Spyke
discuss.tchncs.de

You don't lie, lying will get you into trouble. You just don't mention it if they don't ask. And if they don't ask it's probably not that important. Most job descriptions are like Christmas wishlists anyway, they will be happy if they get half of it.

165
Redredmereply
lemmy.world

These days you're called different with a sexy word neurodivergent when you tell the truth.

Like this person I also find this strange. And like this person I also have problems during job interviews. I mean, I'm not bullshitting you and I expect you to do the same. But alas, it's often bullshit and lowballing all the way.

86
jmcsreply
discuss.tchncs.de

You are looking at job applications from the wrong perspective. You are seeing the job description and seeing minimum requirements, when in 90% they are describing the ideal candidate that will probably never show up.

And I want to emphasise, you shouldn't lie, you shouldn't pad your résumé, but you should also not volunteer to testify against yourself.

52
startrek.website

My wife is super bad at not volunteering information.

She's partially deaf and a few other issues that make phone conversations hard, so she often asks me to sit in and listen to explain anything she didn't catch, and make sure she heard everything correctly.

I'm often making the neck cut "stop talking/mute mic" motion to get her to stop saying things the other people don't need to hear.

For instance, she quit a previous job over an employee basically stalking her while she was on the property, and screaming in her face over any imagined sleight. This employee was a problem with others as well, but who you know is more important than how you work in some places so nothing was ever done.

The other places she interviews with don't need the whole back story of why she quit. "Safety concerns" is completely correct, and leaves out the possibility that the new job might think you don't work well with others. She does. The other guy didn't.

So every time she starts telling the potential employer about it, I cut her off to remind her of that.

I'm very much the "ALL my information is need to know and you don't need to know" kind of person when it comes to things like that, and she just kind of vomits words all over the place when she feels uncomfortable.

28
Num10ckreply
lemmy.world

i've heard the first rule of negotiations is don't answer any unasked questions.

12
midwest.social

That's good advice, but my problem is that my line of thought is connected to every other line of thought. It's quite the task to know where an answer to a question ends.

6

Oh, hey, see now that is something I may be able to do. Instead of following the stated answer of least resistance, keep a mind out for a question on that path.

4
[deleted]reply
lemmy.world

Yes, minimum requirements are not actually minimum requirements. So silly for people taking things literally.

26
tylerreply
programming.dev

That’s the thing, they aren’t minimum requirements. They’re a form that HR fills out based on what HR thinks the job is, not based on what the actual job is.

21
lemmy.world

"Minimum Bachelor's Degree with major in Accounting, Finance or Economics"
"Prior audit or relevant accounting experience preferred, but not required."

Strikes me as "This job can be done by anyone with a high school education that knows how to open Excel, change a cell value, and send an email. Other duties as assigned."

8

That doesn’t mean anything, unless you’re in a field with government mandated certifications. If you know someone that already works there, ask them to submit your resume to get around the automatic rejections.

0
notabotreply
lemm.ee

I know that's not the whole job listing, but but none of it specifies a minimum requirement for the job. The 'minimum' qualification just indicates that they're not going to take note of lower qualifications, or those without an appropriate Major, not that having one is a minimum requirement. All things being equal, they're certainly going to prefer someone with that qualification, but if you can get past the screening and show aptitude with the skills they actually need, you've got a chance.

-4

I know that’s not the whole job listing, but but none of it specifies a minimum requirement for the job.

8

People here expecting a bureaucracy to behave not only like a person, but like a honest and transparent person with simple and plainly stated goals...

1
lemmy.world

They’re not usually labeled “minimum requirements”

That may be what you’re interpreting, but they’re usually titled “ideal applicants will have the following” which isn’t the same thing

It feels like the same thing to people with rigid views on the world, but they are not the same.

0
[deleted]reply
lemmy.world

I frequently see a list of minimum separate from preferred. Here's an example.

6
bss03reply
infosec.pub

If s not a requirement if it is optional or noce-to-have!

5

Which means the company is lying. Respond to them with this knowledge in hand, any way that you see as appropriate.

8
[deleted]reply
lemmy.world

It's only wrong if you get caught!

I find it entertaining that the criteria for neurodivergence includes telling the truth.

24
lemm.ee

I’m autistic and lying is always an option for me too. I’m extremely good at it. I just don’t do it, because it’s wrong and harmful.

19
[deleted]reply
lemmy.world

Isn't it annoying that the majority of time when it is pointed out that an entire system is based on lying and misrepresentation that the excuse is either 'that's just how it is' or 'everyone does it' as if that makes it right somehow.

Neurotypical just seems to be going along with everyone else's bullshit to avoid conflict.

10

I think when people say “it’s how it is” or “everyone does it”, it’s more of a pragmatic way to cope. End of the day, we gotta have food, shelter, and entertainment. If only shitheads lie, they’ll be the only one to be successful. One person on the bottom being honest won’t change a system with ages of momentum

The calculus is if I value truth telling over my mortgage? Vast majority of the time, my mortgage wins.

2

I was taught that lying is a sin and if I do it I will burn in hell for all enteeity. Also, that it is expected that I lie on basically every form I'm provided, mostly by ommission but other ways too.

There's a reason I rarely feel hopeful.

10
lemmynsfw.com

That’s the whole communication gap. When allistic people talk they will almost always lie or say something other than what they mean, which gives the other person the opportunity to lie or ignore what they meant if it suits them. This is what’s known as being “polite.”

10
lemmy.world

That’s an intentionally rigid view of the world.

The communication gap is that rigidity.

For example, it may say “minimum requirements” on the web form, but let’s put ourselves into the shoes of the person filling it out. Are they SUPER strict on these minimums? Or are they just filling out the form the best they can?

