Posted By garyh You have to be brave enough to tell them that you can't do an interview at certain times - for a 1st interview tell them you can do it after work (if local). If they are doing their job properly every person selected for interview should be capable of doing the job (on paper!) so there should not be a need to weed people out by some sort of sickening off process. However, sometimes people can chase so many jobs that they fail to prepare adequately for the interview, especially if they have a demanding job (I know I have been there!) I would advise that if you are job hunting be selective and really work on your application and interview preparation, better to have 2 or 3 hot interviews rather than applying for everything in sight. Don't be afraid to phone up and ask for info about format, what is expected etc. You need to stand out!

Posted By Eric PD Yes, and when you have done the required amount of interviews and have no more annual leave left they then tell you the salary is 2 bob and a conker, and you wondered why you bothered.

Posted By garyh Many organisations now refuse to give a reference - yep it's because they are worried about being sued. After all this (references) can be a very subjective area. Nowadays a reference will often only be a simple confirmation of dates employed, duties etc, with no mention of performance. Do you really want to work for an employer who is so out of touch?

Posted By Eric PD great point , ! its like when you post something on this forum and no one reads it. Only read the last post.

Posted By gham I went for 6 interviews for one job.... no joke eventually I decided to tell them that i would not attend the 7th and give them a 45 minute presentation (lucky I get 33 days plus stats). I advised them to send one or two employees on a General Certificate course. The reason being i learned more and more about what they did on the site and it was really low risk, really really low. THis process was excessive but it did give me time to think about them, you dont have to accept every offer your given. Competency based interview is a good idea and the a second opinion from other managers result two interviews, this is reasonable to me anything more I would start asking questions

Posted By Descarte Certainly true, and cause of a lot of stress on my behalf at the time, but yes I can look back and laugh, though I shall not name and shame that organisation as I did like the people I did work with and still keep in touch. Still think I have all the old copies of the emails and stuff which were flying around somewhere. Ahhh, the memories

Posted By Neville What really gets up my nose is that when you attend some interviews, having done lots of prep before hand, you are grilled for up to 90 minutes by a panel of two or three persons who then fail to get in touch with you afterwards, to let you know one way or the other either about the job or feedback from the interview. Worse still are those companies who use the good offices of this very forum, who haven't got the common decency or courtesy to complete their task and inform all interview candidates of the outcome. You know who you are!!! Construction company in Preston and training company in Warrington. I attended two interviews at the company in Warrington and feel let down by the lack of communication, wasted time, effort and petrol. Employers please treat people how you yourself would like to be treated! I have lots of sympathy with all the previous responses, especially those on wasted holiday time.

Posted By Mint I recently had a 90 minute interview at a company starting up in South Wales for an HS&E Manager position. One of the interviewers asked me what I wanted in terms of salary. I told her what I am on now and asked what they were offering. She refused to say, stating that they were interviewing people with a range of experience and the salary would reflect that experience. I asked again what range they had in mind and was again told that they are unwilling to say. I have now been invited to a second interview but have turned it down for 2 reasons: 1. They still won't say what the salary is. 2. They want me to do a 15 minute presentation on induction info' I would present to new starters at the company. They wanted an electronic copy of the presentation as well. As far as I'm concerned this is just a way of them getting induction info' for free. Interview 5 people for example and they have 5 free presentations to use when they eventually get someone in position. Oh yeah, the hours they work are rubbish as well: 8.00~5.30 Monday to Thursday and 8.00~5.00 on Friday! 47 hour. Pah!

