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RadioShack job interview experice
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:30 am
by Vincent
Thought id post of my interesting experice yesterday at radio shack.
I have been having trouble this summer finding a summer job. I applied to radioshack as a last resort and I got a call from them. I was told to come in at 1pm and itb would be a open house type of interview. This is when they have 10-12 people come in and get interviews and they take the best of th bunch.
So I get there 16 minutes early and am sitting and waiting. I am told to go downstairs and wait for everybody else. I do as Im told and I am waiting, until a group of 7 other people come in and they had all already filled in the sign in sheet, even though i was the first person there. So I now am 8th on the list, where I should have been first. Another 4 people come in late. so now we have 12 all together.
We all fill out Applications and then get called by the hiring manager in the order that we signed in. each interview took around 45 minutes, so i was there for quite some time, just sitting in a room with 11 others.
Finally after 5-6 hours I get called and the manager said they are not interested in me. I said to him. I asked him why, sand he told me I just don't have what it takes and don't have the skills and experience. I graciously thanked him for the opportunity and left, as instructed.
Now I have know from experience that when you go into radio Shack the sales people are usually clueless about Radios and electronics. But they can sure sell ya a cell phone. I figured Id be a match for the job since I have a few years selling experience in retail electronics with Circuity city and Best buy. I also have been a computer tech along with a electronics tech for almost 14 years. I was only asking for $9 an hour, a price to them that is really cheap and below there starting wages. So all in all it would seem I was a good candidate, but guess what I was still told no.
Now I will admit the job situation is not to great in NYC, and even worse for a white male, but this was utterly ridiculous.
Out of the 11 others there was 4 females who were dressed nicely and actually showed like they cared. The other 7 were males and all just dressed in jeans and t-shirts, some even had bandannas on there heads, or du rags. None of the males were dressed and I was the only one in a nice shirt and tie, with shoes and all. It was shocking that this is how some folks dress to get jobs.
After I was denied, I went to sears, I needed a new Torx 10 to tighten my Military, my own had been lost by my brother. I went and looked at tool chests for about an hour and decided not to get one(to expensive). Then went to get some lunch and after that saw a girl who I had talked to in the interview. I asked her if she was hired and she said yeah we all were, weren't you. I said, as a defense mechanism to help myself out that I already work for radio shack and that I was just there to bridge the ethnicity gap. She believed it I guess, may sound stupid but it sounded right at the time.
Talking around to other interviewees before the preliminary interviews, I could tell and they let me know what there skills were, They had nothing, for some this was just a summer job, for others a first job. Nobody serious comes dressed like that to a job. I have worked at stores similar to radio shack such as Circuit city and they would kick people out for wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I have been given job offerers from companies such as Microsoft and Cisco to leave school for a year on a internship for close to 88K for that year. So I know my skills are at least decent, for a 22 year old. Though I know there are a lot better.
That was a real experiences and a wakeup call to me. I am still in shock and know the exact reason why I was not hired, but hey what can ya do.
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:42 am
by vampyrewolf
radioshack :rolleyes: ... one word: overtrained :p
I've gone in a few times for parts, but when the folks in there barely know how to type in a SKU into the system to check for stock... well... :rolleyes:
Usually when I need parts I hit the electronics shop near work. Parts are wholesale priced (rather than 500% markup for fancy packaging), and the guys in there actually know what they're doing (and have recommended better parts a few times).
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:52 am
by JBE
Radio Shack - "You've got questions; we've got empty stares"
Almost sounds like you were "overqualified" if that makes sense. Good luck on the job hunt and hopefully something better than that will come along. Doesn't sound like a place where you'd like working anyway.
Job Interviews
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:08 am
by KaliGman
Vincent,
There are so many varied interpersonal dynamics in a job interview, much of it non-verbal communication, that it is always hard to define an experience without being there. However, as a guy who now wears a "stupervisor..err..supervisor" hat, and has had to do the dirty and close-in bureaucratic in-fighting on many occasions, I think I can give you one plausible scenario.
When you are interviewed, you generally are seen by one of three types of people:
1. A leader. This person has vision, sees beyond what is good for him or her, examines what is good for the employees who work for them and what is good for the company, is very competent, knows policies and the real way that the job has to get done, and may be a workaholic. Good employees are rewarded and often helped along to higher positions. This person is familiar with a multitude of tasks and positions in the organization and would be competent running most of them. There aren't many of these people in any organization.
2. A competent manager. This person knows how to handle their position in the organization and can adequately handle all responsibilities assigned to them currently. Adequately represents the desires of the employees to senior management and the desires of senior management to the employees. You always have a few of these people around, or the organization could not function.