Usually it says sobering along the lines of “ideal candidates” and not “bare minimum” but you likely won’t see that due to overly rigid views on the world.

What if they made a mistake when filling it out, and added things to the “bare minimum “ that aren’t really that harsh a requirement?

It’s a grey area, it’s not a direct lie and you know that, you just don’t like it.

Saying it’s a lie assumes you know the intention of the person writing it, and that they intended to deceive you. And you can’t possibly know that either.

It’s Not a lie and you’re misrepresenting your knowledge of the scenario when you say that.

4
lemm.ee

As an autistic I resolve this in my head by reminding myself that words can have different meanings.

For example
(“How are you?” -> “I’m fine how are you?” -> “Doing well, thanks”)
actually means
(“hello” -> “hello”)

It’s code. The meaning is precise, and it’s not a false question. It’s a symbolic question.

It’s an equivalent meaning in the same way that:
(“hola” -> “hola”)
means the same thing as
(“hello” -> “hello”)

English is, therefore, not just one language. English is many languages using the same set of words.

8

Beautiful and thoughtful response.

I’m peak ADHD, and I often use the same type of thing

5
midwest.social

Wait hold on.

Are you saying NT lie all the time or ND lie all the time?

Because neither of those is true?

Or if it is, it explains my ex a whole lot better

3
lemmynsfw.com

NT people lie and or talk around what they mean rather than say it directly. Neurodivergent people, especially autistic people, are not like this and find it taxing to deal with.

4
midwest.social

That doesn't make any sense. Yes, I have ADHD and not ASD, so yes I have a slightly easier time with social interactions, but NT don't lie or avoid direct language. They try to minimize the harm of their words.

That's like me stating that ND people lack empathy, and they are insulting because they don't care about the other person's feelings.

1

I think if you look for it you will see it more often. I also think most NT don’t notice when they do it because it’s second nature. Sure there are white lies, small lies, and then more nefarious lies. It’s still a core part of “normal” communication. Add in the indirect speech and every meaningful conversation is like a game where no one says what they actually mean.

1
notsurereply
fedia.io

...and the rules change at a whim, it is never consistent...

2

Plus they vary massively from culture to culture and region to region, but are all treated as the right way to behave.

2
jmcsreply
discuss.tchncs.de

I'm not telling you not tell the truth, I'm telling you to consider that list of skills on a job description is a wishlist and only answer what is asked in the interview.

I've interviewed more people than I can count, leading to more hirings than I can count, and I don't remember any case where the candidate met all the checkboxes on the ideal skillset. Because what goes in the job description is the perfect candidate not the minimum.

13

When I found out the list of qualifications could be filled on the job it made applying a lot easier because I was no longer worried about bring 'found out' for not being fully qualified on day one. I blame the position wording making it sound like day one requirements and HR treating them as day one requirements

11

I'm my experience, even if you get caught. The exaggeration to get your foot in the door is expected, and everyone is expected to represent themselves deceptively well. Honesty in the interview when everyone can deal with nuance can work and might be appreciated, but definitely a little exaggeration in the resume unless you have ungodly actual credentials/connections.

3

In my case, early in my career a contracting company lied on my behalf without telling me.

So I'm in the "skills assessment" meeting and I'm confused when they started rattling off experience from my resume that I didn't have. I asked if I could see their copy of my resume and said "ok they made this section up, but the rest appears the same, here a printed copy of my resume unmodified".

I was shocked and figured that was a way to tank any chance I had at the job, but they "hired" me and said people and contracting companies did it all the time, so it didn't phase them, but admitted my resume as it was from me wouldn't have even gotten an assessment.

8

Also, if you think enough about what a lie even is you can rationalize a lot. Am I a self motivated and highly organized person? Well, nobody's ever described me that way before, but maybe I could start being one right now, stranger things have happened. And if it all blows up a few months down the line because I couldn't manage to get my shit together, I'll take my couple of paychecks and tell myself "well, I meant to do better" and that will be at least 51% true and I will have a couple of paychecks I wouldn't have otherwise.

Alternatively, just find a way to sell your weaknesses as strengths. e.g. "I'm not always super organized, but I'm real good at dropping in to a chaotic situations on short notice and getting the essential things straightened out quickly because my disorganized nature has forced me to learn those skills. I'm not self motivated, so you don't need to worry about me undermining your plans and vision for this place with my own, making decisions makes me nervous so you do that stuff and I will see that your decisions are carried out."

8

Lying by omission is still lying. And if they weren't hard requirements, they should say so. So many job listings I've seen word it like those are the minimum requirements.

6

Then those criteria souldn't go under "Required" then.

"Required" has a clear definition.

1

Before I graduated I was encouraged to apply for a job that required a four year degree.

Don't worry about it - we know you, they said.

When I submitted my application online it was automatically rejected because the application program correctly flagged that I didn't meet the requirement of having a four year degree.

102
lemmy.world

This is when you call them directly and tell them that. They can override the automation.

74

and if they won't/can't, then there's an easy answer as to whether it's worth working there at all

38
AA5Breply
lemmy.world

So, what do you do? The problem is it’s also difficult from the hiring side. Every opening has dozens to hundreds of applicants, most of whom are not qualified. No one can keep up with that, and recruiters/hr are horrible at it. Automation sucks, but it’s the quickest, easiest, fairest way to identify a smaller group that you hope are the ones who are qualified

We can put someone like an intern at the top of the pile because we know them, officially.

-1
slrpnk.net

Sounds like you need to rotate your technical staff into the recruiting process.

Do they spend any time speaking with recruitment/hr?