Posted By Charley Farley-Trelawney Keith I completely agree with the last para! (That’s not to say I don't agree with the other bits) As a 'Directing mind' and the title of H&S Director bestowed on me I run the gauntlet each day, of course it makes a difference that the control measures utilised will prevent potential breaches of acts/regs, but it don't change the fact if I have it wrong I face potential prison and biggy dent in my pocket (criminal actions) for that reason I would never apply for a position that I was not qualified to do and I sure as heck would only take a position that gives me satisfaction (including finances) for the difficult decisions I have to take, oh sure we have all been tempted to say 'oh I will just let that slip through, it will be fine'!!! I will however resist that temptation thank you. So back to the job thing; Are the person/s interviewing suitably qualified academically/morally to offer a H&S position, are they offering the correct and proper rate (high risk/medium/low) and when will they realise all the pretty presentations in the world does not mean you will be any good at your job. Yes they must start somewhere, so I say to any budding employers looking for a qualified H&S Officer/Manager/Director, if you do not have the appropriate skill base to decide on the appointment do consider professional assistance when interviewing candidates, and yes I would add that it is most important to follow up with a letter, pleasing or not to the successful/unsuccessful candidate. Finally; I fully accept the guarding the salary issue, but it does make sense to be indicative at an early stage, and that can be used to a panels advantage as well, no time to go into that here, but anyone on a previous interview panel will know where I am coming from. There, that’s my two pennies worth.

Posted By Mark Talbot I got a call a couple of years ago from a "headhunter" and he got really uppety when I asked "How much?" by the second sentence :-) He thought I should want to discuss everything alse and only ask the salary at the final interview! I explained, my true vocation in life is to Lord it over all God's creatures - but until I get to my destiny, the reason I put up with commuting is money. Why would I want to interrupt TV talking to someone about a job paying less than I am on? He had no chance of knowing my salary. Treat work as work, not some kind of gift that someone is giving you. If you don't want to attend more than one day (I once had four interviews on a single day) just tell them.

Posted By phil In reply to paul philips' comments..... It is strange that the employers are still interviewing after making "carefull selection" as you put it. The carefully selected employees would still have been there and they would not have needed to ever interview again realy.

Posted By Robert Weiland Man goes for a job at the end of the interview, he goes home and waits on the phonecall. At 3pm the phone rings: "Hi Mr Smith it's John here from Williams we're delighted to offer you the postion of Health and Safety officer, what kind of salarly are you looking for ?" "Well I would be wanting to start at £50,000 a year" said Mr Smith "No problem how about £50,000, plus Private Pension, Health Car, paid Phone Bill, Cost of living increase and a new company car every 12 months ?" "Wow are you joking ?" said Mr Smith "Yes I am, but let's be honest you started it" said the employer as he hangs up the phone. Boom Boom.

Posted By Jim Walker Revenge is a dish best eaten cold. I’ve never told anyone this story before, but much time has passed, so it will not do any harm now. I applied for a job with a well known haulage firm somewhere in England (anonymous enough for you Bill?) Got called for interview, booked holiday, Dry cleaned the suit, prepared well investigated the company etc – usual stuff. Attended very plush office and was taken on a site tour and then a test. Now I don’t wish to appear arrogant, but they had seen my CV and all my qualifications including MIOSH, so why a test? Can’t remember all the questions but one of the more difficult ones was “ name the regulations in the six-pack”. Anyway did the test, then was interviewed by H&S manager it became quite obvious that I was more experienced and qualified than she was and I did not stand a chance. She spent quite some time trying to belittle anything I said, so I told them I wasn’t interested. Why after seeing my CV was I called for an interview wasting their time and mine? The mistake they made was showing me around the site where I spotted something I was very uncomfortable about. The manager’s attitude was such that I felt unable to raise it with her, but felt unable to ignore what I had seen. Anyway quite soon afterwards they had a visit from HSE, not entirely unrelated, if you catch my drift. The prosecution (they found some other serious failings too) resulted with quite a satisfying fine. Regarding references: “you will be very lucky getting this man to work for you” The old jokes are always the best ones!!

Posted By Terry Hall Interesting points of view raised throughout the 'rants'. Having been on both sides of the fence I have experienced the return for another interview scenario and have found it, personally, very annoying. I feel there are occasions when it is justified i.e. there are 2 similarly strong candidates. However in general I feel interviewers should be adequately trained and experienced to make decisions based on application forms and first interviews. From the other side of the fence I have recently been involved in a recruitment and selection process. To my dismay all was far from what people were stating on their application forms. Careful examination of the forms resulted in exposing a number of applicant as charlatans using false letters of status after their names. No wonder interviewers are taking their time.

