salt 1:

You're right. My little show of vanity nearly cost me a good job. Fortunately, I had made a positive impression before that stage of the interview. Of course, i could talk confidently without it but just wanted to show off what I had been taught.

gparker: Interesting topic,

I figure AdoOloro is being sarcastic. Well I'll share my personal experience with you, two weeks ago I had an interview with an oil & gas firm where I took my laptop with me (it's actually a notebook, the mini laptop). I took it along because it has my resume on it as well as a list of questions I've prepared for every interviewer I'll be meeting with. In addition to that I just feel it's tidier to go with soft copies rather than hard copies of such documents.

Well guess what? The feedback I later received from the company as well as the consulting firm responsible for the recruitment was disheartening,hilarious and annoying all at the same time. They felt bringing a laptop to the interview was unnecessary and it was also a minus for me. The recruitment firm pretty much berated me for doing so and asked why I carry a laptop to interviews (this particular interview was my 2nd with the firm and one of it's clients). I was even adviced to carry hardcopies of my resume and a diary to make notes during the interview.

Me, I just thought to myself these people are not serious oooo. In this age and time of information technology, if you can't see or understand why I brought the laptop or the necessity of having your documents together in one place and on soft copy which makes life easier then you shouldn't be in this line of business. I also felt they weren't a forward looking and up to par organization.

Is that going to stop me from taking my laptop to interviews HELL NO, because as far as I am concerned

1. The interview is a two way business conversation and if the laptop is a tool that will help or enable me conduct my own interview who are you to tell me otherwise. Moreover if people are comfortable carrying hard copies of documents everywhere they go I am not.

2. The only thing I would do differently next time regarding the laptop is that, I would inform the interviewer from the start that I plan to use my laptop during the course of the interview because it has my resume and list of questions on it. I won't even say it, as if I am asking for permission to use it. I will say it assertively like hey it's the IT age get with the programme .

3. I realized some time ago that I have some measure of control over the interview as an applicant so I no longer let people bullshit me in anyway ooo. Gone are the days when an interviewer will have the upper hand at my interviews I am so changing the game to make sure I walk away with a better deal than I've gotten in the past.

As you are assessing me to verify my suitability I am also assessing you to see if you are the sort of organization I want to align myself with. I am sick and tired of feeling cheated and being short changed by some of these naija employers.

Well I have since decided to severe my ties with that recruitement firm because not only was I disappointed I wasn't even given a chance to explain why I carry the laptop with me to interviews. I could have done that in writing via email but I felt this people would think I'm either being combative or making excuses so I didn't bother and having met with two of their clients so far I think I've had enough because the experience in both cases wasn't nice at all and I'll be damned if I put myself through that ever again with any interviewer.

In my first interview with a client of their's I was spoken down to by the client and basically belittled & ridiculed. In this second interview I was asked to come in at 11:45am but when I finally walked out of the building it was 2pm meanwhile I wasn't asked to take a written assessment, fill out any sort of paper work oooo. I thought this is crazy a mere oral interview shouldn't last this long.

Some employers don't have any qualms with wasting your time or failing to apologize for wasting your time. But if you as an applicant dare try that you would be called all sorts of names. We've sha suffered as applicants in this country, but me I have resolved to be chang the way my interviews are conducted and how I am treated.

If I make any sense at all then like this post. LOL !

Ninilowo: I said it one day that the rate of employment Is not as bad as it is presented but THERE ARE NO EMPLOYABLE graduates.
How on earth will u go for an interview with gadgets? Going with gadgets sich as ipad tells the panel that you are already comfortable going by the amount it worth.
Also immature e-mail addresses and ring tones can be a candidates major undoing at interview(s)

Foxie: [color=#770077][/color]In my first interview with a client of their's I was spoken down to by the client and basically belittled & ridiculed. In this second interview I was asked to come in at 11:45am but when I finally walked out of the building it was 2pm meanwhile I wasn't asked to take a written assessment, fill out any sort of paper work oooo. I thought this is crazy a mere oral interview shouldn't last this long.

Some employers don't have any qualms with wasting your time or failing to apologize for wasting your time. But if you as an applicant dare try that you would be called all sorts of names. We've sha suffered as applicants in this country, but me I have resolved to be change the way my interviews are conducted and how I am treated.

dabossman:

Sometimes, your assessment starts from the moment you step through the gates. That long wait you are complaining about sometimes is also a test of your resilence and patience level. In some cases your every action while waiting is being watched through CCTV cameras. Are you the type who gets restless and begins to complain to the front desk executive? Are you going to start murmuring and grumbling to other applicants?

Sometimes the employer wants to know, how you can handle such pressure, especially if you will be dealing with their clients once you are employed. So, sometimes they harrass you and talk down at you in the hope that you might snap, or visibly show your annoyance or discomfort. It's the typical good cop, bad cop scenario. It's just a test, it's nothing personal.

Mustay:

Quite TRUE but I don't buy the wasting time ish. If an interview or test is scheduled for x time, information should be relayed as to what's happening. Entry level may have no choice (still doesn't make time wasting right) but experienced applicants are not necessarily begging for a job that you'll toss then around like an Olympic marathon time keeper!