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Fist Bump

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Xenophon PCDGS

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Indeed - job interviews are only really useful for picking the person with the best technique for passing job interviews.

A professional personage who conducts an interview correctly looks far more deeply into matters during the interview, by use of the correct psychological testing procedures that he will have both learnt and honed to perfection. I had over thirty years of such interview developmental technique "honing" which stood me in exceedingly good stead when dealing with candidates for both senior and middle management positions.

If the interviewer does seem just to concern himself with communicational trivia, he deserves to end up with what may well be an unsuitable candidate for the position on offer. He then may then find himself in a position of appearing on "the other side of an interview panel", should a number of his so-called successfully interviewed candidates prove to have "feet of clay" when endeavouring to perform to an accepted standard of competence in their role in the company.
 
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TheKnightWho

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Given that you are a student, have you applied to go to University? When you go for your interview (which you would need to pass in order to be accepted) would you seriously consider giving them a fist bump? Or when offered a hand shake would you choose to shake their hand?

As I've stated we could not run the risk of appointing him because of the danger of him performing random acts when meeting clients. Its worth pointing out here that he shook the hand of the receptionist and the two people who interviewed him. It was only as he was leaving our headquarters that he decided to give me a fist bump. Now if it had been fist bumps all round we could have put that down to youth culture and something we could perhaps talk through. However sadly random acts of madness are too much of a risk.

I am a university student ;) But no, I didn't fist bump my interviewer. That all being said, I'd've thought it would be very easy to tell him that that's not appropriate - there's a high chance he was just nervous.

Honestly, it just seems like such a petty reason for refusing to employ someone.
 

Crossover

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No :) Living in London as a young man and paying London rent we wouldn't expect him to turn up wearing a three piece! :) He was very well turned out though.

I can't tell if you have or haven't caught on to the joke :P

I am a university student ;) But no, I didn't fist bump my interviewer. That all being said, I'd've thought it would be very easy to tell him that that's not appropriate - there's a high chance he was just nervous.

Honestly, it just seems like such a petty reason for refusing to employ someone.

Petty, maybe, but I don't see the issue. I recall being advised of a company who didn't employ anyone who, rather than coming through the pedestrian gate to enter, cut across the car park and round the barrier, if arriving on foot (great security, I know, but let's not go there!)
 

Bletchleyite

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Petty, maybe, but I don't see the issue. I recall being advised of a company who didn't employ anyone who, rather than coming through the pedestrian gate to enter, cut across the car park and round the barrier, if arriving on foot (great security, I know, but let's not go there!)

Petty in the extreme. Of course, once it was clearly stated on induction that this was a disciplinary issue, it would be quite reasonable to sack them if they repeatedly breached this (presumably H&S) rule.
 

talltim

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Well that's the thing, by all accounts the candidate interviewed very well and would have stood a very good chance of being successful if it hadn't been for his error of judgement.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Paul, thanks for your post. Its worth mentioning that I was the only one out of the four of us who was offered a fist bump and yet I was by far and away the most senior person that he had met!
Didn't you know it's the secret greeting for fellow RUK forum members?
Or maybe he just thought you were the coolest...
 
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tony_mac

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Presumably the recruitment agency did not tell him that he should not fist-bump?

I don't understand it myself, but the Wikipedia page says
A fist bump can also be a symbol of giving respect.
Maybe he was being extra respectful to the most senior person?

Personally, I think rather too much was made of it. It's a mistake in etiquette - presumably made out of ignorance; I don't see how that makes him liable to suddenly do crazy, random, things (more than any other young person!). And it's nothing that couldn't be corrected very simply with a quick word.
It sounds to me a bit like somebody was peeved at being singled out for this special treatment....
 

RJ

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Not employing a candidate because you don't like their mannerisms seems utterly ridiculous in my eyes...

Yes, it's not appropriate, but if they're excellent in every other way why should it make a shred of difference? If they'll be doing anything involving PR or whatever then it's easy to tell them it's not appropriate. If they aren't doing anything customer-facing then I can't see how it's a factor.

Work is an acting game. Anyone who can't demonstrate an understanding how to behave appropriately in a given situation, such a job interview, is at a disadvantage. If I was in the OP's shoes, I'd hold a question mark over that person's communication skills and the way they might act with customers. Especially for a role as an account manager. That's just the way it works. There are a lot of jobs out there where thousands of people have the required skill sets, but personal attributes which are a cause for concern for a recruiter. Communication is an intrinsic element of advertising - it's all about the message you're conveying to people. The hapless applicant, regardless of his technical competencies, made an error of epic proportions in my opinion.