3. The corporate/bureaucratic stooge and/or incompetent manager. This person should not have any authority, ever. They are very concerned with office politics. Since they are completely incompetent and over their heads, they have to earn political capital and favors, try to find patrons who will look after their careers, etc. or they won't last long in their position. These are the kinds of people who, as they are employed in the organization, mean that a village somewhere has been deprived of its idiot. You get the picture, I'm sure.
Now, based on your posts throughout this forum, I gather that you are a 22 year old student with a lot of technical knowledge and that you know how to dress for an interview (do you know how rare proper dress for an interview seems to be now?). So, here is how the interview goes with the 3 people described above:
1. Hey, the kid dressed for the interview. Decent resume, oh look, he has tons of technical expertise. He reallly is overqualified for this position. Let's see, I'll hire him and see what his work ethic is. If he seems to be doing well in a couple of months, I'll see if I can get him to stay when the summer is over and maybe move him up the ladder. He might be the kind of people that we need to make this organization work. I wonder, after college, if we could convince him to stay with us as a manager, maybe use his skills in corporate training?
2. Hmmm. Kid seems OK. Dressed for the interview and brought a resume. Wants a summer job. OK. We give him a try and see how he does this summer, maybe he will stay and work part-time during the school year.
3. This guy is technical. Holy crap, this guy knows a lot more than I do. If I hire him, in a couple of weeks, tops, he is going to realize that I am completely ineffective. Like all of the rest of my employees, he is going to hate me. Man, as a summer employee, he has nothing to lose by documenting what a complete loser I am and forwarding it to all those in my chain of command. Even worse, what if I hire him and he stays with the organization? Once he graduates, I could end up working for him, because he will have better qualifications than I do. He'll know how bad I am at this job and fire me in a heartbeat. Oh yeah, this guy is so not getting hired.
I have seen this kind of thing so many times it is pathetic. Oh, and I meant "kid" with no disrespect--I'm 42 years old with a lot of hard mileage on my chassis.
Take care and keep your chin up. A better job will come along for this summer. Even if it doesn't, once you get out of school, get a couple of years of work experience under your belt and start making the really big bucks, you can pull into the Radio Shack in your new Porsche Cayman S and buy a battery from the guy who didn't hire you. :D
Everybody, sorry for the long post. :eek:
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:01 am
by Blackhair
Ahh... "Overqualified", that magical codeword that can mean everything from "You have a better work etchic than us, and we don't want to have to deal with that", to "We hate you, bugger off".
Maybe you could sue them for discrimination :p
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:24 pm
by Vincent
KaliGman wrote:Vincent,
There are so many varied interpersonal dynamics in a job interview, much of it non-verbal communication, that it is always hard to define an experience without being there. However, as a guy who now wears a "stupervisor..err..supervisor" hat, and has had to do the dirty and close-in bureaucratic in-fighting on many occasions, I think I can give you one plausible scenario.
When you are interviewed, you generally are seen by one of three types of people:
1. A leader. This person has vision, sees beyond what is good for him or her, examines what is good for the employees who work for them and what is good for the company, is very competent, knows policies and the real way that the job has to get done, and may be a workaholic. Good employees are rewarded and often helped along to higher positions. This person is familiar with a multitude of tasks and positions in the organization and would be competent running most of them. There aren't many of these people in any organization.
2. A competent manager. This person knows how to handle their position in the organization and can adequately handle all responsibilities assigned to them currently. Adequately represents the desires of the employees to senior management and the desires of senior management to the employees. You always have a few of these people around, or the organization could not function.
3. The corporate/bureaucratic stooge and/or incompetent manager. This person should not have any authority, ever. They are very concerned with office politics. Since they are completely incompetent and over their heads, they have to earn political capital and favors, try to find patrons who will look after their careers, etc. or they won't last long in their position. These are the kinds of people who, as they are employed in the organization, mean that a village somewhere has been deprived of its idiot. You get the picture, I'm sure.
Now, based on your posts throughout this forum, I gather that you are a 22 year old student with a lot of technical knowledge and that you know how to dress for an interview (do you know how rare proper dress for an interview seems to be now?). So, here is how the interview goes with the 3 people described above:
1. Hey, the kid dressed for the interview. Decent resume, oh look, he has tons of technical expertise. He reallly is overqualified for this position. Let's see, I'll hire him and see what his work ethic is. If he seems to be doing well in a couple of months, I'll see if I can get him to stay when the summer is over and maybe move him up the ladder. He might be the kind of people that we need to make this organization work. I wonder, after college, if we could convince him to stay with us as a manager, maybe use his skills in corporate training?
2. Hmmm. Kid seems OK. Dressed for the interview and brought a resume. Wants a summer job. OK. We give him a try and see how he does this summer, maybe he will stay and work part-time during the school year.