13

Of course we all give feedback to recruiters, and typically ask for a new pile with the adjusted criteria. There’s even been times when we asked for everything, no filters, but we can’t afford to have technical people tied up going through piles of resumes

I do believe it’s tougher than it looks. Recruiters need to understand the field to know what to look for, and understand enough about what the company is looking for but they just don’t.

Earlier in my career it seemed like there were specialist recruiters who could do that: find the right people to place with the right company. However now it seems to have degenerated into salesmanship and quantity over quality. Or I don’t know if I’m just earlier in the process now, helping to identify who is worth interviewing, rather than just being another interviewer

1
Echo Dotreply
feddit.uk

Its systems like that forced me to get an expensive qualification that I don't need simply so humans will actually see my resume. I don't need the qualification, I have industry experience going back over a decade but because I don't have a magical qualification, that is recognized by the entire industry as being utterly useless, that didn't even exist when I started in the industry I had to fork out £600.

7
AA5Breply
lemmy.world

But how do they know you don’t need the qualification? I’m sure the people who know you could say, but what makes you qualified to a stranger?

It’s the same problem as standardized testing for school. Everyone seems u to understand it’s a bad idea except that you need something

1

Well my experience right otherwise I wouldn't have had such a long career in the industry if I didn't know what I was doing.

The problem is that the job of hiring has been turned over to people that don't understand the job, so me an industry veteran and somebody first out of high school are treated exactly the same because we both have the same qualification.

1
lemm.ee

Why yes, I do thrive under pressure. It's why I use a weighted blanket.

88
fedia.io

a friend once got me a job interview with his company. he listened into the interview, and i could hear him audibly gasp when the interviewer asked, "why do you want to work for us?". I replied plainly, "To make a living so that I may pursue my real goals." I didn't get the job...

88
Jrockwarreply
feddit.uk

I'm not technically NT but I have ADHD and I don't have problems picking up this sort of neurotypical social cues.

When I interview people myself, I'm extra wary of catering to ND people, and for questions like this, I phrase them very carefully to mean what I want to ask:

"Why do you want to work for us? I'm sure there were other jobs out there that would result in a salary, but what made you apply for this one specifically?"

I make clear in the conversation that I want to know their motivation, their alignment to the specific role, and not the fact that they need money to live. I already know that! So I tailor the questions to give me exactly what I need even if the person is, say, autistic and takes things in the most literal way.

This post has, however, made me realise that in the job posting I have open right now, I'm going to add a note in the vein of "this is a wishlist of all the things the ideal candidate would have, but we acknowledge nobody is ever a 100% perfect match - feel free to apply even if you only meet some of the criteria as you might be more qualified than most applicants".

65
wjriireply
lemmy.world

I have always appreciated the listings that divide the list between the "must haves," even soft ones (e.g. 4yr degree, knowledge of X tool, Y years of experience, solid communication skills), and "our ideal candidate will have most of the following" (e.g. Y+3 years of experience, prior role in management, knowledge of Z regulation).

30
tylerreply
programming.dev

The 4 year degree one is still never a must have. The only things that are true must haves are certifications for federally regulated jobs, like requiring a PE.

18

There are things they actually care about enough to throw out your resume on pre-screen though. That’s de facto required for that particular job.

6
Honytawkreply
lemmy.zip

Hit them back with "why do you want to hire me?"

13

One trick is to have the mindset that you are in high demand

“Well, I enjoy doing my job anywhere but I’d prefer to do it somewhere that I want to be. I’ve checked out this company and didn’t see any red flags, but later on when you ask me if I have any questions, I’ll be asking about what it’s like to work here and if there are any unique challenges that come with working here”

1
notsurereply
fedia.io

Oh? I am not supposed to take a question at face value? I need some form of, wink wink, unspoken knowledge of human interaction that was not specified in the job offer? jfc

3

You’re supposed to lie. Because everyone who is not a true believer in the cause - of the product, the company, the industry, the economy, capitalism, whatever it may be, is also lying. Because the whole system depends on everyone going along with it, otherwise it all falls apart. That you have to slave away at your shitty job with shitty managers so that one day you can become the manager and be shitty because it happened to you, all in service of the exploitation of natural resources and people and society to make line go up and make the people who managed to step on the most amount people on their way to the top that much richer.

4
lemmy.zip

Those HR people who make the listing don't understand most of it anyway.

67
Pechentereply
feddit.org

It’s also ridiculous how often I see „Java“ instead of „JavaScript“ in job listings.

Edit: Not trying to judge Java here, this is purely about recruiters not knowing the difference, posting jobs for Java devs when they need JS devs

22

Maybe they have a ton of different machines and need an app that works in any environment?

2

Agreed, why haven't we killed java off? It's terrible and there are replacements. At least with JavaScript it's terrible but a monopoly.

1
lemmy.zip

"I'm looking fora Data Analyst"

"Gotcha, we put up an ad for Data Science"

"No, Data Analyst, that's diff-"

"Here, we already got some applicants"

"They'll be very disappointed to learn that I'm not interested in their AI skills"

19
lemmy.world

I'm learning how many names there are now for "person who can shoot and edit video" since I last needed to look for a job in my field. To the point that I suddenly find a new keyword and there's like 10 more jobs I can apply for.

8
coaxilreply
lemm.ee

Oh lord, as a 25 year industry vet in everything audio and video, that's been with my current company for a looooong time, this bothers me. Out of interest what kinda whacky names are you seeing for this kinda roll?

3

Yes, and then don’t provide “real” answers at the interview, make up stuff they want to hear, be friendly and create small talk with a complete stranger, act like you actually GAF about the company when all you want to do is just get a job and start working, screw all this people-interaction stuff.

55

For me, getting the interview is the hard part.

I've never interviewed for a job where I didn't get the offer. I can't say exactly what works for me, but I can explain my process a bit.