G'day everyone,

I thought I would share the following with you all and see what your reaction is. I'm on the board of directors of an advertising company based in London. Given my senior position in the company I very rarely get involved in interviewing candidates however a couple of weeks a go I was in our London office when I was introduced to a young man who had just been interviewed for a vacancy. The gentleman was in his mid twenties and university educated with a good degree. Our Head Of Talent introduced me after which I smiled, said a few words and held my hand out for a handshake. At this point it couldn't have been more obvious that I intended to shake his hand.

However, much to my absolute amazement he decided to give me a fist bump! What on earth! Not only was my colleague shocked and perplexed but so was I. One of the biggest issues that employers have is that graduates are all too often simply not equipped for working life but even I was surprised. Rather like our own children this young man had received an excellent state education and yet I could never have imagined our own little darlings doing anything so stupid.

Some of you might think I'm being a little harsh here but our organisation is run on a informal basis where possible and everything we do is done to encourage creative talent, without which we wouldn't make any money. Needless to say the young man wasn't successful simply because of his appalling lack of judgement.

Your thoughts on this would be very welcome!

Kind regards,

Richmond Commuter!

There are a lot of talented people out of university who have never had a job before. I finish university in less than 6 weeks. Although I've had a decent education on the subject I study, I can't say university has done anything to teach me about workplace politics or etiquette - I've only learnt about those things as I've studied and worked contemporaneously since I was 16. What it can teach passively is time/workload management skills.

I hear stories about people who have struggled to adapt to the real world quickly enough after leaving university. Some can't handle the structured lifestyle, whilst others bring a misguided sense of entitlement into the workplace on the back of their degree. I attended a graduate/intern Christmas boat party the year before last and some were behaving like they were still at uni! I was thinking "whoa, you have to work with these people, how are you behaving like that?!"

Growing up in inner urban South London, fist bumps were an ingrained part of the culture. But the thought wouldn't even cross my mind to initiate one in a job interview and certainly not when being introduced to senior people. Some things in life, people don't tell you because it's so stupid unreasonable to assume it's a course of action that would be taken. The fist bump as described is one of them.

All that said however, that faux pas might not be indicative of the applicant's capabilities. If he's never worked before, given the chance it's probable that he could adapt to the working conditions with a bit of guidance. I understand why it was a terminal error, but if he was otherwise promising, perhaps the risk might have paid off.
 
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Starmill

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I loathe the whole dressing your character up thing for the 'theatre of judgement' known as going for a job interview. Sadly it seems to be a necessity of modern times, which I've resigned myself to and requires steely determination, part of which is about not doing crazy things like this! It's tolerable so long as one does not have to keep going through it all again and again without success. Oh, wait.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
To play devil's advocate for a moment, was a fist bump really any more inappropriate than the type of handshake that seems popular among business types, which involves squeezing the other person's hand REALLY EFFING HARD while grinning and winking at them without breaking eye-contact?

This is part of what I mean. I find the whole 'firm handshake and eye contact' think very cringeworthy and unnatural. But those are two of the most recurring pieces of interview advice!

I wonder how Richmond would have reacted if he'd been offered a hug? :p
 
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the sniper

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The best interview faux pas I witnessed was when I went through the assessment/interview day with BTP to become a Special Constable. One of the candidates, who I believe was encouraged to become an SPC as part of his law degree, accidentally dropped into a casual group conversation how he thought the 7/7 terrorist attack in London was an inside job committed by the Government. This was in front of us potential candidates, an Inspector, a Sergeant, a women from HR and another Sergeant who had, it turned out, had to take the witness statements of some of the BTP officers who attended the scene... Needless to say, this went down like a shockingly bad fart in a lift! I don't know whether it was the way some of our jaws dropped or the awkward silence that followed, but he made his excuses and left shortly latter. So bemused were some of us that we asked whether he was a plant and if our reactions were part of the assessment! :lol:
 

cf111

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As someone who is part of interview panels on a semi-regular basis (I've not been doing it for very long so sometimes I think I am more nervous than the interviewee!), I think I would be less "put out" by a fist bump than an overly enthusiastic handshake which has you wondering if it's some kind of masculinity contest. A fist-bump, to me, is a sign of respect, if a slightly over-familiar one to deploy in a formal environment like a job interview.

