Date: 03/17/05 (IT Professionals)    Keywords: no keywords

About a year ago, a helpdesk lead position opened at my law firm. A guy applied for the position and though he rubbed a lot of us the wrong way, he got the job.

I work in another city so I wasn't able to meet him during the interview process but I met him the next day. He emitted an air of arrogance but I didn't want to judge. I smiled and shook his hand and OMG it was out of control. I know that firm handshakes generally signify confidence but this guy squeezed so hard that the handshake was extremely painful. After he didn't let go, I actually had to say aloud "Whoa there, partner. I get it. You are very confident. Please let go of my hand, it's in pain."

At that point, I didn't take his firm handshake as a vote of confidence, I took it as overcompensation. I also thought that he lacked the competency to understand that 1. I'm smaller than him and his handshake should compensate for that and 2. Just because you hold on to someone's hand after they attempt to pull away doesn't make you a "winner" in what turned out to be an apparent handshaking contest.

So anyway, that day, the guy strolled in late and then instead of being eager to learn the systems when there was downtime, he installed AIM and chatted! He then got so engrossed in chatting that he'd ignore the phone line. Now I'm a fan of AIM and all but not on the first day/month and not when it interferes with your job.

The guy was late again the second day and we called the temp agency to let them know he didn't have to come in..ever again.

I love stories like this. Got any to share?

Source: http://www.livejournal.com/community/itprofessionals/7711.html