Out of my element

[Raider Nation Fisher]

I have an interview with a Major pharmaceutical company for a maintenance position. Basically, I helped build this plant from the ground up 5 years ago. I have a phone interview with them in a week. 

However, the face to face interview is what is bothering me. I have been in construction my whole adult life. I'm tatted up, bearded up, muscled up, and close to 300lbs. I'm not really the most "professional" looking person in the world. I mean I look extremely professional for the line of work I am in. Should I try to soften my image for this interview? I truly am at a loss here. Now granted my friend that submitted my resume to them tells me they are extremely desperate for a multi craft electrician. So they are beyond willing to negotiate.

[slonezp]

Wear a collared shirt and slacks and dont come off like an a hole. It worked for me.

[Raider Nation Fisher]

9 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Wear a collared shirt and slacks and dont come off like an a hole. It worked for me.

I never come across as an a hole......

 

Sound advice too.

[deaknh03]

1 minute ago, Raider Nation Fisher said:

I never come across as an a hole......

 

Sound advice too.

 

Yea, me neither..

[Raider Nation Fisher]

4 minutes ago, deaknh03 said:

 

Yea, me neither..

LMAO

[slonezp]

I do. But i waited until after I was hired.

There are only 2 people that need to like me in my office and they are more than happy. There are a few that despise me. Better im in their heads than they in mine. I'm not here to make friends. 

 

[slonezp]

We tradesmen had to take a class on empathy last week. I was asked to leave. That wasn't very empathetic of the trainer. 

[Last_Cast]

3 minutes ago, slonezp said:

We tradesmen had to take a class on empathy last week. I was asked to leave. That wasn't very empathetic of the trainer. 

 nice

[Raider Nation Fisher]

37 minutes ago, slonezp said:

We tradesmen had to take a class on empathy last week. I was asked to leave. That wasn't very empathetic of the trainer. 

Wow! That is hysterical. Please share this story. LMFAO

On the plus side. I have met both the CEO and CFO of said company about four years ago. While fishing in the ponds outside the plant. 

Yup I have a signed permission slip in both English and German to fish on their property. The company is based out of Germany.

[roadwarrior]

Get a hair cut, polish your boots and wear appropriate clothes that fit. 

Professional worker bee, something like this, beige on beige: http://www.jcpenney.com/dickies-original-874-work-pants-big-tall/prod.jump?ppId=pp5002760398&catId=cat100350028&&_dyncharset=UTF-8&colorizedImg=DP0410201317021155M.tif

 

[Jigfishn10]

Ya don't have to lose the beard, just trim and clean it up.

Wear long sleeves and cover the ink but be up front about it. Ask them if the ink will offend anyone.

Don't go in looking like you fell in a tackle box, take off the hardware if you have any poercings that is.

Finally, take a shower and use soap, don't take a dip in the detention pond out back. 

[slonezp]

3 hours ago, Raider Nation Fisher said:

Wow! That is hysterical. Please share this story. LMFAO

On the plus side. I have met both the CEO and CFO of said company about four years ago. While fishing in the ponds outside the plant. 

Yup I have a signed permission slip in both English and German to fish on their property. The company is based out of Germany.

To be totally honest I was asked to stay after and then scolded by this woman.

Apparently I ticked her off a year ago when I was hired and she hasn't forgot. Not sure what I did specifically but I p'od all the HR training crew. Only one I remember ticking off was the girl who's in charge of the benefits. I told her she'd be better off financially if, rather than spending $150 a month on meds, she took her sick cat to the woods and fed it to the coyotes, and then pick up a healthy cat from the pound. She hates me to this day...but I digress  . We had a meeting on customer service 2 weeks ago and empathy and sympathy last week. The meeting was split into 2 groups of tradesmen. She does this intentionally to keep me and another guy, who I will refer to as T to keep his anonymity, apart because we both feed into each other and are not afraid to say what's on our minds. Anyway, the other group went first. I get back from lunch and the sparky(team lead) tells me "Don't get kicked out of the meeting. T already ticked her off. T tells me "Tell her she wasn't very empathetic the way she treated me" I walk into the meeting, it hasn't started yet. I say to the trainer "I was told not to get kicked out so I will do my best not to" and I sat down. Now, normally when I walk into meetings that she holds she warns me to keep my mouth shut before I even sit down. In fact, the customer service meeting 2 weeks ago when I walked in, she asked how my shoulder was doing and held up her index and middle fingers and said she would dig them into my wound if I got out of line. Back to the meeting in question. I sit down and raise my hand and ask to stand up because it is more comfortable for my shoulder. She says ok. I stood up and said "By the way, T said you weren't very empathetic towards him during his meeting, I hope we don't have that same problem"  She gives me the evil eye and begins the training session. A bit later I mad a quick sarcastic comment about the plumber. I then tried to engage in conversation about the topic at hand. and was asked to stop interrupting. The meeting was over and she dismissed everyone except me.

"Do you do this to me on purpose?" 

"Nope" (What I wanted to say was "Don't feel special, I treat everyone like this")

"Why do you always interrupt my classes?"

"I apologize for the remark about the plumber because that interrupted the class. I'm not apologizing for anything else"

By now, she had smoke coming out of her ears and was grinding her teeth. Her next class was walking in the door and she said "If you have a problem with me we need to handle this one on one" I said "I don't have a problem with anyone" and I walked out.     

In my defense, I treat everyone equally. Some just more equally than others. I get along with everybody, just not everybody gets along with me. In fact, the girl who accused me of being mean, some months ago, gave me a hand written Christmas card saying what a help I have been to her and that she missed me when I was out for surgery, and I've become a good work friend.

I don't show up to work to make friends. I show up to work. Is that such a bad thing?   

