WorkWise BlogTip: Huh?

Remember the expression that “an interview is a two-way street?” An employer called up Eula Young (griotsrollproduction.com) and interviewed her over the telephone. Two days later, he scheduled a face-to-face. “We discussed the position and its duties so we were clear about what I was interviewing for,” she says, “because there were several openings.”

Young interviewed until the man brought up other positions. One salary was higher, the other, lower, than the position she hoped to get. “In the middle of the interview,” she recalls, “he asked me if I wanted to apply to be his secretary.” She explained that she wanted the position they’d been discussing and wasn’t interested in a lower salary. That seemed to confuse him, because he asked her which position she was applying for.

He offered her the secretarial job. She declined and wrote her thanks for the interview about the job it was supposed to cover. Not long after, the employer called, asking if she’d like to apply for yet another position. “I politely declined,” she indicates. “If it was that frustrating going on the interview, I could just imagine the working atmosphere.”

I’ll say! :)

Dr. Mildred L. Culp welcomes your questions at culp@workwise.net. Copyright 2009 Passage Media.