Rolex and job interview

[flex]

no problem.. just wear a black dialled explorer II or something.. your job would be client facing i assume. Everyone in the banks wears Rolex or Cartier. don't they?

[Toadtorrent]

no problem.. just wear a black dialled explorer II or something.. your job would be client facing i assume. Everyone in the banks wears Rolex or Cartier. don't they?

Generally not the tellers...but mine the other day had a vintage Omega on.

[Chicken Manny]

I interview people all the time and I can't think of one time that I worried about if the canidate needed a job. Although I have dealt with the thought prior to letting someone go. I have seen people come off as desperate, which didn't go over well. I always look for high capability and drive. If a guy walked in with a nice watch I would tend to think they have some level of drive. A good portion of the top sales people I have worked with had nice watches.

The only time I was caught off guard was when I saw a young new guy (I didn't hire him) with a Red Sub. I was sure if must be a rep......it isn't.

I know there are a few other members that have some experience in this (TT ) What say you?

Just for the record, once again. Wear the damn thing and don't worry about it. The only way it is going to hurt you is if you look like you are worried about your watch. Walk in there like you are worth every penny. But NO other jewelry, other than a wedding ring. You can wear a class ring if you went to a top school. Please don't wear your Univ of Pheonix class ring. Nothing wrong with the degree but really, do you need to wear a class ring.

[RobbieG]

Agree with Stephane. If you are successful and you have good taste don't hide it. If the guy interviewing you is going to be affected by your image in that way trust me, you don't want to work for him anyway. Just the tip of the iceberg. Successful men tend to frive nice cars, wear nice clothes and wear nice watches. If anyone is going to perceive you as flaunting these things simply because you dare to wear them or even talk about them if they interest you isn't worth your time. However, I am always amazed just how many people there are out there that are like that so you always have to expect it to some degree. Usually IME, people who would judge you for such a thing are unhappy with their own station in life so they try and "take the shine of others down" in order to somehow make themselves look better in judgeing you. So I say not only should you wear the GMT - wear it proudly and if you should one day have a twenty thousand dollar gen and a hundred thousand dollar car or whatever, you should wear and drive those proudly too!

How old are you? 18?

No, I don't think so.

So, why the hell wouldn't you wear it?

All his life my father wanted to buy and drive a Jaguar.

He could afford one by the way.

He never did it because he said that his customers would see him as a TOO successfull man.

My question is: who are you trusting yourself?

A successfull man or a cheap one?

As Tee Jay said, wear it without showing off.

Unless you are too young to have saved 4.000$ of course. Then don't wear it.

Do not wear a two tone either.

But come on, a manager in a bank should be able to afford a Rolex after some years of carreer, isn't it.

A Tag or Omega isn't that cheaper anyway

Oh, because it's a rep isn't the point either. As you won't show it off

Great tip for interviews: imagine the interviewer using the toilet or see him misstreated by an SM professionel

Good luck.

Cheers

Stephane

[TeeJay]

Agree with Stephane. If you are successful and you have good taste don't hide it. If the guy interviewing you is going to be affected by your image in that way trust me, you don't want to work for him anyway. Just the tip of the iceberg. Successful men tend to frive nice cars, wear nice clothes and wear nice watches. If anyone is going to perceive you as flaunting these things simply because you dare to wear them or even talk about them if they interest you isn't worth your time. However, I am always amazed just how many people there are out there that are like that so you always have to expect it to some degree. Usually IME, people who would judge you for such a thing are unhappy with their own station in life so they try and "take the shine of others down" in order to somehow make themselves look better in judgeing you. So I say not only should you wear the GMT - wear it proudly and if you should one day have a twenty thousand dollar gen and a hundred thousand dollar car or whatever, you should wear and drive those proudly too!

For sure, bro, but, there's a fine line between wearing something with pride, and flashing it like a poser Indeed, there'll always be the inadequates out there who have to bring others down to make themselves feel bigger, but, that's still no reason to actually live up to their accusation, heck, what better way to deflate such a person than being so understated about something, all they do is draw attention to their own inadequacies

[fakemaster]

You shouldn't be flashy at an interview.

