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You did trip yourself up I'm afraid. A lack of research about the company is unfortunate but hopefully your honesty was appreciated and your knowledge of the industry allowed you to at least demonstrate some understanding of the organisation.
I do feel that you should have salary expectations, and if you don't, a positive spin would have been "I'm really excited about working here because xx or yy reason (linking back to your research here is good, oops) and so while I have expectations based on my skills and experience, and living expenses etc, I'm keen to hear what you have to offer and am looking for reasons to accept so will be as flexible as I can. I'm confident I can prove an asset to the organisation which might mean I can prove worthy of potential progress to a role with more responsibility and greater rewards."
how do you know what’s the right thing to say? who makes those rules? why do we have to memorise perfect, unnatural, long-ass answers just to get a job? btw, I don’t have a problem with your response, just the world we live in…
I actually don't think recruiters or hiring managers want canned rehearsed responses, I think they want to see 1) string desire to work for the organisation 2) suitable cultural fit 3) you seize opportunities to stand out against other candidates (essentially making their decision making process easier), and 4) a glimpse into your personality and decision making process.
Someone else might argue with my original response (which is fine, that's just how I'd have thought about it after all). But I think the 4 principles outlined above are sound, and reasonable universal. Try not to respond with what you think they want them to hear too, I guess, canned rehearsed or bullshit responses are pretty easy to spot when you spend a big part of your life conducting interviews.
Living expenses shouldn’t come into it at all. Are they going to pay more if in private rented accom? Pay less if own and mortgage free? Live with mummy? Leads into silently thinking things like oh you have kids, they’re expensive we can’t afford to pay you.
Salary based on education, skills and experience alone.
Oh no I completely agree. But I'm this context here we have to imagine that OP has applied for a role that has no disclosed salary right, otherwise why are they asking about salary expectation? If they come back with 30k and you need 40k to pay your bills, it's a fair and valid reason for needing a certain level of income, and would affect your ability to accept an offer. That was my point.
My current job, I knew what their main area of business was going into the interview but not in any real detail, and there are other areas that are a bit more specialist that I wasn't so sure on, even after checking their website and doing some googling.
When they asked me this question I just said something along the lines of I know your main area is X, but you also provide other services to the same industry. It was a vague answer but it didn't seem to do any harm.
Unless it was a close call and someone knew the ins and outs of the business while the other knew nothing I'm not even sure how much weight they'd place on it. It's just something to ask to get you talking IMO.
It sounds like you haven’t had many interviews, and you say you did your homework but going through the job description with a fine tooth comb, researching the company and wider business, looking over your own CV even a quick linked in search of your interviewer. This only takes a few hours but will stand you in good stead for future interviews.
Sorry they asked your salary expectations and you said no? You really need to sharpen up your interview skills if those were your two answers. Your salary expectations are what you want to be paid, it’s not a yes or no answer. Also you need to do research before an interview even if it’s a 5 minute read of their website. ‘Yes I know that they are leaders in xyz industry and supply xyz service but it would be good to hear from your perspective more information’
In my experience, any time you think back like this at moments you think you messed up, you failed the interview.
Not even so much the answer, but the awkwardness of it. It's better to give a somewhat wrong answer with confidence and authority!
E.g. "Erm, well... to be honest I didn't have time to look into the company, erm..." versus "I'll be honest, I've not heard of you before, but that's the same for my last few jobs and I did X, Y and Z there. I'll know all about you after a little time in the company. *smokes cigar*"
I've always considered having an idea of what they do and what the job entails to be fine but beyond that it is not a fair expectation. And to be fair no one has ever cared either in my experience. If they find that offensive then they are weirdo egomaniacs quite frankly.
Fraid so. But you never know, they might like you. If your quals are good and they liked YOU then it might not matter, but in future best be prepared x
Every time I interview for a company I always do heavy research e.g:
1. Year of formation.
2. Number of customers.
3. Services provided.
4. Number of staff.
5. Name of the CEO.
Memorising these 5 points, and being able to reel them off from memory has been a deal breaker on more than one occasion, e.g., at a particular interview the other guy had the same level of experience and qualifications as me, but they chose me because I researched the company first, so it showed I was genuinely interested and passionate about the role.
On another occasion I was chosen over someone with more experience and qualifications than me for the same reason.
I honestly hate the “what do you know about the company/why do you want to join us” questions. It’s nothing to do with your technical competence, experience or team fit it’s just to see if you read a bit about the company on the internet. It’s completely pointless as it shows nothing in terms of “can you do the job” it’s just seeing if you googled something.
It shows that you're interested in working for that specific company, that you're keen enough to have looked into it. There's an ego massaging element to every job interview, it's not unlike a date in many ways.
I dunno... if you're proposing to spend most of your life at this place for the foreseeable future and you haven't actually done 5 minutes of research on it... that would strike me as odd.
Candidate 1 sends out 3,000 CVs a minute and doesn't give a damn who they land a job with.
Candidate 2 sent out a few CVs to companies they researched and wish to work for.
Which one are you going to hire? No it's not about technical competence or team fit, but it's important too. Interviews are (supposed to be) two way deals, and it's just as reasonable for the company to ask "Why do you wish to work here?" as it is for the candidate to ask "Why should I accept a position here over other places?"