First off, I go in confident. a lot of that probably had to do with my history with interviews, but that's the first part.

Secondly, I look at it as me interviewing the company. I want to know the company is right for me. To that end, I ask a lot of questions about the position and the team. I ask if they're looking to fill a hole or are willing to have the role reinvented.

Obviously, that last bit is for taking a unique role in the comment, not just as cashier number 23.

I am also clear that I'm not looking to remain in that position forever. I want to work at it a few years and move on, wither within the company or elsewhere. I won't bail in 6 months, but I also won't do the same job with no evolution for 10 years. My career needs to grow.

Essentially, I try to interview in a manner where they're trying to win me over instead of weed me out.

I'm my current job, I was relaxed, got the interviewers talking family and casually about the projects, started giving feedback on issues as if I was already on board, and essentially changed it from an interview to a group meeting.

It turns out I was asking for about 30% more than my competition, but they gave it to me anyway, and it all came down to making myself feel like a member of the team they wanted to hold onto rather than just someone looking for a paycheck.

And I'm absolutely there for the paycheck. I liked my old job a lot more, but I got like a 60% pay bump going to the new job.

21
Echo Dotreply
feddit.uk

Years ago when I was applying for my first job I actually had to pretend that it always been my dream to work as a shelf stacker. It was such a weird game because everyone involved knows that it's a total lie, they know your just telling them what they want to hear, you know that they know that you're just telling them what they want to hear, they know that you know that they know you're just telling them what they want to hear. But it doesn't matter, you still have to go through the charade.

If you tell him the truth, that you'll disappear as soon as you find someone prepared to pay you more than minimum wage, they won't hire you. Despite the fact that everyone involved knows that that is the case, regardless of how honest you are about it.

11
shneancyreply
lemmy.world

yes that's the point

they want someone desperate enough to lie to them and to themselves that their childhood dream is to become a shelf stacker, they want someone out of options, they want someone who will stay with them for a long time without even as much as a whimper of a complaint about low pay or the working conditions

if you have ambitions, you're not who they're looking for

best believe the same company will keep a ghost job listing for a shelf stacker up at all times, just so that the current employees feel replaceable and don't dare to step out of line in fear of losing their job

5
lemmy.world

But it doesn't change even if you're searching for executive-level jobs. They still want to know why you not only have wanted to be Junior VP of Marketing your entire life, they want to know why you have also wanted to be Junior VP of Marketing of ConHugeCo Industries all your life while applying to work that position at ConHugeCo.

Everyone knows the answer is "because I want this job more than the one I have right now" or just "because I need a job." Those are really the only two answers.

It's really ridiculous.

3

well i think half my point still stands - they want to know you're not quitting any time soon. If you answer "yeah sure i guess the position sounds nice" they're already scheduling the next interview because you ain't sticking around

but yeah, it is absolutely ridiculous, i'm not an actor, and i'm neurodivergent, navigating those job market mind games is hell

3

Half of the requirements listed aren't even actual requirements; they're just listing their tech stack. For example, if I see NodeJS, I know I'll be deploying web apps, not coding them. I don't even read the requirements most of the time. If the title matches and there's no security clearance required, I'm applying.

39

I swear my company has one list of requirements for all jobs. Every time I am part of the hiring process I have to correct it

16

That whole routine doesn't magically make sense to neurotypical people either.

35
lemm.ee

I think of myself as a neutodivergent person but I am annoyed by neurodivergent people who act like everything is binary yes/no black/white full volume/absolute silence. Like, everyone in the world knows that the gas pedal in the car is not an on/off switch and believe it or not but other things in life are like that.

27
lemm.ee

Yes, and this is why it's a disorder and can be a disability despite people saying things like "autism is my super power ". It's not funny when strict rigid thinking runs up against fluid reality. People make absolute rules in their heads and when the real world doesn't align with those rules they can suffer real distress.

4

I guess that's my point. I agree with you. ASD make up a large portion of ND. I don't personally like the ND identity even with an ADHD diagnosis (and have quite obvious symptoms when off my meds).

The reason I don't like it is because if you use it as an identity, suddenly my experience needs to be accepted by everyone. I need the medicine to function in this society. To appear as a functioning adult. If I just said to people "Im neurodivergent" and expect them to handle my lengthy train of thought and wild imagination I would probably not have a job.

It isn't race, ethnicity, a sexuality or gender - that is an identity that affects no one regardless of occupation or status except the individual. Neurodivergent disorders affect you, your family, your friends, your employer, your customers, your classmates, etc.

2
lemmy.dbzer0.com

I have a stable job that I like.

Sometimes I think I should go to interviews just to make recruiters feel insecure, "your business is not up to my expectations" "what do you mean you don't provide flexible remote working?" "Your paycheck is just too small for me, sorry".

I would get a laugh of of it and probably would help some fella by lowering this fuckers ego.

23
lemmy.world

I do this all the time. Keeps my interview skills sharp. Plus you never know when somewhere will wind up making you an insane offer.

14
Malfeasantreply
lemm.ee

How do you do something like this when most interviews happen during work hours?

3

It's a lot easier if you have an office job, even easier if you're full time remote. My experience has been the first round is over the phone, in which case before the pandemic I used to just go find an empty meeting room or go out to my car to take the call. For in person interviews, I'll "have an appointment" and take a half day.

1

Your motives are horrible. Hiring managers in any org larger than a few hundred people have very little control over anything you mentioned. So you're just taking time away from other applicants and time away from the needs of the people who already work at a place in order to satisfy your pettiness.

If you actually did this rather than just wanting to, you would be the bad guy in the situation.

