Anyone who’s ever had to go through countless job interviews knows just how tiring and stressful the process can be. But some companies make it needlessly more troublesome.
Takethis redditor’s story, for instance. After acing the initial interviews, they wanted to discuss the matter of remuneration, but instead of being given a salary range, they were presented with what they called ‘the salary number guessing game from hell’.
Bored Pandahas reached out to the OP and they were kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find their thoughts in the text below.
Interviewing for a job can be quite a stressful experience
Image credits:cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
This redditor was furious about having to play the “’Guess the Number’ game from the pits of Tartarus” during an interview
Image credits:Mizuno K (not the actual photo)
Image credits:symphonicstrings
Employers not being forthcoming with important information is what annoys the OP the most about job interviews
In a recent interview with Bored Panda, the OP shared that the thing that upset them the most was the unmet expectations regarding their degree. “I spent four years getting my bachelor’s in finance, only to realize it doesn’t offer me the leverage I thought it would. I graduated with a 3.93 GPA and have never gotten an offer of even $60K/yr. I just want a job at this point.”
They added that the thing they find the most annoying about job interviews—not only the one in their story, but about all of them in general—are employers not being forthcoming with important information, such as salary and benefits, even on a 2nd or a 3rd interview.
Be that as it may, they still try their best not only during, but also before the interview. “The rules I follow are to know the company beforehand and tailor how I sell myself based on what skills I know the company uses and needs. There is never going to be a one definite strategy, as all employers and interviewers have different needs and wants, and you need to play to that,” they pointed out, sharing how they prepare themselves for a job interview.
Hopefully, after pouring their heart out to the ‘Anti Work’ community, the OP will have more interviews to prepare for, thanks to the support they received from fellow netizens. “The response was amazing, I felt so supported. People even reached out to me in my DMs telling me about certain job opportunities. I’ve applied to them and hope they bear fruit.”
The vast majority of employed adults feel stressed about job interviews
Image credits:Nicola Barts (not the actual photo)
In a piece forPsychology Today, expert in stress management and burnout, doctor of psychology Jeff Comer, explained that job interviews often evoke physiological responses that produce stress, be it the negative kind known as distress or eustress—the type stemming from positive stimuli.
He added that it might be a mix of emotions and circumstances that lead to stress, though, which often entails the possibility of having a perceived fear of rejection and feeling a loss of control or discomfort of talking about—or selling—yourself to strangers.
According toEverest College’s National Study, as much as 92% of US adults are stressed over at least one thing regarding the job interview process. The survey spokesman, John Swartz, emphasized that “For so many, the job interview can be a high-pressure, make-or-break event when searching for a job, so it’s only natural that anxiety can play a major factor.”
The timing of when it’s best to raise the salary question is a debatable matter
Image credits:Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)
Swartz pointed out that the interview is undeniably the most important part of getting the job you want. But, according to him, hiring managers have recently noticed a lack of basic interviewing skills in a great number of college graduates. The OP didn’t seem to face such a problem, as they revealed that every interviewer acknowledged that they would be the ideal candidate.
Some states have rolled out salary transparency laws to help employees negotiate the pay
Image credits:Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)
The OP waited until the third interview—after having aced the first two—to bring up the salary question, but instead of being given a number or even a range, they were told that the information is confidential. In order to avoid similar situations and other remuneration-related issues, some of the US states and cities have been rolling out salary transparency laws,CNBC reports.
Some netizens discussed similar experiences
Monika Pašukonytė
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Work & Money
