Obvious Interview Tip #2

Well, this is actually an obvious "applying for a job" tip, but could easily apply to interviews as well.

Don't tell your female recruiter that you were expecting to speak to a man, and then tell her that you need to speak to her boss when you're not getting anywhere in the recruiting process.

I was once recruiting for an position in a male-dominated field. A gentleman had applied for the position and I had not called him for a phone interview because I noticed that he had 5 million short-term temporary positions (this is a field where temp positions frequently turn into regular positions so this was a red flag.) He called me and the first words out of his mouth were, "I was expecting to speak to a man." He then went on to explain that he would like to come in for an interview. I informed him of our recruting process and told him that IF we were interested I'd contact him about a phone interview.

Maybe a week later he calls back to tell me that, he's highly qualified, and that he really needs a job, so I need to "hurry up and call him in for an interview." I again explain the process. He then says, "Well, I need to speak to your boss, what is his name?" I said, "Well, her name is X, but she's not involved in the recruiting process." I also basically told him to knock it off with the calls as he was not helping his chances.

He ends the conversation by telling me (again) that he really needs a job, and that he's had all these temp positions and can't figure out why he hasn't been hired on full-time yet. I wish I could have said, "Gee, I wonder if it's your sparkling personality."