Have you ever been in the middle of a phone call that you just wished would end? The friend or relative who can't appreciate the subtle hints within normal human conversation and who insists on yakking, while you're anxiously hoping to catch the last segment of A Makeover Story. Caller ID helps, but cannot always prevent these situations. Well, there may be help...
As a service to our readers, we at Mazurland provide you with a link to an interesting assortment of sound files that you can play in the background while you give the appropriate "excuse" to end the conversation. Simply bookmark the page, and the next time you get trapped with a particularly talkative caller, you'll have your "out".
I was performing a technical interview for a potential candidate for a database administrator. This guy had me call him on his cell phone. When I asked him a difficult question he would repeat the question then go into a routine of pretending that the signal was fading. He'd say, "Hello?, Hello? I think my connection is bad. Can you hear me?" Then there'd be silence for a few seconds (I'm sure he muted his phone or at least put his hand over the mouthpiece). Suddenly he knew the answer. He did this multiple times during the interview. Needless to say he didn't get recommended for the position.
On other occasions, I have heard people flipping pages in a book or clicking their keyboard as they thought about the answer. One guy, after telling him in a tactful manner that he should get some more experience before applying for a senior level position huffed at me, "Well, that's just your opinion." I told him that, unfortunately for him, my opinion is the only opinion that counts.
Gotta Go. (g2g)
Posted by: Paul | August 04, 2005 at 08:41 AM