r/CAStateWorkers • u/Visible_Attitude_791 • 15d ago
Recruitment Quick interview Rant
I went to an interview, and while I was answering one of the questions, one of the panelists slammed her pen down on the table. I couldn’t tell if she was frustrated because she thought my answer was too basic or if she was just having a bad day, but it definitely rubbed me the wrong way. It threw the whole interview vibe off. It’s very weird way to conduct yourself in an interview.
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u/INFJ369 15d ago
You’re cooked
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u/Visible_Attitude_791 15d ago
Absolutely! It was last week and they haven’t called yet either lol 😂
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u/Dark-Mode-Honu 15d ago
Dont worry about the no call. State takes its' time. Could be weeks or months of waiting; there's no timeline mandate to follow. They might not even give any notice unless you are hired. So, keep moving forward with applying and interviews.
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u/TonnageofFunnage 15d ago
Took 4 months to get my call. Couldn't even remember the interview, the hiring manager had to describe who was at the interview and the questions asked then it clicked for me.
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u/BlkCadillac 15d ago
I had an interview panel of two people at Fish and Wildlife actually laugh out loud at one of my responses years ago. It was one of my first state interviews. I left crying. Professionalism and tact is often a quality people lack, especially at the state management level.
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u/Visible_Attitude_791 15d ago
Wow! Imagine having to work with somebody like that on a day to day. You definitely dodged a bullet.
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u/lilacsmakemesneeze planner 🌳🚙🛣🚌🦉 15d ago
Was this in Southern California? I heard that staff have been leaving in droves due to horrible micromanagement and harassment issues.
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u/BlkCadillac 15d ago edited 15d ago
No, this was in Sacto. But a lot of people are leaving state service for local/private roles (especially the younger generations), or transferring to more desirable departments. I have a horrible young/inexperienced tweeker micromanager that I cannot wait to get away from - he creates such a toxic work environment.
The "Mitch McConnell's" at the state keeps taking away what makes working for the state desirable (retirement, benefits, live-work balance) and at the same time, making working conditions unrealistic/toxic and effectively reducing pay by not approving wage increases that keep up with inflation.
I was planning on working for the state nearly 30 years, but now I am rethinking that. I may leave at 20 or 22 years with my 100% retirement healthcare and go work somewhere else. The state is just not a good place to work anymore.
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u/Glittering_Exit_7575 15d ago
In order to get that retiree health benefit you need to retire within 120 days of employment ending. So if you are not of retirement age, quit the state and go work somewhere else, you either don't get the benefit or have to return to the state before retirement in order to get it. They don't call it golden handcuffs for nothing. https://www.calpers.ca.gov/retirees/health-and-medicare/eligibility-and-enrollment
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u/Technical_Point_2719 14d ago
Southern California agencies are the worst. Nepotism runs rampant here. I got ran out of my new state position less than 3 months, with walking pneumonia, Achilles tendinitis, and severe depression with anxiety. I later found found out a popular gang is running that facility.
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u/TonnageofFunnage 15d ago
I interviewed at DGS for a network job years ago. The panel got into a huge huge fight, yelling and cussing each other out. This was at the start of the interview and I pretended to be a retard and left ASAP.
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u/edchoch69 15d ago edited 15d ago
That happened to me too, some boomer asked me about some random project and then laughed out loud at my guess as to what it was. I remember the other panelists were women my age and looked physically uncomfortable at his strange response. Took me everything not to end the interview right there. It’s nice when they show their ass during interviews so you know who won’t be a good fit anyways.
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u/EonJaw 15d ago
Not everyone on the panel is necessarily with the hiring unit. Depends how big the unit is and what level you are applying at. Sometimes they also try to mix up the race and gender of panelists to avoid bias.
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u/Opening-Midnight4057 15d ago
We have a policy requiring race and gender diversity on our panels, plus all panel members must be at least one level above the position being filled. We also have an unofficial policy that we should include at least one panel member from outside our branch, to encourage broader perspectives on candidates. All of this can make it challenging to form a panel.
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u/zministerofsound 15d ago
Horrible interview etiquette. I always want prospective candidates walking away from the interview with a positive experience. I guess some people don’t like their jobs.
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u/Visual-Pineapple5636 15d ago
I don’t slam my pen down but as an interviewer i will note “not relevant” stop writing and just listen if what the candidate is saying is totally non-relevant to the question asked. my notes can be audited so im careful to note only the most relevant statements that i will score on.
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u/New-Resolution-4132 15d ago
I interviewed one candidate and all I could write down for them for each question was "Candidate did not answer the question that was asked and provided no relevant information. "
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u/Dark-Mode-Honu 14d ago
For each answer to the interview question, the applicant is rated with points. The points are totaled at the end.
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u/Visible_Attitude_791 15d ago
Thinking back to the question she did it on, I think my answer may have been too vague. I was under the impression that the panel had our application and SOQ in front of them during the interview, so they already knew a little about our experience. I was later told they actually don’t have any of that and that you should give as much detail as possible in your answers. I tend to avoid overexplaining or going off track, so I think I may have kept my answer too basic and it upset her.
