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Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:11 am
by Jawa
Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?

Having been in my current job that pre-dates my cycling ive never been in that position. But with Australians apparent disdain for cyclists ive often wondered if I would drop that info or not

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 9:33 am
by RobertL
Jawa wrote:Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?

Having been in my current job that pre-dates my cycling ive never been in that position. But with Australians apparent disdain for cyclists ive often wondered if I would drop that info or not
Q: What are your hobbies?

A: Just the usual - sex, drugs, rock and roll. :)

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:23 am
by CKinnard
Jawa wrote:Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?

Having been in my current job that pre-dates my cycling ive never been in that position. But with Australians apparent disdain for cyclists ive often wondered if I would drop that info or not
good question.

cycling could go very much for or against you.
I think it depends on the sector and level you work at.

Road cycling and generally staying fit and healthy seems very popular among professionals in some sectors (mining, engineering, law, medicine).

In other sectors and levels, you just need to keep your mouth shut. Men wearing lycra and riding on the road is the pinnacle of narcissism to many who have a tough and unfulfilling life.

I think an interesting exercise is to frame the question to yourself using an antithetical scenario. If you were an employer and a candidate expressed his interest in modifying his high performance car, and hanging with a group reknowned for hooning, how would that influence your view? Or a candidate with a strong interest in guns and hunting? Or they belong to the One Nation Party, or The Greens Party, or are staunch vegans?!! or are trans gender??? etc, etc :shock:

You want to keep in mind at interviews that employers take on a worker's compensation insurance overhead for your work commutes, and they may perceive cycle commuting as a serious risk of increasing that overhead.

OTOH, if you stay fitter, they may think you will take less sick leave.

As with a lot of things, develop your intuition, stay true to yourself, and "cast not pearls before swine".

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:17 am
by fat and old
Jawa wrote:Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?
I've shown up to site meetings and boardroom meetings in my lycra. Go on, say something. Make my day :lol: :)

Always have my hivis and boots with me in on site situations. Just get changed if need be.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 10:51 am
by cancan64
I am job hunting at the moment but take alternative transport if I have an interview and if its just an agent I maker them come to me so I dont waste a commuting day.. having said that I do mention that I cycle to work at the interview as I need a shower in the morning so like to check that they have facilities available.
Of course the hard part seems to be getting interviews... I applied for a role around the corner for a the same role that I have been doing for the last 2 years but with a different government department (building houses instead of schools). The PD looked a copy of my PD and yet I didnt get past the first cut..

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 10:59 am
by P!N20
Jawa wrote:Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?
No way. That's religion.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 1:16 pm
by Arbuckle23
CKinnard wrote: You want to keep in mind at interviews that employers take on a worker's compensation insurance overhead for your work commutes, and they may perceive cycle commuting as a serious risk of increasing that overhead.
Not in all states. Jeff Kennett got rid of that in Victoria

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 6:47 pm
by CKinnard
Arbuckle23 wrote:
CKinnard wrote: You want to keep in mind at interviews that employers take on a worker's compensation insurance overhead for your work commutes, and they may perceive cycle commuting as a serious risk of increasing that overhead.
Not in all states. Jeff Kennett got rid of that in Victoria
Well, probably fair enough. I don't see why an employer should be liable for an employee once he knocks off work.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:39 am
by zebee
I believe they are liable for you until you exit their premises, that is the premises they are responsible for. At least in NSW and ACT.

So I'm on the books till I get out off the carpark and off the private entrance. That's cos the courts are not interested in policing when you "start work". Do they have to count the time before your first coffee cos it isn't useful work till then? What if you chat to someone in the corridor before bum touches seat for the first time? Too hard , so you start work when you are on the company's premises instead of public land and stop work when you leave them.

(different rules for people who go to non-company managed worksites of course but for your average chair-driver, that's the rule. There had to be a specific ruling to cover chair drivers going to meetings in different premises to cover them in transit)

My lot are very into cyclists. Big hooforaw about sustainable transport and so on, plus we have a fair crop of MAMILs in the upper middle management. So saying you ride to work is a bonus here. Not that you'd necessarily know it seeing how long it took to get the shower/change extended! One of the few bonuses to being female in the corporate world: the bike changerooms are hardly used so always space to shower and change. The blokes were crawling over each other. In our building anyway, the management building got theirs a couple of years earlier. Funny that.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:32 am
by Warin
Jawa wrote:Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?
One place I work in had a significant management running section.
One intrervieweee said she was into running.
"A runner" :D they said. The boss "A runner" :( he was not into running.
She clarified it with "I'm into distance, not sprints or short stuff."
She got the job, and was a very good employee.