3. This guy is technical. Holy crap, this guy knows a lot more than I do. If I hire him, in a couple of weeks, tops, he is going to realize that I am completely ineffective. Like all of the rest of my employees, he is going to hate me. Man, as a summer employee, he has nothing to lose by documenting what a complete loser I am and forwarding it to all those in my chain of command. Even worse, what if I hire him and he stays with the organization? Once he graduates, I could end up working for him, because he will have better qualifications than I do. He'll know how bad I am at this job and fire me in a heartbeat. Oh yeah, this guy is so not getting hired.
I have seen this kind of thing so many times it is pathetic. Oh, and I meant "kid" with no disrespect--I'm 42 years old with a lot of hard mileage on my chassis.
Take care and keep your chin up. A better job will come along for this summer. Even if it doesn't, once you get out of school, get a couple of years of work experience under your belt and start making the really big bucks, you can pull into the Radio Shack in your new Porsche Cayman S and buy a battery from the guy who didn't hire you. :D
Everybody, sorry for the long post. :eek:
The manager was a #3, defiantly a #3 you nailed it, Thanks for the advice.
Is it really true people don't dress for interviews anymore.
Dress for Success
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:53 pm
by KaliGman
Vincent,
Those people who have no clue or who don't want a job don't dress for the interview. You are on the right track. Keep up the good work and good luck on the job search.
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:10 pm
by picobrain
i was in radio shack this week.
they didnt know what a wirenut is until i described it.
I think all type #3's are in the whitehouse.
peace
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 2:04 am
by 224477
KaliGman, good post up there. :cool:
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:11 am
by zenheretic
Vincent wrote: I also have been a computer tech along with a electronics tech for almost 14 years. ...snip... So I know my skills are at least decent, for a 22 year old.
Maybe they just did the math... :rolleyes:
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:43 am
by spydo
zenheretic wrote:Maybe they just did the math... :rolleyes:
:D :D :D
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:48 am
by 224477
zenheretic wrote:Maybe they just did the math... :rolleyes:
Why do you think Vinny could not work with computers since his 8 years? :D
Maybe he is a wonderchild. :cool:
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:47 am
by Vincent
It has nothing to do with being a wonder child. I fixed computers before I even had my own home computer. Id also fix electronics. I would go to the Library and use the public computers, I would then print out flyer's and have my mom make copies at work. I would post them around the neighborhood and I would get calls and I would go fix peoples computers. I made some pretty good money. In middle school when I was in 6th grade I volunteered to help the IT guys. During the Summers I would have an internship at the IT department at Meryl lynch, one of my mothers boyfriends a long time ago was an accountant there. He got me the position. I started doing that when I was 11. Oh yeah when I was 11 was when I got my first Home PC. Did that and other things till 14 and then went to HS. When I went to HS I again got a job with the IT department within 2 weeks of starting my freshman year, and also had a internship with Cisco, where I mostly worked on Catalyst routers. I even got my CCNA from this, and they pay for the upkeep every few years.
I ain't a wonder child, but This was my interest and started early., and still love it today, though today I am more drawn to the engineering side of things.
Math---Sometimes 2 + 2 = X
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:13 am
by KaliGman
zenheretic wrote:Maybe they just did the math... :rolleyes:
OK,
I am generally one who will call BS pretty quickly. I do try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt in a forum environment, even when my experience tells me that something
might be a little strange.
In this instance, I have no problem seeing Vincent as being a "techie" and working on computers when he was 8. One of my investigative co-workers creates websites in his spare time, writing HTML code in Wordpad. Guess what, so does his 9 year old daughter, and her sites look good. One of my friends, way back when I went to junior high school (you know, in the Dark Ages when Theodoric the Great, leader of the Visigoths was roaming the land) was rebuilding computer hardware and working on computer graphic design when he was 14 (the last I heard from him, he was working on classified stuff that dealt with predictive programming concerning orbital velocities and such for multiple three and four letter governmental agencies --the non-classified stuff that he could talk about still made my head hurt).
So, was Vincent a serious and hardcore computer hobbyist and prodigy at 8 years old? I don't know. But, he could have been. I am pretty new around here, but I have expertise in quite a few fields. I have seen posts here that my expertise tells me, with an over 90% certainty level, are complete BS. Unless I am absolutely sure it is complete BS, though, I don't hammer people in the forum. In fact, sometimes, even when I am completely 100% certain the person posting is lying, I let it alone (this is when I know that a flame war is going to start, the issue doesn't peg my senseless paladin meter, and/or I remember my promise to Kristi that I wouldn't kill anybody who uses the forum). Of course, in person, I am much more of an obnoxious, opinionated a##, but then, in person, you can always tell me to pound sand, and I will, in general, respect your candor. In forums it is waaay too easy to jump someone.