  

[A-Jay]

19 minutes ago, slonezp said:

 

I don't show up to work to make friends. I show up to work. Is that such a bad thing?   

  

And then there's this . . . .

I'd say it depends who you work with.  If an individual is apt to end you, I'd imagine there may be cause for an alternate presentation.

Though not your friend, it is someone's wife, sister or mother.

Perhaps it boils down to self discipline & respect.

How would ones life be different if the negative judgmental assumptions about people encountered stopped ?

 Looking for the good and respecting their journey is cool too.

A-Jay

[Evan K]

28 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Looking for the good and respecting their journey is cool too.

Well spoken- I don't try to make friends at work exactly (I'm very introverted and it usually takes me a while to warm up to a person) but the least you can do is be unfailingly polite and respectful. Then if you haven't made a friend at least you've not made an enemy.

@Raider Nation Fisher good luck with the interview- sounds like some good advice has been given. No need to hide your blue collar- just make sure it's clean and tidy. If that makes any sense.

[Mike L]

You have somewhat of an advantage as you've already met the CEO and CFO.

I really dont care what the position is or the job description. If someone comes before me looking for a job, how they present themselves,  how knowledgeable they are about the position, can they answer every question intelligently without hesitation, have a clean work record and the requisite experience I hire them. The type of industry you're in doesn't matter. 

Your appearance will get you in the door so plan accordingly. But once you're in there, what matters most is what comes out of your mouth. 

I wish you the best of luck

 

Mike

 

 

[slonezp]

16 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

And then there's this . . . .

I'd say it depends who you work with.  If an individual is apt to end you, I'd imagine there may be cause for an alternate presentation.

Though not your friend, it is someone's wife, sister or mother.

Perhaps it boils down to self discipline & respect.

How would ones life be different if the negative judgmental assumptions about people encountered stopped ?

 Looking for the good and respecting their journey is cool too.

A-Jay

There are 2 people that need to like me, respect me, etc. and they both have my back. Everyone else is just static. Don't get me wrong A Jay. I really am a nice guy. The people I interact with every day respect me for the knowledge of my trade, which is what I was hired for. Whether they respect me as a person or not, I'm not too concerned. I respect each and every one of them. Some more than others.  

I let everything slide off me like water on a ducks azz. If I had to guess, I think some are bothered that I don't let things get to me and they would derive pleasure from seeing me break.  Others might be jealous of my attitude and even others envious. I don't want to come across egotistical as I am a truly honest and  humble man.That coupled with being unfiltered and sarcastic is what creates unrest with people.

Back to the trainer story, I believe she is bothered that I'm taking up space in her head and even more upset that she's not in my head. She's got her defense planned out before I even enter the room.That guy T is like that as well. He wants people to like him and be the center of attention.

I'd much rather work alone and not be bothered with the static. I don't have that option. I do interact and socialize as others do while on the clock. Lunch time is my alone time. I also don't partake in after work drinks at the bar or after hours company functions. That's just me.

 

[68camaro]

Raider, like others said, you do not have to change yourself but I would make sure your hair and beard are nicely cut/trimmed and tats covered up, why take a chance someone not appreciating them. Don't wear clothes your uncomfortable in but do try to dress appropriate. 

Whether fair or not, or accurate or not, reality is they will formulate an impression in first couple minutes. I worked for very large German company for 10 years, they treat their people well but first you need to get inside.

I was involved with hiring a guy with a beard in a position (COO) no one else on management team ever had a beard in. When he was recommended to me I was told that he "had a beard but was a quality person".  He immediately separated himself from the other candidates by his understanding of the position, good questions and experience. It was one of best hires made in several years, beard and all:)

Reality is no one cared he had a beard anyway. Hell, he may have a bunch of tats too???

 

 

[Fishing Rhino]

19 minutes ago, slonezp said:

There are 2 people that need to like me, respect me, etc. and they both have my back. Everyone else is just static. Don't get me wrong A Jay. I really am a nice guy. The people I interact with every day respect me for the knowledge of my trade, which is what I was hired for. Whether they respect me as a person or not, I'm not too concerned. I respect each and every one of them. Some more than others.  

I let everything slide off me like water on a ducks azz. If I had to guess, I think some are bothered that I don't let things get to me and they would derive pleasure from seeing me break.  Others might be jealous of my attitude and even others envious. I don't want to come across egotistical as I am a truly honest and  humble man.That coupled with being unfiltered and sarcastic is what creates unrest with people.

Back to the trainer story, I believe she is bothered that I'm taking up space in her head and even more upset that she's not in my head. She's got her defense planned out before I even enter the room.That guy T is like that as well. He wants people to like him and be the center of attention.

I'd much rather work alone and not be bothered with the static. I don't have that option. I do interact and socialize as others do while on the clock. Lunch time is my alone time. I also don't partake in after work drinks at the bar or after hours company functions. That's just me.

 

Will that get past the censors?

[slonezp]

23 minutes ago, Fishing Rhino said:

Will that get past the censors?

Only if they are overly sensitive...or censitive...I forget

[tomustang]

Shave, everything.

[slonezp]

12 minutes ago, tomustang said:

Shave, everything.

Everything?

[tomustang]

1 minute ago, slonezp said:

Everything?

He said it's bothering him and he's at a loss, might as well go for broke right

[A-Jay]

Maybe get a little creative ?

A-Jay

[slonezp]

3 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Maybe get a little creative ?

A-Jay

Not sure which is more disturbing. The blue eyes or the ....nose?

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, slonezp said:

Not sure which is more disturbing. The blue eyes or the ....nose?

Both ~ and I didn't notice it at first but I think there's even eye brows !

A-Jay