Tales of the Interview
- Thread starter Capt Worley PE
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Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:
I interviewed with the owner of a consulting firm who told me, “Here we work hard and we party hard.”
Needless to say, he was cool to work for and had some inventive ways of resolving problems.
Guys kept sneaking out early on Friday afternoons so he started allowing us to have beer on our desks on Friday, starting at lunchtime. Lots more guys worked until 5pm on Friday after that.
Needless to say, he was cool to work for and had some inventive ways of resolving problems.
Guys kept sneaking out early on Friday afternoons so he started allowing us to have beer on our desks on Friday, starting at lunchtime. Lots more guys worked until 5pm on Friday after that.
TXengrChickPE
Here we go Steelers, here we go!
That doesn't sound like a good idea to me... I'm sure it kept people happy... but, I can only imagine what would have happened if someone had had a few too many... and got pulled over (or had an accident) on the way home. As soon as it was revealed that he had been drinking at work, every document that had ever been sealed by that firm would be questioned.
benbo
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I think they were both in Florida but the HVAC guy went to Georgia Tech. Not only was he in Florida, he was the only guy in Florida with a contractor's license and a PE (unless you google it and you'll find about 10 on the first page of results). That's basically what I gathered while arguing with him and being told he was 20 times the engineer I was. And I'm not even an architect.
He also offered to fax me his 6 figure offer from a "Fortune 5" company. I think he was so specialized in HVAC he never heard of scanning or email.
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RIP - VTEnviro
His Memory Eternal
I worked in a hippy dippy place in Vermont for a few years where laid back was the norm. We had a LA department and you'd be lucky to find them wearing shoes on a nice day. We also had beers every Friday at about 4 PM. Probably a liability issue waiting to happen, but fun nonetheless.
Place I work for now is a bit more conservative. Which is not to say I dislike working there, I'm quite happy. They get pizza on Fridays, but beer is strictly an off site thing.
Chucktown PE
Well-known member
I have instituted a Friday afternoon beer with lunch policy at our office. I don't bring the beer in and I don't buy(due to liability issues) but it's nice to take a long lunch of Friday, socialize a little bit, have a couple of beers, and enjoy oursleves. I think it improves morale.
MGX
Well-known member
President: "Do you know what the hell you're doing?"
Me: "Yes"
President: "Ok"
Me: "Yes"
President: "Ok"
I'll have you know that I was offered a position at every other firm I interviewed with that day.
IlPadrino
Well-known member
If someone had a few too many... shame on them! You can't punish all us responsible drinkers because of a few with bad judgment. Bring back the liquid lunches the Navy was famous for in the 80s!
RIP - VTEnviro
His Memory Eternal
An old manager of mine was a corporate manger at another firm prior to us working together. He mentioned they used to do beers at the office on Friday afternoons. Guys on the survey crew in a company truck wearing shirts with the logo on it and bring it back to the office.
Nothing innappropriate was ever done, however it did raise some eyebrows and they dropped that practice quick. It is kind of a stick in the mud but the only way to really cover your ass is to do that stuff off site.
Another firm I worked for had cash bars at the Xmas parties, so no one could say they got blitzed on the company dime.
Nothing innappropriate was ever done, however it did raise some eyebrows and they dropped that practice quick. It is kind of a stick in the mud but the only way to really cover your ass is to do that stuff off site.
Another firm I worked for had cash bars at the Xmas parties, so no one could say they got blitzed on the company dime.
IlPadrino
Well-known member
This was a problem my dad had for a while... he ran his own surveying business and had one guy who just couldn't resist the bottle. (I think this is an odd trend for land surveyors!) He finally had to fire the guy because clients started commenting on his "weird behavior".
But all CAN be punished because of a few.
Having one or two at lunchtime used to be totally acceptable at the place I work now - until one or two turned into six and a maintenance guy drove into the service garage with his boom up. He could not be fired because he was union so the boss punished everybody else with zero tolerance.
Capt Worley PE
Run silent, run deep
My dad sent a guy to do traffic counts on a street corner. This was back in the day where they gave you a clicker and you stood and clicked for each car. Well, Dad drove over to tell him something and caught the guy with a lounge chair, umbrella, and a full cooler of beer. Because they had a strict no alcohol policy, he had to fire him on the spot.
