[eximius]

Earlier this year I was told I failed an interview because when asked why I wanted to join a company, my answer "could apply to other companies in the same stage of life." They apparently required me to be _uniquely_ interested in their company. There were other oddities about their interview process.

Some interviewers just want to feel special.

[not_the_fda]

Thats the thing I love about recruiters. I won't be looking for a job, and a recruiter calls me about one that sounds interesting.

Come interview time someone will ask why I want to work there. My answer is: "You called me, why should I want to work here."

[elzbardico]

Assume that every singlemotherfucking breathing human you find in your life wants or at least likes to feel special, and that any company that asks you that question wants you to massage their ego a little bit.

Don't think much about it, just believe what I am telling you. It is going to save you a lot of grief.

[toast0]

That question may be a little bit praise seeking (especially in other contexts), but it's also a way to ask if you did any research on the company, or do you just spray and pray.

If you took time to do a little research and validate that you fit more than 'i need a pay check and you have paychecks' that's valuable for the company. Your judgement may be poor, but you self screened, so that's an extra screening.

[eximius]

1) They reached out to me. 2) My answer was applicable and accurate, but insufficiently _unique_ for them.

[genewitch]

Dale Carnegie floating around this thread a lot.

Remembering (and using!) someone's name is a magic spell, too.

[simoncion]

> Remembering (and using!) someone's name is a magic spell, too.

When it's done to me, it's the magic spell of "I Distrust You". A time or two is fine, as is its usage if one is -say- in a group conversation where it can be difficult to understand to whom one is speaking, or -say- one needs to get my attention when I'm focusing on something else.

In my many years of personal experience, I've found that people who behave as if speaking my name to me is a magic spell absolutely do not have my best interests at heart. At best, they want to manipulate me into doing something that I don't wish to do. I recognize that my opinion is not universal, but I am absolutely not the only person on earth who's like this.

[argee]

Isn’t the magic in the "time or two"? For example I always make it a point to thank call center people by name after they’ve helped me, even though their name comes up exactly once before that point (when they introduce themselves). It’s just extending a basic courtesy, treating someone like a human being. (Of course, remembering the name of who was helping you is not just basic courtesy but also useful for other reasons.)

Seems the message got distorted from "remembering people's names shows you care about them" to "use people's names unnecessarily or in bad faith". I was pretty upset by that Apple Intelligence ad where Bella Ramsey pulls up someone's name and then pretends she remembered it – yuck.

[elzbardico]

In defense of Dale Carnegie he always said that for this to work, you need first to learn to GENUILY CARE about other people.

[interviewitis]

The worst thing about even relatively-good advice of this sort, like Dale's, is that applying it well requires being so good at these kinds of things that you probably didn't need the advice in the first place.

People who've read a couple of these books and are trying to use them are usually transparent, and it hurts way more than it helps. If they weren't inept at applying the advice, they probably wouldn't have needed it. Especially if they're not very young—if they're older and haven't picked up most of that stuff through natural observational skills and curiosity-driven trial-and-error, their odds of reading and practicing their way to significant improvement seem low.

This goes for "nonviolent communication" and similar, too. Trying to use these things if you weren't already a natural just red-flags "I'm trying to manipulate you".

"First, genuinely care" is only a little less useless than "be attractive; don't be unattractive". In practice, most of the folks with a problem in that area aren't going to read the book and do the work on that bit before trying to apply the rest. Those without such a problem, likely don't need the book.

[elzbardico]

I think it is a generational thing. Those kinds of things can be learned, but they take time. If you try to systematically be more positive on how you see other people, you’ll feel weird at the beginning, but over times it will come as more natural to you.

But this was easier in the past, people used to trust more, and be somewhat more naive. Our current generation, jagged by years of manipulative advertising, Nigerian prince scams, SEO, religious and political leaders scandals and so on, it is not so naive anymore, and thus, someone trying too hard can’t escape our detection antennas.

[JSR_FDED]

As nonsense as this is, you should always have an answer at the ready for why you’re uniquely interested in them. If they don’t ask, volunteer it.

If their interviewing results in a handful of qualified candidates, guess which one they’re going to go with?

[6510]

I always counter the question by asking them why they are uniquely interested in me. That way they usually skip the question. (You should still have an answer ready for all of the obvious questions)

[ryukoposting]

Every time I've been asked this question, I answer with total honesty up to and including the one-word answer "money." I got an offer with that, by the way.

I'd prefer not to work for a firm that's smelling its own farts. I'm happy to have worked for several firms where I really believed strongly in the product and the mission, and I've left companies when I felt they had lost sight of their mission. But at the end of the day, it's a job. I give you labor and expertise, you give me money.

[Halian]

What were the other oddities?

[Biganon]

I mean... He knew, you knew (or should have known), but it's part of the silly little dance you have to do to flatter their ego.

Imagine having a first date with a girl and saying "you're basically the only one who would talk to me on tinder, but I could date someone else". Technically correct, still not something you say unless you're pretty far on the spectrum.