1
lemmy.cafe

I don't understand why op thinks they are special for going through this workflow. Women are way less likely than men to ignore job requirements when applying for jobs and many many people have to be reminded that job requirements are fluffy. Are all these people "neurodivergent"? We seem to want to apply this term everywhere for some reason.

22
lemmy.world

I think most people are like this but neurodivergent people have trouble coming to terms with breaking the rules. As in they see an incongruity between the stated rule and the way everyone behaves. What OP is talking about is textbook neurodivergence behavior though I’m sure other people experience this to some degree.

19
lemmy.ca

As a neurodivergent, this. Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself. I literally cannot because I'd quickly ramble on and talk about seemingly unimportant things for like, three sentences, but only use commas, so that it looks/reads as a single sentence, then ultimately say what you said, but I would say it worse somehow.

I'm ADHD. AMA?

6

I used to do that with elipses until I was scathingly mocked on a BBS when I was a teenager. It takes me longer but it did make me better at writing for others to read on the internet.

3

I don't think that op thinks they're special by going through the workflow. I think op thinks that the workflow lands differently on them because of their condition. I think op thinks that it's related to their condition because no one else seems to be complaining about this and so maybe neurotypicals aren't as bothered by this.

9

Yeah, this is an oddly common sentiment amongst those that make neurodivergence their personality; which is funny because it’s more common to be neurodivergent than neurotypical. While it’s usually said that 20% of people are neurodivergent, it’s actually more than 50% when you include everything that constitutes neurodivergence and even account for significant overlap.

5
lemmy.ml

I think “neurotypical” by now means “I wanna say ‘normie I look down upon’, but I don't want to sound like an incel”

-5
lemmy.ca

Nope. I'm neurodivergent, I know a lot of neurodivergent people. We all kind of gravitated to eachother over time. Some are ADHD, like me, some are on the spectrum for autism, and there's a bunch more that I simply cannot list because the list is pretty long.

I can tell you that zero of the neurodivergent people I know use the term "neurotypical" to mean anything like what you suggest. In every context it's meant to exemplify the lack of mental struggle that some people have in their daily life in contrast to what most neurodivergent people experience.

Eg, anxiety and paralysis when contemplating or engaging in anything remotely social. For some neurodivergents, such activity evokes a very strong reaction. Some neurotypicals also experience something similar, usually less severe at least; but the experience is not unique to us.

The most common derogatory use of "neurotypical" that I've seen is regarding empathy, or the lack thereof, from people who have not experienced a major mental health event, and are so neurotypical that they cannot even fathom the struggles of people who are neurodivergent.

You all don't understand, then victim blame us and call us lazy, when our brain chemistry literally prevents us from making any useful progress on stuff. Then there's a whole swath of you that shames us for using meds to help correct the discomfort of being wired differently in a world that isn't designed to accommodate, or even sympathise with us.

Now we're being, more or less, accused of using "neurotypical" as a slur to hide that we're incels?

Seriously?

12

If they want to take offense at what is essentially a synonym for "normal, societally accepted brain function" the sure lol

3
lemm.ee

It's not lying as much as it's advertising. If they're asking about your greatest weakness, tell them. Just don't neglect to mention how you mitigate that weakness too, and are improving. Don't let your answer end on "I'm a disorganized mess", end it on "so in the last year, I've started building and using checklists and it's been really effective".

In the same way, be up front if they ask about the criteria you don't meet. But consider your entire answer, again, you can say something like "I actually haven't worked in that language before, but I've done lots of work in Python and Java, so I'm confident I can pick it up quickly as needed". If they don't ask, then it probably wasn't really that important of a criteria to them, so you shouldn't waste your interview time talking about it either.

Don't volunteer all your worst traits, you only have an hour, so focus on describing your strengths as often as you can. Nobody expects to completely understand you as a person in one hour, they're specifically asking you to come in and advertise yourself. Instead, read between the lines in the listing (I.E. Things mentioned in the job description or title are likely more important than something in a single bullet point. Look for repetition, or how much they talk about each requirement.). Figure out what the "customer" wants that you're good at, and ensure you emphasize it, repeatedly. Define clear takeaways and make sure they know what you're offering, and will actually remember it too.

And practice your answers to many questions. Come up with your best anecdotes for "a time you resolved a conflict with a coworker" and all that nonsense in advance, so that you can confidently segue into those stories that best emphasize your takeaways when asked. Do some research on the company to come up with a good answer to questions like "why do you want to work here?". The answer doesn't have to be your top priority, which is obviously "a paycheque", but just append an unsaid "instead of somewhere else" and answer honestly, because people are good at detecting insincerity. You likely haven't applied to every company on earth, so tell them why you chose them.

Lastly, like an advertiser, don't be afraid to segue from other questions into your prepared answers. "Yeah, I've always loved X, that's why I wanted to work here actually, I'd heard a bit about how you were getting involved with X, but with this interesting twist, and thought that sounded like something I'd really enjoy working on". The interview questions are designed to get you talking about yourself, it's not a survey where the strict questions are all that matter, and you can simply joke about it if the question comes up later.

21

A lot of this is tied into rhetoric. Rhetoric is a skill. You don't need to lie. You need to tell the truth good.

5

saving this for future reference. I've told this to many of friends over the years, but you've laid it out more beautifully than I ever did

4
lemmy.zip

Even if you don't qualify, job hunting is just throwing your resume to the wall and see what sticks. You got nothing to lose by applying.

20
AeonFelisreply
lemmy.world

You got nothing to lose by applying.

Nothing to lose but your sanity.