[RobbieG]

I guess I see things a bit differently than many here but I tend to look at things the other way around. I hire people who want, not need to work for me. Need? Ouch. Maybe for charity work but not here. In my experience, needy people are usually needy for a reason. And that reason isn't usually a good one. The brightest and most talented people I want to surround myself with don't need me or my job. Again, they want it because they want to be part of something that can take them to the next level. I personally would never consider hiring anyone who wasn't very successful already. To that end, I tend to look at things like where a guy lives, what he drives, and the watch he wears as a way to help paint a picture of where a guy is at in his life. Shallow to be sure, but astoundingly accurate. Make no mistake - it makes no difference to me the answers to any of these questions, nor do I judge people on these things. I'm just saying for the purpose of this thread that if I'm interviewing a guy who wears a nice watch and drives a fancy car (as my lead guy was when I hired him) it is obvious to me that the guy isn't looking to me to make him a success. He already is. To me, the best interviews are the ones that I don't have to even talk about the specifics of the job with a guy because I just know he is the one. I know it when he shakes my hand. I am more interested to see what we have in common in tastes and interests to see how we might get along and whether he has a certain killer instinct to go with his brains.

When I hired my right hand man the whole time I was thinking about how I could convince him to come with me and how much I would need to put on the table to get him to take the job. Part of that was because he was wearing a gen VC at the interview which was WAY out of the league of people in his type of position. He bought that watch because he made a ton of money being the absolute best in the world at what he does. Lucky me. He nearly doubled my drop since he has been here. I guarantee you, anyone worried about what an interviewer thinks or says isn't at the top of the heap. And anyone who is at the top of the heap isn't ever going to give a second thought about what his new boss thinks of his car or watch or how he carries them. What is the old addage? If you have to ask, you ain't got it - or something to that effect...

To that end I think most interviewers are just suckers if they are wasting time wondering why a guy is wearing a Rolex and whether he is being "flashy". I just don't get it. I'm thinking the opposite. If the guy is flashy he must be confident and if he can back it up by proving has made some dough doing what he does even better. Maybe that means he might be pretty good at it and I need to pay closer attention to him. And he usually is. Certainly more than the next guy who is nervous, and or timid, and or seems to interested in what I think. The guys I hire come in and tell me I need them because they are smarter than me. Literally. Push me around and show me you are the sh*t. I love it. Because if you aren't I have no use for you. That is the kind of house I want to run and that is exactly why we have become so successful. I have surrounded myself with confident, opinionated, think-tank oriented geniuses who are more than capable of doing everything I do and more. Good for me huh? I'm the dumbest guy here.

Look as you can see I'm passionate about this topic and it is for a good reason. I this whole world unraveling in hands of idiots because of this very issue. Entirely too many positions are decided by a*s kissing the "interviewer" and other senseless nonsense. The bottom line is less than 1% of all interviewers are ever going to hire the smartest guy because they are too busy looking at the wrong things and/or being threatened and trying to prevent being upstaged. To that end, too many companies are run by chumps too insecure to surround themselves with greatness. I do realize that in finance it is a little easier to measure these things than in other industries in that the guy who can make the most money with the least risk will always be the best, but similar measures can be used in most businesses.

And in closing I would offer this evidence of what I speak to any interviewer who would judge someone based on what he wore to the interview. The lowest member of my crew right now is single handedly responsible for doubling productivity in the last year. He is also by far the youngest and has the single most expensive wristwatch and the highest dollar car of all of us. And he bought them (no, not inherited) by working in the very field in which he was hired here for. He drove to meet me in that car and wearing that watch. I loved every minute of the interview. He interviewed me...

[RobbieG]

Oh yeah. I get all that brother for sure, but I think these things should be looked past in interviews and one should look for other information. You can use someone's demeanor as an information tool and what you find isn't usually inadequacies - Usually quite the opposite. All I'm saying is that that is kind of the problem with nice things. There is always going to be a big number of people who are going to perceive it as flash if it isn't their thing. Nothing you can do about it and so I think it is not worth worrying about.

