an interview tip for employers

okay, not that i am in a position to give interviewers tips on how to conduct interviews to potential employees, but i thought i would share this little nugget of goodness with you.

today, while in the throws of an interview with what was a very dull potential boss i look down to inspect the desk and keep from falling asleep and see my resume. what was stuck to the resume was a note outlining the thoughts of the screener as he was conducting the pre-interview interview. i just about stood up and called him on it when i saw the first line written on the note:

i picked this guy for the hell of it

wow motherfucker, way to show a candidate that they at least have a shot. and while you’re at it are there any other ways that you can show your boss that you are wasting his time? speaking of wasting time, when would you like me to thank you for wasting my time? listen, i don’t care that you had a quota of candidates you had to present to your boss but at least have some decency and not call attention to it.

so there you have it. don’t write shit on anything that’s visible to the potential employee that you don’t want him to see. moreover try not to degrade him too much before you even meet him. keep that shit in your head or relegate it to water-cooler talk. you’ve been warned.

microsoft surface: i’m a bit skeptical

i’ve seen the videos and i’ve heard the hype, but i have to say that i am just not sold yet.  i know, i know the videos are cool but i just can’t wrap my head around it.  listen, i am the first one to jump on the ‘latest tech bandwagon’ but for some reason i have this vision of seeing these things collecting dust in at&t stores 3 months after release.  i don’t want to be the ‘i told ya so’ guy, but i’m calling it a fail.  my reasoning is that it’s not a full-featured release, rather it’s a hurried-out-the-door-to-capture-hype release and if it’s not 110% solid it won’t make the grade.

think about it: you’re releasing a product to the consumer public that has never used it or has any idea of how to interact with it (save gesture recognition from the iphone).  not only will they resist it because it’s unknown but they will have to be shown how to use said product and therefore will not get on-board.

i just don’t see the takeoff happening as planned.  sorry macrohard but i’m not feeling your product.  i do see it happening in other arenas in the long run, but i think you are once again ahead of the curve and unsupported.