Now, Vincent's tale in regard to this interview process, his computer prowess, and everything he has said about himself could be bogus. To take it further, as far as you know, all my statements about my governmental employment and martial arts expertise could be bogus, except for a couple of links to videos that I posted which show me doing some martial arts techniques, but, hey, that could be a friend of mine that I filmed, right?
I say that we should comport ourselves like ladies and gentlemen, and, for true ladies and gentlemen, their word is iron. Therefore, absent exceptionally compelling evidence to the contrary, I take the young man, Vincent, at his word. Thus, I wrote earlier in this thread, a post telling Vincent what could have happened during his interview, drawing from my, unfortunately, vast experience with the bureaucratic "suit" mentality.
OK, I am coming down off my high horse now.
Good luck on your studies and your job situation, Vincent.
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:22 am
by cgjones
Vincent wrote:I have been given job offerers from companies such as Microsoft and Cisco to leave school for a year on a internship for close to 88K for that year. So I know my skills are at least decent, for a 22 year old. Though I know there are a lot better.
If you are turning down offers from Microsoft and Cisco, you should look into doing some contract work. It would pay a heck of a lot more then working at the Shack, Subway or a warehouse.
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:57 pm
by ken
" I have been given job offerers from companies such as Microsoft and Cisco to leave school for a year on a internship for close to 88K for that year. So I know my skills are at least decent, for a 22 year old. Though I know there are a lot better."
Yeah right..
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:34 pm
by zenheretic
KaliGman wrote:OK, I am coming down off my high horse now.
Best regards, as soon as mine quits bucking, I'll get off it as well.
Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:16 pm
by Vincent
ken wrote:" I have been given job offerers from companies such as Microsoft and Cisco to leave school for a year on a internship for close to 88K for that year. So I know my skills are at least decent, for a 22 year old. Though I know there are a lot better."
Yeah right..
if ya say so.
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:15 am
by OutofGum
Vincent wrote:It has nothing to do with being a wonder child. I fixed computers before I even had my own home computer. Id also fix electronics. I would go to the Library and use the public computers, I would then print out flyer's and have my mom make copies at work. I would post them around the neighborhood and I would get calls and I would go fix peoples computers. I made some pretty good money. In middle school when I was in 6th grade I volunteered to help the IT guys. During the Summers I would have an internship at the IT department at Meryl lynch, one of my mothers boyfriends a long time ago was an accountant there. He got me the position. I started doing that when I was 11. Oh yeah when I was 11 was when I got my first Home PC. Did that and other things till 14 and then went to HS. When I went to HS I again got a job with the IT department within 2 weeks of starting my freshman year, and also had a internship with Cisco, where I mostly worked on Catalyst routers. I even got my CCNA from this, and they pay for the upkeep every few years.
I ain't a wonder child, but This was my interest and started early., and still love it today, though today I am more drawn to the engineering side of things.
Meryl Lynch does not employ 11 year olds, even in an internship capacity. It is also illegal under NYS law to employ a child under the age of 14.
---
So you had an offer from MS to work for 88k/year and turned it down to work at the shack for ~$2 over minimum wage? Yeah.
Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:46 am
by Vincent
OutofGum wrote:Meryl Lynch does not employ 11 year olds, even in an internship capacity. It is also illegal under NYS law to employ a child under the age of 14.
---
So you had an offer from MS to work for 88k/year and turned it down to work at the shack for ~$2 over minimum wage? Yeah.
I didn't get paid, nor was I employed, and no it is not illegal to help out to further myself. Its the same thing as a child who wants to be a doctor, to help around a medical office(my cousin has done it since she was 8 and is 19 now.. Its not uncommon at all, Like I said my mothers boyfriend is a accountant at Meryl Lynch, he saw how much I loved computers and presented the opportunity, to my mother. I did this from 4-8pm everyday and it was a blast. I learned a lot and now have a few good contacts.
The job offer was not from Microsoft, it was from a company hired jointly by Microsoft and Cisco to Train individuals and allow them free certifications, including the CCIE which is the highest cisco cert. To acquire this cert, leads to a certain financial eligibility from cisco that guarantee employment. Once trained I would go work for one of these companies in a internship, guarantee no less than 80K a year. I would have to give up a year of school if I was to do this, so it was not worth it. I want to get done with school.
I am looking for a job at radio shack because well ya don't go to work for a high end tech firm for 2 months. It just doesn't work like that.
Like I said in a earlier post, if you don't believe me, its ok, I don't have much to prove. But thanks for the concern.
It could have been a fake job offer, but I guess I will never know. I passed up that opportunity to finish school, so hopefully I can be all done pretty soon. Plus I love school, even though its quite hard, it is like a 8-9 month vacation,