"Here's a beauty"

"You've got the job, when can you start" ?

Being a frequent visitor to LinkedIn I've noticed many posts regarding toxic work environments, toxic managers, and micromanagers, and in the past few days more posts regarding Olympic-scale interviews comprising panels of Stazi-style lineups and enduring many stages with an undefined outcome with the usual specter of ghosting making an all too often appearance.

As the great man said, "Let me tell you a story"...

A few years ago I was on leave in Bangkok where I live, and I'd been invited to a Smirnoff tasting party, what could go wrong, good night out and free booze, onwards MacDuff!

Anyway, I'm mingling around the party having a good scan around and knocking Smirnoff down like water which I don't actually like, when all of a sudden a gentleman introduces himself and engages in the usual small talk with the resulting question, what do you do?

I informed him I was an Engineer and I was on leave from my present position in Saudi Arabia, and I'd sort of like to be back in the region.

The bloke's eyes lit up and he told me that he works for a very well-known international safety company and that he might just have something for me, could I send him my CV tomorrow and he'll get back to me.

Well, double bubble, free booze, eye candy, and now a possible job in the place where I live..... Fantastic.

Anyway, the CV was banged off and a day later I was informed that I was to go to such and such a place for an interview.

I turned up, shook the fellah's hand, sat down, and listened to a tale of woe that would have made a Nun cry.

He was telling me about contractors, language problems, no stage timing on the job, they were even laying concrete before the foundations were in...... etc, etc, etc.

Well, I'd fired back with a shed full of solutions and how to make the beast work abroad, which must have sounded to him as though he'd heard the voice of the Messiah, and he had that look on his face like that of a drowning man catching a life ring.

The conversation continued and every answer and solution was manna to him, but I was getting the feeling from the context that I might be in the wrong room here, as the content didn't sound like any of my business, and I was contemplating whether to stop him and explain that I'm "Mechanical" and not really a "Civil Engineer" as the conversation was leaning that way.

Anyway we finished up, he was all smiles, shook my hand and asked me when can I start? He then outlined my position, as "Construction Manager in overall charge for the supermarket chain of ( One of the C's in Thailand )." They were building massive supermarkets all over the place and I was now in charge! Then he mentioned the major shareholder who was really running the show, now anybody who's lived in Thailand for over thirty years will remember a man called "Big Bob," I'd worked for Mr K some time ago and he wasn't a man you would like to disappoint, so I decided to come clean and explain my concerns.?

I had noticed my CV on his desk and asked him if I could just have a look at it, he looked at me strangely and just passed it across, as I leafed through the CV, the only thing I recognized was my name, the rest was a company who's who of Civil construction companies..... Ooooh dear, fess up time....?

You better sit down mate I told him, there's been a mistake, and considering who the shareholder is, and the country that we're in, I'm hopefully going to stop me and you ending up in the foundations.?

I explained that there had been some "Confusion" with the CV, and he was amazed and shocked that I'd just passed the interview and been given such a high position without a shred of experience in construction.?

The moral of the story is:?

Some great people are bad at interviews, some unsuitable people are good at interviews, and the sad fact is, that some people should not be interviewing anyone at all.

I've lost count of how many times I've sat in front of a panel of people who have no idea of my occupation and what it entails.....

Good experience though, I think I might go for PM next time..... ????

Food for thought.......