26
shneancyreply
lemmy.world

and self esteem when a CV scanning AI sends you an automated rejection e-mail how you're not qualified to work a job that specifically has "no qualifications or experience needed!" written in the listing

logic knows it's bullshit, but man, it still stings to read

19

Every rejection email is a sting too. Even if you knew you weren't going to get the job but applied anyway because what the hell, knowing that you're not going to get that dream job at Nintendo still hurts a little when you find out.

6
Echo Dotreply
feddit.uk

Yeah except then they make you fill out a really long form to actually apply because no one accepts CVs anymore

9

Eh, fuck em.

Send it anyway. One of em might read it.

Maybe even call you bold for applying that way.

3

As a non-autistic person, it's also incredibly annoying. Job hunting has always been a really stupid system with lots of really stupid rules of thumbs.

18
lemmy.world

A lot og questions can be answered diplomatically and show that you are able to handle yourself:

Q: do you like the colour red?

A1: I hate red

A2: I don't like red

A3: Not my favourite colour

A4: I prefer blue

In this entirely made up and pointless exercise you hate red and are asked if you like it. Real world applications converging on zero.

On a scale of lie to truth, where are you comfortable with representing your thoughts of red in an interview?

And remember, only Sith deals in absolutes🙃

*Edited layout

15
bouhreply
lemmy.world

The thing is, they are treacherous with their questions. Because the question itself doesn't matter, what you answer is not the question itself, but the hidden question behind.

This means they don't trust you to answer honestly, and yet, once you know how the process goes, they actually encourage people to be treacherous too.

This is a lose-lose strategy that they're using. They are selecting treacherous people instead of qualified people. Probably because they are not qualified themselves, and because qualifications don't matter to most companies. What matters is appearances and selling an idea.

2
lemmy.cafe

Whaaaaat are you even talking about?

What's an example?

And for context are we talking "applying to the best buy" or are we talking "applying to a professional or trade-type career"?

1

What does "best buy" mean? I'm talking applying to a job, from my perspective of engineering, but I'm comfident it applies for most jobs anyway.

1

I don't consider myself neurodivergent but I do consider this issue one of the greatest barriers with my finding employment. I was raised to despise lying, and enough bad experiences have made me consider 'massaging the truth' to be the exact same thing.

13
lemmy.nz

It's because they're actually lying about the criteria, its more like a wish list than actual requirements. In the interview just say oh I only know a little about criteria x but I'm keen to learn or whatever

12

Also if you lie on the application, aren't they able to use that as an easy out to fire/lay you off without needing anything further?

0
lemmy.cafe

If you actually lie, sure. But since you seem not to have applied for a job before: Typically you provide a resume. Your resume is supposed to be a true representation of your career focusing on what they say they want but without lying. Then they compare their wish list against what you have and see if the match is close enough then they talk to you. There is no "lying on the application" unless you lie on your resume.

And if you lie on your resume in a provable way (ie not "I said I knew this tool but really I just watched someone use it once" but more "I worked at this company and decided voluntarily to leave when in fact they fired me") yes it could be used to get you out, but that's well into stupid territory.

7

Most every job I have applied to in the last 10 years tries to auto import data from my resume into their preconfigured forms. Then sites like monster/indeed/Glassdoor etc usually have check boxes signifying if you have or have not possessed certain skills and if you do not have them checked it flags your application and you have to tell it to send them on anyways. 7+ years with such and such, for instance. It's always a pain

3

I dont know why they do it and I dont care to find out. I just know I apply even if I dont match the complete criteria. If I tick off 60-70% of what they want, I'll apply. We are people, not machines. If something doesnt match but is close to it, we try and make it work. This is how the real world works. There are multiple factors at play and they can work in your favour.

I got my first job which required a college degree and some experience. I had personal (non-professional) experience and no degree. Showed an interest in the work they did, told them I work on my own things from time to time and got hired. What probably worked in my favor was a lack of other applicants showing the same degree of interest. I even told them I'd graduate in a year and we made it a requirement. Never got my degree and worked there for 7 years. No lying, some luck and showing an interest. Same strategy worked two more times (out of two), 1st interview and "wanna come work for us?". Its easier the second time since experience is built up already. And im not some extroverted silver tongued devil or anything. The right interviewer at the right time.

11
weker01reply
sh.itjust.works

I wouldn't like to be a bird. If a bird gets sick it will probably die. If a bird is injured it will probably die. If a bird is born disabled in some way it will probably die. Not to speak about all the predators just waiting to eat you.

8

Yes it is really different from human society. You yourself admitted it. In all those cases the bird has almost no chance of survival while we do. I don't say humans would survive 100% of the time but it's a fighting chance. I don't say it is fair. Nature is also unfair.

Like you stated in many places in the world even a disabled person can survive on the labor of society, even if it is a struggle. In many sane places medical care is relatively affordable i.e. socialized. I once spent a month in hospital paying around ~200€ total. And while that is an extreme privilege some access to healthcare even if poor can be found all over the world.

Humans are capable of extreme cruelty but humans are also capable of great compassion. Especially in smaller groups.

5

The "endless" quotes are "really" jarring and make this "comment" really hard to read (and actually know what you mean, as scare quotes are generally used to convey doubt or disagreement but.. Not when it's every third word)

2
lemmy.world

Neurotypical people are more "morally flexible." Which sounds like hypocricy and corruption to me. Assume NT's have ultirior motives and it becomes a easier to read between the lines.

8

Hypocrisy and corruption are easy to breed from that, true. But the NT is also get a nice set of useful tools from it as well, like choosing their battles, and not painting people into corners.

How those tools are used are basically down to core morality and how you want to apply it to your subordinates, co-workers, and management.

I suspect I'm not fully ante and a lot of those lessons were difficult to figure out.

7

I think this is more true than most would like to think.

