Interviewing with a Stupid HR Manager

Incendiary title? Perhaps, but for all you job seekers out there, you know you’ve been through it. It’s downright painful to have someone that you know is much less intelligent than you have any power over the hiring process that will directly affect you, but what can you do? Not much, really, but you could have some fun with it! And if you’re ballsy enough, you can just go out and start your own business.

When I left Legg Mason as a young buck, someone from my old job referred me to another well-known financial services firm in the area, basically to work with the exact same software and do the exact same job that I had with Legg Mason. I was leaning towards starting my own business at that point, but I thought “what the hell, it will be nice to go on an interview for a job I don’t need”. I decided to set my goal at a given salary level and take the job if they would offer it to me at that salary. The goal I had in mind was definitely more than I expected them to offer, so it was a “can’t lose” situation.

I interviewed first with the folks for whom I’d actually be working and they fell all over themselves interviewing me because they were so excited at the prospect of not having to train me to do anything - I’d just step right in and work on the software that their firm shared in common with Legg Mason and that would be that. I knew more about this software than some of the people who were interviewing me, which was to be expected because I was to be a “hands on” guy and they were managers. Everyone was friendly, respectful, and excited to be talking to me. In short, it would have been a great place to work.

Then I moved on to speak with the HR manager for this particular office. Wow…

I answered his questions, knowing already that the job was mine if I wanted it and if I would accept the salary they offered. Instead, I asked for my “pie in the sky” salary, which really was pretty meager, in hindsight. He was a bit tripped up by the number I threw out, but he didn’t show it too much. But then he dropped the bomb. “The salaries in this industry really aren’t that high”. I pondered this for just a moment…

Did I tell him that he was wrong? Did I just nod and know that I’d not accept the job?

You see, the “industry” he was referring to was “Financial Services”, designated by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (before they switched to NAICS in 2004) as SIC 6289, Division H, Major Group 62. I, of course, worked for the BLS right out of college and, right before leaving and going to work for Legg Mason, found an interesting report that noted that “Financial Services” as an industry had, for the first time ever, supplanted “Legal Services” (aka “Attorneys”) as the highest-paying industry in the U.S.

For a brief moment, a question flashed through my head - do I tell the HR Manager that the industry for which he hires people, with which he should be intimately familiar, and which he referred to as “not having high salaries” was actually the highest paying industry in the U.S.?

At that point, I decided not to, because it was almost too humorous already. Instead, I just smiled at him a bit and didn’t respond. It made him uncomfortable, which amused me further. He called and offered me the job later that day, but at $4,000 under my proposed salary. I refused the job.

You see, being judged by someone not qualified to judge me made an impression. I would NEVER work for anyone else again, EVER. Do I sound smug/conceited/cocky as hell when I say things like this? You bet. Wanna know a secret - if you don’t have a bit of the same juice in you, you better keep working for the man, because you won’t make it otherwise.

Tags: financial services, hr manager, legg mason, salary, self employment

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