Katiebug
Well-known member
Our holiday party is at the office and we're each issued two drink tickets. The theory is that over a 3 hour party, most/all adults can metabolize two alcoholic drinks and this way the company has been "sensible" if someone gets a DUI on the way home. If you don't have a drink ticket to give to the bartenders, no booze for you. In practice, a lot of the older guys show just up long enough to collect their tickets, then have fun watching the younger engineers clamoring for the extras.
I did quite a bit of interviewing over the last few years. Let's just say that my now-former boss isn't exactly a "people" person (which explains why he's no longer my boss) and was well-known for freaking out job candidates.
One time we brought in 3 recent graduates for interviews. It was early July and my boss felt that after we all ate a hearty lunch it would be a grand idea for all of us to take a nice hike on the nature trail in the woods. Not so bad for me, in sensible shoes, khakis, and a polo shirt - but not so much fun for the kids in dress suits. One girl even had heels on. And Former Boss is a serious runner, so his walking pace is close to a jog. So these three kids and I are traipsing through the woods, sweating like mad, and I was apologizing profusely that my boss thought it was a good idea to take a hike at high noon in July. Two of the three looked at me and said, "I don't care if I get an offer, I will NOT be working for this guy."
Another time we had a guy come in who sounded awesome in the phone interview. We have a simple (VERY simple) little problem that we ask candidates; it has to do with the tension in an elevator rope. Very simple, first-day-of-Statics 101 stuff at that. We like to see that the candidate at least makes a valiant attempt. Anyways, this guy shows up for a job interview sporting brown polyester slacks, a too-small pumpkin orange polo shirt, and a stained beige knit tie. He was sweating heavily, right through the armpits. He refused to even attempt the simple problem that we asked, claiming he had been out of school for 20 years and would have to re-learn everything once he started the job (he basically assumed he was a shoo-in). Within 20 minutes he pulled out a cigarette and started to light up. We told him that he couldn't smoke in the building and then he stated that once he started working he would need to take an hourly smoke break. He complained several times that he was running out of unemployment benefits and had a wife and kid to support, and that he really needed this job. He also kept looking at me like I had two heads and made a rude and pointed remark about "women in this industry." After about a half hour, the manager who I was teamed up with for the interview told him that we'd heard everything we needed to know to make a decision. He was supposed to be there for FOUR hours of interviews. Naturally, the guy assumed this was a GOOD sign - when HR called to thank him for his time he was extremely surprised to hear we weren't hiring him.
I had a boss do the same with the two drink limit - not because of liability but because he was extremely cheap.
To give you some idea, he had previously hosted the holiday party at the workplace to save money - until his overpaid son took a company truck on a drunken beer run and rolled it. That was the last party at the office.
(Sonny boy had slid a keg to the front of the topper, tapped it, and ran the hose through the little sliding window so he could :40oz: while driving back to the office). :screwloose:
DVINNY
2-time 10K winner
A mariuana plant, so everyone would want to toke on my bong
Buzz kill.
Not sure that would go over too well.....
I am sure glad I worked where I did and where I do now. In my oil field days, we would have 3-beer lunches with the boss when we weren't on field jobs, then come back and continue with our maintenance work at the shop. Christmas parties were absolute drunk fests - I remember waking on on one of those little kid's race car beds after one party, in a jacket and tie, wondering what the hell had happened (sales engineer had taken me into protective custody).
Then out here in the islands, there are "rules", but there is also a much greater respect for "fun" that overrules the rules on a regular basis.
I know there are risks, but I am satisfied and feel confident I have lived my life to near the fullest.
:drunk1:
klk
Well-known member
I second that!
We recently hosted a party in our office - we polished off several cases of good Pacific NW micro brews and 32 bottles of wine (admin manager had to go get more wine after the 12 initially purchased bottles ran out less than 2 hours into the party) Good times! A few of the really drunk people got rides home.
FairhopeEE
Well-known member
Reminds me of an arrogant student I interviewed once. He came right out and told me he had several other offers and wouldn't accept less than $80K. He even asked me how much I made!
Hope the jerk is flipping burgers right now.
Damn! I gave an interview by phone this morning, and I wrote the "what kind of a plant would you be?" question on a piece of paper and slipped it to my co-interviewer, and she wouldn't let me ask it!!!!!!!!!