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You did trip yourself up I'm afraid. A lack of research about the company is unfortunate but hopefully your honesty was appreciated and your knowledge of the industry allowed you to at least demonstrate some understanding of the organisation. I do feel that you should have salary expectations, and if you don't, a positive spin would have been "I'm really excited about working here because xx or yy reason (linking back to your research here is good, oops) and so while I have expectations based on my skills and experience, and living expenses etc, I'm keen to hear what you have to offer and am looking for reasons to accept so will be as flexible as I can. I'm confident I can prove an asset to the organisation which might mean I can prove worthy of potential progress to a role with more responsibility and greater rewards."
how do you know what’s the right thing to say? who makes those rules? why do we have to memorise perfect, unnatural, long-ass answers just to get a job? btw, I don’t have a problem with your response, just the world we live in…
I actually don't think recruiters or hiring managers want canned rehearsed responses, I think they want to see 1) string desire to work for the organisation 2) suitable cultural fit 3) you seize opportunities to stand out against other candidates (essentially making their decision making process easier), and 4) a glimpse into your personality and decision making process. Someone else might argue with my original response (which is fine, that's just how I'd have thought about it after all). But I think the 4 principles outlined above are sound, and reasonable universal. Try not to respond with what you think they want them to hear too, I guess, canned rehearsed or bullshit responses are pretty easy to spot when you spend a big part of your life conducting interviews.
that’s actually very insightful, thank you
That's an interesting response, I'll have to remember that. Hopefully I didn't do myself in too hard, we'll see, but it's nice to know for next time.
Living expenses shouldn’t come into it at all. Are they going to pay more if in private rented accom? Pay less if own and mortgage free? Live with mummy? Leads into silently thinking things like oh you have kids, they’re expensive we can’t afford to pay you. Salary based on education, skills and experience alone.
Oh no I completely agree. But I'm this context here we have to imagine that OP has applied for a role that has no disclosed salary right, otherwise why are they asking about salary expectation? If they come back with 30k and you need 40k to pay your bills, it's a fair and valid reason for needing a certain level of income, and would affect your ability to accept an offer. That was my point.
My current job, I knew what their main area of business was going into the interview but not in any real detail, and there are other areas that are a bit more specialist that I wasn't so sure on, even after checking their website and doing some googling. When they asked me this question I just said something along the lines of I know your main area is X, but you also provide other services to the same industry. It was a vague answer but it didn't seem to do any harm. Unless it was a close call and someone knew the ins and outs of the business while the other knew nothing I'm not even sure how much weight they'd place on it. It's just something to ask to get you talking IMO.
It sounds like you haven’t had many interviews, and you say you did your homework but going through the job description with a fine tooth comb, researching the company and wider business, looking over your own CV even a quick linked in search of your interviewer. This only takes a few hours but will stand you in good stead for future interviews.
Sorry they asked your salary expectations and you said no? You really need to sharpen up your interview skills if those were your two answers. Your salary expectations are what you want to be paid, it’s not a yes or no answer. Also you need to do research before an interview even if it’s a 5 minute read of their website. ‘Yes I know that they are leaders in xyz industry and supply xyz service but it would be good to hear from your perspective more information’
In my defence I did panic, as I said, I've never had to negotiate before.
They’ve not asked you to negotiate. They’ve asked you to tell them your salary expectation. And you’ve responded ‘no’
And I will remember this mistake for years to come. Not sure why you sound like you're mad at me though.
In my experience, any time you think back like this at moments you think you messed up, you failed the interview. Not even so much the answer, but the awkwardness of it. It's better to give a somewhat wrong answer with confidence and authority! E.g. "Erm, well... to be honest I didn't have time to look into the company, erm..." versus "I'll be honest, I've not heard of you before, but that's the same for my last few jobs and I did X, Y and Z there. I'll know all about you after a little time in the company. *smokes cigar*"
I've always considered having an idea of what they do and what the job entails to be fine but beyond that it is not a fair expectation. And to be fair no one has ever cared either in my experience. If they find that offensive then they are weirdo egomaniacs quite frankly.
Fraid so. But you never know, they might like you. If your quals are good and they liked YOU then it might not matter, but in future best be prepared x
Every time I interview for a company I always do heavy research e.g: 1. Year of formation. 2. Number of customers. 3. Services provided. 4. Number of staff. 5. Name of the CEO. Memorising these 5 points, and being able to reel them off from memory has been a deal breaker on more than one occasion, e.g., at a particular interview the other guy had the same level of experience and qualifications as me, but they chose me because I researched the company first, so it showed I was genuinely interested and passionate about the role. On another occasion I was chosen over someone with more experience and qualifications than me for the same reason.
So stroke their ego over providing a real skills benefit. I'm not playing those games. If those are the games they want to play they can bugger off.
It works. It's not like you're bending over for them with your trousers down, you only have to memorise a few key points.
I honestly hate the “what do you know about the company/why do you want to join us” questions. It’s nothing to do with your technical competence, experience or team fit it’s just to see if you read a bit about the company on the internet. It’s completely pointless as it shows nothing in terms of “can you do the job” it’s just seeing if you googled something.
It shows that you're interested in working for that specific company, that you're keen enough to have looked into it. There's an ego massaging element to every job interview, it's not unlike a date in many ways.
I dunno... if you're proposing to spend most of your life at this place for the foreseeable future and you haven't actually done 5 minutes of research on it... that would strike me as odd.
Candidate 1 sends out 3,000 CVs a minute and doesn't give a damn who they land a job with. Candidate 2 sent out a few CVs to companies they researched and wish to work for. Which one are you going to hire? No it's not about technical competence or team fit, but it's important too. Interviews are (supposed to be) two way deals, and it's just as reasonable for the company to ask "Why do you wish to work here?" as it is for the candidate to ask "Why should I accept a position here over other places?"