For sure, bro, but, there's a fine line between wearing something with pride, and flashing it like a poser Indeed, there'll always be the inadequates out there who have to bring others down to make themselves feel bigger, but, that's still no reason to actually live up to their accusation, heck, what better way to deflate such a person than being so understated about something, all they do is draw attention to their own inadequacies

[TeeJay]

Oh yeah. I get all that brother for sure, but I think these things should be looked past in interviews and one should look for other information. You can use someone's demeanor as an information tool and what you find isn't usually inadequacies - Usually quite the opposite. All I'm saying is that that is kind of the problem with nice things. There is always going to be a big number of people who are going to perceive it as flash if it isn't their thing. Nothing you can do about it and so I think it is not worth worrying about.

You're not wrong there, bro, and I totally agree with everything you said in your post above, as well. If the person's right for the job, then they're right for the job, but most important of all, they need to know that themselves and project it with confidence, not be going into an interview 'cap in hand' hoping to get lucky. If my last employed job taught me anything, it was to not doubt myself or my instincts about anything: People, industry, economic shifts, all that jazz. It also taught me not to work for inadequates. My last area manager was an ass of the heighest order. Thought he knew it all, and thought he was always right because he'd been with the company 20 years, when infact, he was always proven wrong in the end, and a classic example of someone who was in a job role they weren't actually capable of performing, but allowed to continue, as many years of service to the company had showed him to be a loyal minion. Well, that was, he was allowed to continue until his actions towards me cost the company a load of money Working for myself might not be as secure as I'd like in terms of a regular paycheck, but it sure does promote a self of pride in oneself and one's job (I know, pride is considered a sin, and I'm not meaning 'pride' in a way connected to arrogance, I just mean 'pride' as in not having to work under a cloud of shame or belittlement)

You never did PM me about your requirements for the logo design

[RobbieG]

Yeah, I forgot - the software offshoot logo. Let me give it some thought again and I'l give you some ideas.

And good for you regarding the job. There is nothing worse than a leader who knows it all. What we need are more leaders that only know success comes from nurturing talent and that you are only as good as your weakest link. Surrouding yourself with those who know more than you is the only way to truly achieve anything great in life. But if they aren't able to allow your own ego to step down. Half the time my right hand speaks I tell him he makes me feel stupid and then he will say something like yeah but he doesn't see the big picture of how to get it all humming and pay us off. And we really aren't blowing smoke. We both mean it and appreciate each other. They say you should respect your own intellect. and in this case, details aside, we try to operate on the level of knowing that we are each just smart enough to know we couldn't do what we do without each other, nor could we duplicate it with a substitution. I think what I'm talking about exists in all things. It reminds me of that great old line: "You see that dog over there? He's the best hunting dog I ever seen or heard about and I didn't teach him a damn thing..." The best things is life - ideas, freindships, success, etc. are never made - they just are as they should be given the components and the result of the marriage of them. Gargage in, garbage out. But if you put evolved thinking in, evolution comes out. Cool how that works. Or as Carlos Castaneda would say, "The Universe is unfolding as it should."

You're not wrong there, bro, and I totally agree with everything you said in your post above, as well. If the person's right for the job, then they're right for the job, but most important of all, they need to know that themselves and project it with confidence, not be going into an interview 'cap in hand' hoping to get lucky. If my last employed job taught me anything, it was to not doubt myself or my instincts about anything: People, industry, economic shifts, all that jazz. It also taught me not to work for inadequates. My last area manager was an ass of the heighest order. Thought he knew it all, and thought he was always right because he'd been with the company 20 years, when infact, he was always proven wrong in the end, and a classic example of someone who was in a job role they weren't actually capable of performing, but allowed to continue, as many years of service to the company had showed him to be a loyal minion. Well, that was, he was allowed to continue until his actions towards me cost the company a load of money Working for myself might not be as secure as I'd like in terms of a regular paycheck, but it sure does promote a self of pride in oneself and one's job (I know, pride is considered a sin, and I'm not meaning 'pride' in a way connected to arrogance, I just mean 'pride' as in not having to work under a cloud of shame or belittlement)

You never did PM me about your requirements for the logo design

[Guest Carl]

Wear it.

Carl

[space]

If it was me that had this interview, after reading this I would let that Rolex stay at home that day. Now you get worried and distracted by wearing it.

Just that you actually asked this question tells me you're thinking too much about it to wear it in this interview.

