will not get you the results you want.”
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Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like the applicant followed the manager’s advice; in his follow-up post, he revealed that he landed a few more job interviews and that while people initially liked him, he didn’t get the job. Which led him to the inevitable conclusion that the ‘grandboss’ had blacklisted him.
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So he messaged both the grandboss and several other people in his industry to see if they were talking bad about him.
“I took your advice not to email the boss on LinkedIn until I discovered that she appears to have blacklisted me in our field. Despite numerous resumes and excellent phone screens, I have been unable to find a job. I know my resume and cover letter is great (I took your advice) and during the phone screens the interviewer always really likes me so obviously she told all her friends about me and I’m being blacklisted.
He continued: “I emailed her on LinkedIn after I realized what she had done, and although she was polite in her response, she refused to admit that she had told everyone my name. She suggested it was just a ‘tough job market’ and there are a lot of really qualified developers looking for a job… but it seems like too much of a coincidence that once she refused to hire me, no one else wanted to hire me either.”
“I also messaged the hiring manager on LinkedIn asking her to tell her boss to stop talking about me, but I have not received a response,” he added, noting, “I am considering a email some of her connections on LinkedIn to I want to know what she says about me, but I don’t know if it would be of any use.”