So it depends. They may be seeing if you 'll fit in socially.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 5:52 pm
by g-boaf
cancan64 wrote:I am job hunting at the moment but take alternative transport if I have an interview and if its just an agent I maker them come to me so I dont waste a commuting day.. having said that I do mention that I cycle to work at the interview as I need a shower in the morning so like to check that they have facilities available.
Of course the hard part seems to be getting interviews... I applied for a role around the corner for a the same role that I have been doing for the last 2 years but with a different government department (building houses instead of schools). The PD looked a copy of my PD and yet I didnt get past the first cut..
Some of those adverts are just procedural so they can move someone already at the department into a full time role.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 6:19 pm
by Ross
Jawa wrote:Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?

Having been in my current job that pre-dates my cycling ive never been in that position. But with Australians apparent disdain for cyclists ive often wondered if I would drop that info or not
I used to have it on my resume, but have now taken it off, not because of any stigma related to cycling, just heard that it wasn't a thing to list hobbies on your resume.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 6:23 pm
by Ross
CKinnard wrote:
Arbuckle23 wrote:
CKinnard wrote: You want to keep in mind at interviews that employers take on a worker's compensation insurance overhead for your work commutes, and they may perceive cycle commuting as a serious risk of increasing that overhead.
Not in all states. Jeff Kennett got rid of that in Victoria
Well, probably fair enough. I don't see why an employer should be liable for an employee once he knocks off work.
I think they should. Youi are only going to or from the employer's premises for one reason, as part of your employment. It is part of working as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 6:59 pm
by London Boy
zebee wrote:I believe they are liable for you until you exit their premises, that is the premises they are responsible for. At least in NSW and ACT.
Don't know about ACT, but in NSW you are covered for your journey between home and work, but only "if there is a real and substantial connection between the employment and the accident or incident". There is so little case law on what that means that we really don't know how it would play. There was one case of an employee told to change her hours, temporarily, to work until later in the evening. She won her case because the hours she was told to work meant she was forced to drive in the dark.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:37 pm
by CKinnard
Ross wrote: I think they should. Youi are only going to or from the employer's premises for one reason, as part of your employment. It is part of working as far as I'm concerned.
Once you go down that path, the employer has a vested interest in an employee's behavior in the employee's private life and time, which opens the door to an employer sacking someone or not employing them for choices made away from work.

You could also argue that an employee is not allowed to drink alcohol on the way home from work, and it becomes a lawyer's picnic to debate what is a significant delay or deviation from the work commute.

Where these extended overheads on employers are an issue is in significantly increasing the obstacles to new start ups and innovation.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 8:11 pm
by fat and old
Ross wrote:
CKinnard wrote:
Arbuckle23 wrote:
Not in all states. Jeff Kennett got rid of that in Victoria
Well, probably fair enough. I don't see why an employer should be liable for an employee once he knocks off work.
I think they should. Youi are only going to or from the employer's premises for one reason
Yes. To make money. Which is solely the individuals choice.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 4:20 pm
by HenryCharlie
I certainly don't ask interviewee's questions about their hobbies and interests, I'm only interested in their work. I'd be pretty shocked if I was asked myself, I thought those days were long past...but not been interviewed for a bloody long time so could be wrong.

I wouldn't hide the fact I like cycling though and I'd be asking them about EOT facilities if I was interviewed.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:26 pm
by bychosis
London Boy wrote:
zebee wrote:I believe they are liable for you until you exit their premises, that is the premises they are responsible for. At least in NSW and ACT.
Don't know about ACT, but in NSW you are covered for your journey between home and work, but only "if there is a real and substantial connection between the employment and the accident or incident". There is so little case law on what that means that we really don't know how it would play. There was one case of an employee told to change her hours, temporarily, to work until later in the evening. She won her case because the hours she was told to work meant she was forced to drive in the dark.
AFAIK a few years ago ‘journey claims’ (to and from work) were stopped for workers compensation coverage in nsw a few years ago. Our organisation obtained insurance for the journey claims as part of the superannuation fund or something like that so we are still covered, but it is not part fo the workers comp insurance. I haven’t heard if it changed back to full workers comp.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:17 pm
by human909
HenryCharlie wrote:I certainly don't ask interviewee's questions about their hobbies and interests, I'm only interested in their work. I'd be pretty shocked if I was asked myself, I thought those days were long past...
You seem to be implying that such discussion is not appropriate or useful in an interview. I do find that quite odd.