Reality is more nuanced than the words with which we describe it. A lot of NT "flexibility" is about recognising that. But, it often spills over into what is, really, lying.

4

So far, the other comments have failed to realize that this is actually some of our thought process and way of adapting to neurotypical norms.

I will say that after I get used to a person's body language and speech patterns, I tend to ease off of assuming ulterior motives (which has bitten me on the ass once or twice).

4

Or we understand that a lot of the criteria is just a wishlist, and as long as you meet a significant chunk of it, the rest can be learned in the job.

4

I can see where you’re coming from. Some people do have ulterior motives or misaligned morals, so it’s good to stay aware of that possibility. At the same time, assuming that’s true for everyone might not be necessary. Instead, it can be more effective to recognize that bad actors exist and use that knowledge to look at situations from multiple angles when needed. This approach helped me to stay critical and aware at (mostly) the right times, without jumping to conclusions too soon.

1

They're just made of better material.

::: spoiler explanation ...because material as in resource and as in genetic code... :::

...I'll see myself out.

And for the record, I'm on the spectrum as well.

1
lemmy.world

I am having such a problem with this right now. Everyone says, "apply for this, who cares if you don't fit the qualifications?" And I'm like, "they probably care." I just have a hard time believing some company is going to look at my resume when I don't fit the criteria and then hire me. I am going way out of my safety zone on that right now, but I'm still not convinced.

7

Most recruiters have no idea what they are recruiting for. It's like a game of telephone, by the time the job description reaches you, it has gone through so much dressing and corparatification it either describes a whole IT deparment or nothing specific at all.

Getting hired needs an entirely different set of skill than whatever job you will do. Well except maybe if it's marketing, because the whole process seems like a song and dance where you need to sell yourself.

8

That's because you are not considering that the person who wrote that is a human.

I've written many postings. They are always a best guess. When I write mine, I try to be cautious about this and keep two separate sections and put required vs nice to have in two groups, but the place I currently work has a different template and that doesn't fit, so I have to fill in words that I hope convey the meaning I want to the applicant.

In other words, I have a picture in my head of the rough skillet I think is appropriate.

You submit your resume. If it's missing something critical (this is a software job and you've never touched software) that's an easy drop and a waste of everyone's time. But I assume you don't mean this. I assume you mean something more like "I'm looking for someone with experience with oscilloscopes, multimeters, data acquisition, and function generators" and then you say "oh well I've never used a scope just the rest so I shouldn't apply". In terms of what I wrote, the behavior is logical. But I am a human, what I wrote was trying to give examples of the skill I want, not saying "we won't spend half a day to train you on scopes".

You apply so that you can present a picture of your life that you think fulfills the need I am looking for. You write your resume to make that match as clear as it can be. Sometimes we both miss the mark, and I have to go revise the job posting to make what I want clearer. Sometimes you miss the mark and while you have enough skill to do the job you couldn't figure out how to present it. But all we are both doing is trying to see if you have the underlying hard to capture, hard to document, hard to describe skills I actually want you to have, filtered through the rigidity of the hr org.

None of this is as hard or complex or weird or, shockingly to me, malicious, as people here make it out to be.

1
yetiftwreply
lemmy.world

yeah but what if you're wrong? it's not like it would hurt to apply anyways

1
lemmy.world

Like I said, everyone basically says that. But it's not that easy in terms of having the mental fortitude.

2
lemmy.world

I don't know how to explain it. I have to be in that place psychologically?

2
lemmy.world

Unfortunately this did not pan out for me at all when I tried to move out of IT support. Now I make fries and sandwiches (I don't even make them, I just put the toppings on). If possible I'll probably do this til I die, not cuz I love it, but because I never want to go through with the job application process ever again.

7
Echo Dotreply
feddit.uk

You have to go out and get a bullshit CompTIA certificate, otherwise no one will talk to you anymore.

3
punchmesanreply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

That's entirely dependent on experience. Low to no experience? Get certs. In today's age of AI powered resume screens, even with experience if what you're pursuing is a position lower on the totem poll then you will still need them to get through the AI. Probably want a higher-value cert than CompTIA if you wanna work in IT but don't want to stay trapped in the help desk (I'm talking a networking cert, a cloud cert, ITIL, etc). The most common career path is through the help desk but one doesn't need to stay there.

Once one gets a decent amount of experience certs don't really matter. In fact, I climbed up the early rungs of the IT ladder by selling my experience with stuff in my home lab and selling my ability to learn. I don't have a single cert and never have. I misrepresented nothing about myself, but I did need to eat some below-market-pay jobs at first to rack up real experience to sell. Nobody really cares about the cert, it's a knowledge industry and what matters is what you know and what you've done.

1
Echo Dotreply
feddit.uk

I'm not sure where you're looking for jobs but all of them require the certification even if you have experience. If you don't have the certification they're not even going to look at your resume to find out that you have experience, that's the problem with AI screening, logical thought doesn't get a look in.

1

LinkedIn and Indeed mostly, though I do check my resume against the listing using stuff like jobscan.co to play the stupid match-the-keywords game to rank myself as high as possible. The response rate sucks but I do get responses, and I think shitty response rates for applications via job boards is kinda common in general. In my area (both geographically and career-wise I suppose) there are also plenty of recruiters looking for people to get in the door, which gets you past the AI gatekeeper. Though recruiter activity has slowed down in the past year and it's not a time of plenty anymore they're still around.

As with anything YMMV. So many variables, and surely some luck has played a part in my experience.

1
lemmy.world

You are not suppose to lie - you are suppose to apply for jobs that you are insanely overqualified for. Why? Because your competition is doing the same thing.

6

Apply for jobs that say you are under qualified, but that you are actually very much overqualified or at least matched for.