I don't know about the States, but here in Norway, maybe 1/10.000 knows/cares about watches, but if the watch sais Rolex on the dial, 90% of all peoples first reaction after noticing is thinking it's a fake.

At work, I had been wearing my UPO, Cartier and Panerai for a year without anyone saying anything, but when a collegue walked in with a new goldplated danish-quartz-something some people was like "Wow! Fancy watch" etc...

I have talked to some of them about Omega, and they didn't even know the brand. "If it's over $150 you spent too much on your watch" is the common reaction. "This $20 digital shows the time too".

The people I'm talking about are making approx $50.000 - $100.000 a year.

[RobbieG]

Good point regarding Rolex. If you are young and not known to be or interviewing for a high income job this is probably true. I am guilty of it myself. If I am in a bank or something and see an employee who I know earns less than 40K a year wearing a Rolex I would think to myself right off the bat that it is a rep. And despite all I said above this could be an interview hinderance since if the guy thinks you are wearing a fake Rollie he might wonder why you thought it was important to show people you are rich. But if you are interviewing for a job that pays say $250K plus bonuses and you are wearing a Rolex, chances are the interviewer isn't going to think your watch is a fake for a second...

So the salary is probably a good benchmark with age maybe a close second. The line is probably at around a hundred grand US and anything under is going to be on the fence as to whether the interviewer thinks it is a fake - even if it isn't. But that is of course limited to being a Rolex phenomenon because as you say, most everyone doesn't even know the other brands enough to even recognise them.

I don't know about the States, but here in Norway, maybe 1/10.000 knows/cares about watches, but if the watch sais Rolex on the dial, 90% of all peoples first reaction after noticing is thinking it's a fake.

[vmena]

Wear it.

Carl

Hide it

[TeeJay]

Yeah, I forgot - the software offshoot logo. Let me give it some thought again and I'l give you some ideas.

And good for you regarding the job. There is nothing worse than a leader who knows it all. What we need are more leaders that only know success comes from nurturing talent and that you are only as good as your weakest link. Surrouding yourself with those who know more than you is the only way to truly achieve anything great in life. But if they aren't able to allow your own ego to step down. Half the time my right hand speaks I tell him he makes me feel stupid and then he will say something like yeah but he doesn't see the big picture of how to get it all humming and pay us off. And we really aren't blowing smoke. We both mean it and appreciate each other. They say you should respect your own intellect. and in this case, details aside, we try to operate on the level of knowing that we are each just smart enough to know we couldn't do what we do without each other, nor could we duplicate it with a substitution. I think what I'm talking about exists in all things. It reminds me of that great old line: "You see that dog over there? He's the best hunting dog I ever seen or heard about and I didn't teach him a damn thing..." The best things is life - ideas, freindships, success, etc. are never made - they just are as they should be given the components and the result of the marriage of them. Gargage in, garbage out. But if you put evolved thinking in, evolution comes out. Cool how that works. Or as Carlos Castaneda would say, "The Universe is unfolding as it should."

No problem bro Just give me some ideas, and I'll see what I can come up with for you

I think you're absolutely right about ego. That was my area manager's problem. He would accuse me of being arrogant, out of fear that I had a better grasp of certain aspects of the job to him. He would be forever complaining that profits were down on the previous year, or if it was a slow week, but, if I pointed out that it was a slow week because it was the week before payday, so people were obviously short on cash, you could literally hear the cogs between his ears, or, on another occasion, when I pointed out that the previous year, the country hadn't been in a recession, all he could come out with was that the country wasn't in a recession (okay, maybe not officially declared, but at the end of the day, the same thing ) and accused me of needing to get better information He even accused me of being arrogant, because I wouldn't let people treat me like shit, and expected people to behave with courtesy Any suggestions I made which would have increased profits, were flat ignored, all because, at the end of the day, his ego made him think that I was just out to make him look bad and steal his job, when in fact, all I was trying to do, was do mine, in a professional and competent way, and take an interest in the workings of the industry, so I could be more efficient at my job. I think that was ultimately what was so frustrating... Oh well, water under the bridge now

It's as you say with friendships as well. Some people, it takes a while to warm to enough to have a reasonable relationship, but others, you just get on with immediately, the first time you meet them