In my experience if you only talk about work and work history it is much harder to gauge a person's emotional intelligence. AKA their interpersonal skills which useful in most jobs and essential in many. I find it much easier to elicit broader information about somebodies character, skillset and suitability for roles by having a conversation with them beyond just work.

Of course if an employee work in roles which are mostly task and skill orientated and have fewer interpersonal skills needed then the need to assess these areas become less. But these are certainly the minority of roles.

(Of course straight out asking what are your hobbies and interest is not necessarily the best way to go about it. The point is engagement in conversation beyond simply work history.)


Even including interest on a resume is debated.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:07 am
by bychosis
human909 wrote: In my experience if you only talk about work and work history it is much harder to gauge a person's emotional intelligence. AKA their interpersonal skills which useful in most jobs and essential in many. I find it much easier to elicit broader information about somebodies character, skillset and suitability for roles by having a conversation with them beyond just work.
That’s a gap in our recruitment process at work, at least for other than senior management. In order to be ‘fair’ we have to ask the same questions to each candidate. True, there is an option for the candidate to ask questions, but little opportunity for conversation.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:21 am
by RonK
redsonic wrote:
All I'd have been required to do was merely present myself there at the appropriate time each day.If I walked on my hands, used PTV, or bounced there on a pogo stick would seem immaterial.
In Queensland, Workcover covers you for your journey to and from your workplace. Given that a road accident claim could increase a potential employer's Workcover premiums, I was careful in interviews not to reveal that I had travelled there by motorbike.
Yes, and I've actually known one company I was consulting to in Brisbane to discourage employees from cycling to work, even though they provided end-of-trip facilities.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:05 am
by RonK
Jawa wrote:Question, if you were asked in an interview what your hobbies, interests were are would you say cycling?

Having been in my current job that pre-dates my cycling ive never been in that position. But with Australians apparent disdain for cyclists ive often wondered if I would drop that info or not
Without hesitation.

It pays to keeps an open mind. Not everyone has a negative take on cycling, in fact it's a common interest among many corporates.

Most employers do internet searches before they even decide who to interview. Whatever you post on social media is likely to be exposed. If you are smart enough you can even take advantage of this.

My current employer already knew I was a cycle tourist when I went to the interview - they had found my touring journals on the web. They were impressed, and that got things off to a very good start.

If the company/interviewer was anti-cycling I would not want to work there. Part of my interview of the company is to determine those attitudes.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:13 pm
by London Boy
bychosis wrote:
London Boy wrote:
zebee wrote:I believe they are liable for you until you exit their premises, that is the premises they are responsible for. At least in NSW and ACT.
Don't know about ACT, but in NSW you are covered for your journey between home and work, but only "if there is a real and substantial connection between the employment and the accident or incident". There is so little case law on what that means that we really don't know how it would play. There was one case of an employee told to change her hours, temporarily, to work until later in the evening. She won her case because the hours she was told to work meant she was forced to drive in the dark.
AFAIK a few years ago ‘journey claims’ (to and from work) were stopped for workers compensation coverage in nsw a few years ago. Our organisation obtained insurance for the journey claims as part of the superannuation fund or something like that so we are still covered, but it is not part fo the workers comp insurance. I haven’t heard if it changed back to full workers comp.
What I just outlined was the change. The "real and substantial connection" with work.

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 5:05 pm
by Mububban
RonK wrote:Most employers do internet searches before they even decide who to interview. Whatever you post on social media is likely to be exposed. If you are smart enough you can even take advantage of this.
If your Facebook profile is set to private, the only thing they can see is your current profile pic isn't it?

Re: Went to this job interview other week..

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2018 5:23 pm
by RonK
Mububban wrote:
RonK wrote:Most employers do internet searches before they even decide who to interview. Whatever you post on social media is likely to be exposed. If you are smart enough you can even take advantage of this.
If your Facebook profile is set to private, the only thing they can see is your current profile pic isn't it?
Do you trust Facebook? Any group or thread you post in is likely to be visible.

But anyway it's only one of many places where there may be data about you.

Have you Googled your own name recently?