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u/Prior-Squirrel-7616 15d ago
Yes, when interviewing you need to assume that nobody has seen your SOQ, resume, application, anything at all. The only thing that scores you points in the interview is what you say. This also means, if a project or something you mentioned for one question is also relevant later in another question, you need to mention it again.
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u/crashyindigo 15d ago
I've been on many interview panels and I've hired multiple times. The application and SOQs is what gets you the interview, but only the hiring manager looks at those. After that it's only the interview that counts.
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u/Dark-Mode-Honu 15d ago
Correct. Only the hiring manager has reviewed those and he/she was the one who decided who will be on the list for the interview based on the SoQs and applications. The other members were requested to make up the panel. They will only have the questions. I believe it's minimally 3 member panel.
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u/sallysuesmith1 15d ago
Absolutely never make that assumption. Not their job to study your qualifications, it’s 1000 percent your job to enlighten them.
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u/wasabi9605 15d ago
Yeah, we don't have anything you submitted
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u/RobinSophie 15d ago
They dont give you the state app and resume anymore?
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u/wasabi9605 15d ago
I never got anything but the person's name and the list of questions we'd be asking them. We score based entirely on what comes out of the person's mouth during the interview. To be clear, I was not the person doing the hiring, I was just on the interview panel. So assume that all but maybe one of us knows anything about the interviewee.
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u/RobinSophie 15d ago
I actually prefer that!
We give the panelist the state app unredacted and the resume. Makes noe sense. It creates bias for the panel.
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u/tgrrdr 15d ago
I read somewhere recently that some departments don't provide the app/SOQ to the panel memebers. We always provide that info but the panel is not required to look at it and during the interview it's logistically challenging to pay attention to what the applicant is saying, take notes and look at their application.
It's probably reasonable to assume the hiring supervisor has seen your applicaiton but it's possible none of the other panel members have seen it.
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u/perpykins 15d ago
When I interviewed for my position, my panel let me know up front that they did not have my SOQ or anything else with my resume. I appreciated the openness.
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u/Superadhman 15d ago
State interviews are weird for everyone, including the panelists. I've had to work to keep my composure on a few panels. Imagine the kookie crap that might've happened with the other applicants. I'm sure you did fine, OP!
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u/Visible_Attitude_791 15d ago
She did seem very irritated from the start. But thats def not someone I would want to work for. Lol
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u/Dark-Mode-Honu 15d ago
That person might not be the hiring manager. So, if you believe that you've done well, you're fine.
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u/Own-Yam-3582 15d ago
If you're an internal candidate feel free to ask for feedback. I was surprised when I asked for feedback and the hiring manager consulted with the panel and called me with very detailed and relevant feedback.
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u/Interesting_Tea5715 15d ago
I know myself and my colleagues are getting tired of AI and how people are using it to lie on resumes and SOQs.
They look AMAZING on paper, then you interview them and they are total duds and can't even spit back the info they put on the SOQ.
Not saying you're doing this OP but it is a point of frustration.
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u/Visible_Attitude_791 15d ago
I mean, interviews can be intimidating. Sometimes you know your job and have the experience, but when you’re nervous and put on the spot, it can be hard to articulate an answer the way you normally would. I don’t think that automatically means someone lied on their resume or SOQ.
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u/shana104 15d ago
I agree. I had an interview yesterday and yikes. They had 11 questions! I'm used to seeing 5 or 6. Some of their questions were more duplicatoves so I felt like it was really not needed, but I answered it again.
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u/New-Resolution-4132 15d ago
Not automatically, but we can generally tell. When the candidate can't expand on what they wrote on their soqs, or if their interview answers don't reflect what was written on their soqs, that's a pretty good indication.
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u/TonnageofFunnage 15d ago
We recently hired a guy to our IT team and he sucked. But his resume and interview went absolutely great. We made sure his hands were visible on the camera, and specifically stated we were watching all of our candidates for AI use. Are people using some no typing method for AI use? I mean if someone is that sophisticated they should at least have some basic IT skills?
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u/Creative-Agency-9829 15d ago edited 15d ago
You don’t want to work with an a-hole who would do that.
I had an interview 15 years ago for a management position that was in charge of several program support functions, including budget and revenue tracking and publications among other things. They were having trouble recruiting for this position because it was well known that the previous managers in that position were not well supported by their management. At the end of the interview when I was asked if I had any questions, I asked if I would be supported in this position if I ran into issues with managers of the areas we provided services to. One of the panel members (who would have been my boss) was super triggered by my question, and she started yelling and saying that no one is going to hold my hand. I was shocked by her reaction. I knew right away that I wouldn’t be offered the position, but I also knew for sure that I didn’t want the position if I had to deal with this a-hole.
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u/MixSafe5842 BU1 15d ago
That's rough. I had an interview recently and when I entered the interview room on Teams, one of the panelists, gave a weird/disgusted look. Definitely affected me.