Posted By Merv Newman It does occasionally happen that I recommend to a client that they either reinforce the H&S team with a real professional or replace the current incumbant. (one goon had been in the job for 20 and had not learned (learnt ?)anything since) I usually provide a job spec, with required qualifications/experience or mission statement. Very rarely (three times ?) I have been asked to interview the short listers. As I have said before, my basic interview technique is to ask them to talk about their successes. Then you listen, judge and recommend. It is quite common in my experience for candidates to spend the best part of a day on site, with a number of interviews, visits, lunch and presentations. Eventually, HR will make the decision and invite the "right" person to join the family. Hopefully for a long time. And companies that do not call you within a week or the final interview are not worth working for. Salary ? You have to be able to fight your corner here. And justify why a higher salary than they expected is right for them. Merv

Posted By gham How about won't confirm a start date till your references have been reviewed............ that puts me in a predicament "alrighty gaffer some mob will be contacting you for a reference cause Im thinking about leaving but they will only take me on if you say I'm any good.... just to let you know. Don't worry though Im not actually handing in my notice yet only when they tell me I can start" (Do potential employers appriciate the position that they put people in) This will go down a treat... so I thought, I just got offered more dough which for me is a slap in the face.... was I not worth the extra 10k last week

Posted By Richie Hi, I recently attended an interview in the energy sector. I had driven 310 miles to get there, arrived in plenty of time and (priding myself on my appearance) wearing what I thought was suitable attire for an interview (Sober suit and shoes etc). I was kept waiting quite some time. This annoyed me. What would they have said if I were late? I was then met by what I thought was the office junior, dressed in attire suitable to attend a BBQ, who then proceded to take the role of lead interviewer. If I can be bothered to get dressed, why couldn’t he? He asked some very low value questions regarding housekeeping, which I could not believe. I had expected to touch on DSEAR, parasitic X rays, Live electrical working etc.. In sum, I came to the conclusion by mid-way through the interview that they had wasted my time. I got the impression they thought it a good idea to have on their books a person with a safety related title, but that they didn't know why. At least they gave an indication of the wage, which was up to £40K. I am on £25K at the moment, and wild horses would not make me accept the post. For Phil, Can you elaborate on your earlier comment: " Specially in Health and Safety, you will find a lot of patronising managers who in many a cases will have lesser experiences than yourslef. Mind you, most Health & Safety positioned people would either have come from the army or where handymen and took a Nebosh Diploma, in times when it was less fashionable." Cheers, Richie

Posted By erina oh yeah...oh yeah....oh yeah....I am also one of those females and proud to be...Have also been on interviews where you get to play games last one standing...justify why you should be one of the few to stay on board a falling hot air balloon....and in the end you find that the agency did not even bother to read your cv properly because then he would have noticed that you are actually occ. health. qualified with H/S experience.....oh brother why do we even bother.....all they see is a quick buck or two....and make a complete idiot out of you.....They should be trained to read as well. As for the interviewing club of the month.....get real or get somebody professional in the field to do the interview....some of them know the bull from the dust within 20 minutes of the only interview...it's a matter of professionalism.... Cheer up guys eventually if the job is ment for you, you'll get it without effort and sweat...have a little faith...'and by the way I am talking to myself too' KNOW YOUR STUFF, BE YOURSELF NEVER GIVE UP.

Posted By H&S Man I think it is fair to say that most employers and employees have experienced problems with interviews. From an employees perspective I have to say that my main issues are employers who fail to treat you with respect and common deceny. A couple of examples from my experience are: 1) Knowing your CV and current package - then trying to offer you less than what you are on. I just do not understand how they expect someone to drop money when changing their role for a similar or more senior role! 2) Failing to notify you of the outcome of an interview. This is the irritating factor. It just shows that they do not care about people full stop in my opinion. I personally have experienced both of these issues from Multi-National and National organisations, who post on here 'looking' for potential employees. The worst about it is, is that they contact you first! I think that we could put a stop to this by either: 1) IOSH allowing them to be 'named and shamed', or 2) Ban them Rant over

Posted By Charlie Gunter I'm amazed anyone attends interviews without knowing what's on offer. Unless there was somethinhg overwhelmingly attractive about the post (e.g. based in the Bahamas), I would not attend an interview with knowing the salary range. Charlie