6

A job I applied to a year ago made me do a general logic test. It's the only job that's ever made me do one. I think I spent like half the time on one question because I was so confused. I genuinely believe there was a typo. Anyways, it's the closest I've come to putting my foot down and asking for accomodations because holy shit.

So, I ace the part relevant to my job but failed that part bad. Get this: they say they want me to retake it before giving the results to the potential client. HUH? If the test is bullshit, why make me do it at all? AND GET THIS. I retake it. I've now wasted three hours of my 2023 holiday season on this. The client rejects me because I didn't have experience with some random technology. WTF??? I think I even asked before all this why don't they show my resume to the client before the test and they said because they like to give a full file. I was so angry. It's probably the most unprofessional email I've sent, but I literally sent one saying something like "Then why didn't you show them my resume before making me waste three hours???" Seriously. They didn't even talk to me. Which is fine, I'm not saying they should have to, but for the contracting company to make me waste so much time... And to make me retake it (proving the whole thing is BS). Wow.

Anyways, I'm employed now, thank goodness.

My boss's boss said everyone should be happy on Friday because it's bonus day. I'm my boss's only contracted employee. I think I don't get one. I'm very tempted to just send him an email like "was I supposed to see a bonus in my paycheck? Blah mentioned it." But I don't wanna seem passive aggressive.

5
lemmy.world

This entire comment section is a mess of people who apparently don't understand that companies are just listing out the things they want. If they find someone that meets those requirements, then fucking awesome.....otherwise, they will still take people in for interviews that meet a majority of those requirements. You think they'll really pass on someone that has only 7 years experience in this hyper specific role when they are looking for 10?

You don't have to meet every single requirement.

3
sh.itjust.works

I think the issue is that it's called a **requirement** and not an "appreciated characteristic"

40

Get this all the time in software development, being given "requirements" and most of them are pretty stupid wishlist items.

I constantly argue that that will not get a good outcome if they just call everything is equally a "hard requirement".

What they want to do is negotiate and start from an unreasonable anchor point. In my case I find it super tiresome because my stance is always the same, make a priority list and we'll get as far as we can. But escalating and tying us up in meetings to try to argue for stuff you are just using as a negotiating tactic only gets in the way of us doing what we can. We are going to do what fits, and people are not going to work unpaid overtime or holidays just to meet some arbitrary deadline. If it doesn't fit, well it won't be long until the next window.

My team has a very long history of ultimately exceeding the hopes of the folks asking for stuff and yet they continue to try to get us to commit to stuff we never will.

10

The post has "as a neurodivergent person" right in the first line. Who do you think is in the comments?

32

Point is neurodivergent take things more literally. That means the job requirements along with the some possible difficulty in guessing what an interviewer wants when they ask a question. A “normal” person would probably be fine with creatively arranging a resume to look like it matches the job requirements, schmoozing and making small talk with an interviewer, and the follow up courtesy emails. A person say who is ASD/ADHD could find the interactions difficult, especially schmoozing/small talk, and while telling “lies” isn’t foreign at all to non-normative people, being told you kinda have to “lie” on a job app and then creatively explain that lie is gonna be problematic.

18

Even better I've had an interview for a company that listed a insane list of skills, spanning front-end to backend over 3 different tech stacks... Turns out your application gets sorted into very specific teams by HR, with a much more limited tech stack. They had a whole online platform for testing before I even spoke to a real human....

Being 'locked' into a limited tech stack wasn't what I was looking for at the time, so all in all a huge waste of time.

11

The problem is the job market has basically priced in exaggerations on resumes. People exaggerate all the time and don't get punished for it.

If you don't exaggerate, you may even miss out on opportunities and hamper your career goals whatever they may be, because they already assume you exaggerate and already account for it when reading your resume. And if you don't exaggerate? Well, they're happy to pay you less than they would've.

Certainly at least in tech in the Bay Area, fake it till you make it is the norm. I've met plenty of people with amazing resumes and references just to see them not be as good as advertised.

2

You don't have to sell you up but then it's just harder to get hired.

2
lemmy.world

As someone who has read a lot of cvs, i wish more people thought like this. We didn't list the requirements just for fun. Quit wasting people's time by applying for stuff when you don't match the requirements

1

Yeah. That's being a fucking idiot and has nothing to do with my post

1
bill_1992reply
lemmy.world

Blame all the companies with ridiculously high requirements just to hire people who don't meet all of them. It's a common advice to apply even when you don't meet all the reqs, because it works out so often.

4
kaffienereply
lemmy.world

In every instance where I've been reading cvs for a job, the requirements have always been requirements. If we had nice to have features, they were listed as nice to have.

1

I work at a university. When hiring, if someone doesn't have one of the "Required Job Qualifications", they are immediately disqualified. We can wiggle a little if we can infer one of the qualifications from other experience, but that is pretty frowned upon.

If we have things that we'd like to have but are not required, they are listed as "Preferred Job Qualifications". We then create a rating scale for each based on their relative importance and grade candidates one each of the preferred qualifications. We use the resulting rankings to determine who we will interview. We MUST interview every candidate above the lowest ranked candidate we interview.

3

When I have hired people, I rarely find someone that meets all the requirements. I think a wishlist is a good way to look at it. If someone hits 9/10 things at best and I need someone for the job, then they get it.

Ultimately, there is no standard way to do this as it is up to the person doing the hiring.

I'd also add that someone once specifically applied in a way that I said not to apply, but I was wrong and receiving the application through those means was actually very helpful and they met the other reqs so I hired them.

So much of this stuff is just based on intuition and your ability to demonstrate certain technical skills.

1

And yet you have no idea what the comment meant, and so how could you know it's "dumb"?

That seems pretty... dumb, TBH.

1