Mailbag: Interview obstructions, Part two

Earlier this week I shared some comments from IT pros who are tired of hearing that they’re either overqualified or underqualified for a job. These folks wrote me in response to an article about top 10 interview objections, or reasons for rejecting a candidate.

I also heard from several more of your peers who are encountering other frustrations in their job searches. More than likely these will sound familiar.

Darik, a network manager, doubts that some of the advertised positions even exist. “How about companies posting jobs to ‘test the water’ and see who is out there but have no actual opening?” Also on Darik’s list of pet peeves:

* Companies who have not allocated the resources to filter through 300 resumes.

* Companies who want all certifications, degrees and expert knowledge in all applications and operating systems, and want to pay only $32,000.

* Companies who do not understand the difference between system administrator, network manager and director of information systems.

* Companies that don’t ask technical questions in the interview, but tell you you’re underqualified.

Len Burman is a former network administrator with more than 20 years of experience, and says he’s only had four interviews in nearly two years. Like Darik, he says most companies seek a laundry list of skills. “What most jobs look for is everything for nothing. Unix, NT, Win 2000, Cisco, NetWare, and many others.”

Shawn Barrett points out that many job seekers encounter more subtle rejections. “I am a National Guardsman part-time and have had a number of interviews end within five minutes of questions regarding my military career,” he says. “This is particularly sensitive in today’s climate of mobilizations.”

Finally, senior technical analyst and network capacity planner Mike Westwood called my attention to the fact disqualifying someone over education isn’t legal in some parts of the country. More specifically, you can’t rule out a candidate who lacks a degree unless that degree is the only way to measure a candidate’s ability to perform the job in question. Mike was kind enough to do some research and found references  to this pertaining to Washington , D.C, Wisconsin, North Dakota and California.