Two weeks or so ago I posted my opinion on smart asses and how a thesaurus is never a good idea, I remain true to my earlier opinion, here's why. Today Mike (the other CJSA Officer) and myself had two of the interviews, having had one yesterday. I get there about 20 minutes before the scheduled interview time just in case the guy is really early and it was a good thing I actually got up on time because Mike still hadn't shown at 9 when the interview was so I proceeded to do it by myself. The guy (smart ass) showed up a few minutes early which is always a good thing and we made that awkward small talk and he seemed like a decent guy. He didn't use any 'big' words and still seemed smart. I asked him the questions and that got us talking like any good interview well. It just goes to show that "Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule." (Stephen King)
If we based the job solely on his application, we would not have picked him, but since he was a 'normal' human during the interview, he got the spot.
Showing posts with label smart ass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smart ass. Show all posts
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Smart Asses
Here's the short background: I am part of an organization on campus here at UW-Milwaukee called Criminal Justice Student Association or CJSA. Last semester we had 4 officers like we are supposed to except our president, Evan, got a job in Tennessee starting in a few days so he moved down there a while ago and is getting all situated. Leaving us with 3 officers. This is Ashley's, our vice president's, last semester and apparently needs to focus on school work and finding a job, which is fine, except she left us with very little knowledge of her post and we are down to 2. Mike, the other officer, and myself are now in charge which is great because we get a long. The problem is we need to find 2 officers to replace the 2 that ditched us sooner than later so they can get acquainted with us and how we do things. Oh, the other 'problem' is that this is Mike's and my first year doing this so we were basically thrown in the water and said hope you can swim.
The problem comes with the 2 new officer positions. So far we received 3 emails with applications, two by Juniors so they have one more year left and one by a Senior who is staying here for grad school (reminds me that I really do need to get working on my own application for grad school, but I digress). The two Juniors seem nice and laid back which is what we like, yet still able to do tasks. The Senior is a smart ass. For the application we ask them to explain why they want to be an officer and what they can bring to our organization if they become one, so about two paragraphs. This guy wrote 4 long paragraphs telling us of all of his jobs in the field (UWM PD, WI State Fair PD, University Legal Clinic, and working at the Milwaukee County District Attorney) but failed to say why he wanted the position. It's great that he has done all of those things and the contacts that he has could help the CJSA but the way he worded things in those paragraphs made him sound like a smart ass. Instead of using 'many' he used 'plethora'. He said, and I quote, 'I wish to become a CJSA officer in order to fulfill its potential of becoming a first-rate student organization at a world renowned institution of higher education'. That doesn't answer our question as to why he wants to be an officer. Lastly he says, 'I hope I can lend myself to the CJSA and build a successful and effective organization for all' as if we are just starting off (which we aren't).
The bottom point of this post is, when you are asked a question, answer it. Don't beat around the bush telling us what you have done no matter how impressive it might seem or use thesaurus-ed words. Answer the question and then expand that answer if it is called for.
The problem comes with the 2 new officer positions. So far we received 3 emails with applications, two by Juniors so they have one more year left and one by a Senior who is staying here for grad school (reminds me that I really do need to get working on my own application for grad school, but I digress). The two Juniors seem nice and laid back which is what we like, yet still able to do tasks. The Senior is a smart ass. For the application we ask them to explain why they want to be an officer and what they can bring to our organization if they become one, so about two paragraphs. This guy wrote 4 long paragraphs telling us of all of his jobs in the field (UWM PD, WI State Fair PD, University Legal Clinic, and working at the Milwaukee County District Attorney) but failed to say why he wanted the position. It's great that he has done all of those things and the contacts that he has could help the CJSA but the way he worded things in those paragraphs made him sound like a smart ass. Instead of using 'many' he used 'plethora'. He said, and I quote, 'I wish to become a CJSA officer in order to fulfill its potential of becoming a first-rate student organization at a world renowned institution of higher education'. That doesn't answer our question as to why he wants to be an officer. Lastly he says, 'I hope I can lend myself to the CJSA and build a successful and effective organization for all' as if we are just starting off (which we aren't).
The bottom point of this post is, when you are asked a question, answer it. Don't beat around the bush telling us what you have done no matter how impressive it might seem or use thesaurus-ed words. Answer the question and then expand that answer if it is called for.
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