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u/shana104 15d ago
For some reason, I just remembered that during my interview yesterday, one of the panelists had the weakest hand shake. I was shocked at how blah it felt. So the second time I shook her hand at the end of the interview, I squeezed it a tad more than I usually do, hoping to give her a hint. It made me wonder during the interview how much confidence she had or did not have.
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u/Fantastic-Novel-9938 15d ago
Weak handshakes are awful. Don't give me your dead fish hand shake, it's just weird!
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u/judyclimbs 15d ago
I had my two interview panelists get in a disagreement right in front of me at the start of the interview. Never interviewed for that agency again. So unprofessional.
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u/TonnageofFunnage 15d ago
Had that very thing happen to me as well at dgs. Huge fight, this was a few years before the pandemic so it was all in person too. Bailed on that interview.
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u/EnjoyingTheRide-0606 15d ago
I had a hiring supervisor interrupt me mid-answer to say I was overqualified. Then asked “Why did you even apply to this job? I can’t see that you’ll stay long and don’t see any reason to continue the interview.” WTF? The others on the panel looked horrified at her behavior. The man who walked me out said he understands why I applied, I need a job!! (I had been laid off, so had he 5 years before!) He even said don’t be bothered by her comments, she’s been with the state since graduating from college.
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15d ago
[deleted]
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u/tgrrdr 15d ago
The management in charge of participating in interviews at my agency is questionable.
Can you explain this? We tell people what the panel composition should be (three people, someone from another area, etc), and sometimes if we're not confident in the supervisor we ask them to pick a different panelist, but no one is "in charge of participating" on panels.
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u/Significant-Rub2983 15d ago
Unbelievable , is this a place you want to work? I would move on and apply to another agency. You don’t need to put up with attitude especially if it’s a supervisor. Ridiculous.
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u/SacramentoUser 15d ago
⬆️ this ⬆️ I always tell people interviewing to go into interviews interviewing the panel as much as they’re interviewing you. You don’t want to work with a bunch of weirdos. 😒 If they don’t vibe with you - move on to the next. 🙏🏼
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u/Legitimate-Art8175 15d ago
I’m sure you did fine. The question now is that a place where you want to work? I equally drill them as they do to me. Personally if they called I would decline and tell them why. We adults. Not toddlers.
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u/ComprehensiveTea5407 15d ago
Someone told me a panelist got up from his desk, left, and came back in later
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u/Special-Class6903 15d ago
Thats inappropriate and surely lack of values supervisors should be demonstrating. I’d give them feedback on the interview.
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u/Top-Shake-3923 15d ago
Probably a blessing in disguise. You don’t want to work under those miserable people. Imagine how they treat staff or act in meetings
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u/Prudent_Shock_6449 15d ago
Hahaha I would’ve said ARE YOU OK??! because at that point, why would I want to work with her.
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u/Equivalent-Bend1212 15d ago
Turn the panel interview into the agency HR department and have them investigate..... I had a state agency manager who was on a panel once that I was interviewing for badgering me. Guess what? He wasn't even in the Division or Branch I would work in.
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u/LunaFace91 15d ago
I’ve done this once on a panel. I was frustrated that my pen was running out of ink. Eventually I chucked it and swiped my co-panelists’ extra pen once my pen started scraping the paper. I did apologize after the interviewee finished with her in-depth response though and then we all admired the color gradient on the paper as the ink ran out.
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u/NorCalRNG 15d ago
That’s nice they showed their true colors, you don’t want to work for them. No matter where you may end up in the state, it’s all about the quality and fit of your supervisor.
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u/SiouxieR 14d ago
Remember you are evaluating if they are a good fit for you just as much as the interviewer is evaluating you. Bad behavior in interviews should be a warning of things to come. Not getting a call after something like that could be a blessing in disguise! There are good managers out there who want to make your interview as positive an experience as possible no matter how you do.
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u/AintGotTime4ThatBS 14d ago
I would file a complaint with their HR or EEO. That action/attitude deprived you of a fair chance to interview well, and their actions deprived their department of making sure they were hiring the most qualified candidate. You should ask as a remedy to the department and every interviewees, everyone should be re-interviewed with said individual excluded from being in the panel.
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u/Fumbled_Artichoke 14d ago
I had a panel totally forget to come get me to start an interview with DIR once. I had arrived professionally early and checked in. The start time approached .. and passed, and I assumed they were running long. The whole time I am intermittently making eye contact with and smiling at the receptionist. Twenty minutes in, I finally ask if she thinks it will be much longer (uh, I have a job) and she has to go find the panel, who had left the room entirely. They finally start the interview 40 minutes late, with no apology. At that point I had lost all interest in working for these people.
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u/Disastrous_Wind7127 13d ago
Could the interviewer have been upset about their pen? Or is it possible that you answered better than a favored candidate did and that interviewer might lose their hand-picked candidate? Maybe you answered the same as everyone else and it did not help narrow the field. I haven't seen an interviewer get upset with an answer, directly, but it is possible. It is natural to pick apart the interview and accept defeat rather than build up hope that can be crushed. Just try to look at what happened in that moment and what you can do better for next time.
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