I would certainly take it into account when looking at the candidates after the interview, but it wouldn't be top of the list when making a final decision. I should add that I interview for entry-level positions and not management like some users above.
 
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DarloRich

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G'day everyone,

I thought I would share the following with you all and see what your reaction is. I'm on the board of directors of an advertising company based in London. Given my senior position in the company I very rarely get involved in interviewing candidates however a couple of weeks a go I was in our London office when I was introduced to a young man who had just been interviewed for a vacancy. The gentleman was in his mid twenties and university educated with a good degree. Our Head Of Talent introduced me after which I smiled, said a few words and held my hand out for a handshake. At this point it couldn't have been more obvious that I intended to shake his hand.

However, much to my absolute amazement he decided to give me a fist bump! What on earth! Not only was my colleague shocked and perplexed but so was I. One of the biggest issues that employers have is that graduates are all too often simply not equipped for working life but even I was surprised. Rather like our own children this young man had received an excellent state education and yet I could never have imagined our own little darlings doing anything so stupid.

Some of you might think I'm being a little harsh here but our organisation is run on a informal basis where possible and everything we do is done to encourage creative talent, without which we wouldn't make any money. Needless to say the young man wasn't successful simply because of his appalling lack of judgement.

Your thoughts on this would be very welcome!

Kind regards,

Richmond Commuter!

it seems very odd, but i suppose it depends on what you were advertising. if you were advertising for a role interacting with and managing accounts aimed at generating sales amongst teens/young adults that kind of behavior might be seen as entirely appropriate - perhaps he thought you wanted that kind of response and were testing him to see if he understood the elements of youth culture and would be the perfect chap to win their business and build profitable relationships.

To me it wasn't the right thing to do, especially with the head shed, a more sensible greeting would have been better. I would put it down to nerves or exuberance or something and if i really liked him as a candidate invite him back for a second interview to see if it was a one off.

What will you do if he asks for interview feedback?

BTW - Head of Talent? No, just no. It is recruitment or HR. "Talent" sounds like something form a working mans club ;)

Look for someone else to employ, someone able to interact at better level

Interact with you or your customers?

Perhaps he is the perfect person to deal with the more "yoof" element of the company accounts. He may interact perfectly with his peer group for whom he may be able to build business. You shouldn't judge on silly things.

Now, if you were asking him to manage an account dealing with HSBC or Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer i would agree. Perhaps not with an account for E4.
 

RichmondCommu

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it seems very odd, but i suppose it depends on what you were advertising. if you were advertising for a role interacting with and managing accounts aimed at generating sales amongst teens/young adults that kind of behavior might be seen as entirely appropriate - perhaps he thought you wanted that kind of response and re testing him to see if he understood the elements of youth culture and would be the perfect chap to win their business and build profitable relationships.

Some of our clients have very strong links to youth culture. However, even with those brands when you greet clients everything is still pretty formal and a hand shake is always expected. The young man, just like myself is from the East Midlands and if he had said "ay up" as he shook my hand my opinion would have been that to be slightly quirky is good. If a client had offered a hand shake and had received an attempted fist bump I'm afraid they would have assumed that the young man was taking the proverbial.

To me it wasn't the right thing to do, especially with the head shed, a more sensible greeting would have been better. I would put it down to nerves or exuberance or something and if i really liked him as a candidate invite him back for a second interview to see if it was a one off.

What will you do if he asks for interview feedback?

I would perhaps agree with exuberance as he would have known that his interview had gone well and that he was in with a chance. However I'm not really sure that I could put it all down to nerves as the interview had finished and I'd put him at ease with a smile and some friendly words. I thanked him for showing interest our in organisation and then tried to shake his hand.....

In terms of interview feedback, that was dealt with by HR and communicated via the recruitment agency that he is registered with. From what I understand the feed back was positive but with regret we had to advise that we needed someone who was able to think logically and think things through before acting. As an individual we really liked him and hopefully those things will come through a little bit more of life experience and maturity.

BTW - Head of Talent? No, just no. It is recruitment or HR. "Talent" sounds like something form a working mans club ;)

DarloRich, I completely agree that Head of Talent sounds ridiculous but in terms of advertising and media that's the nature of the beast! I won't tell you the industry that I worked in before because you lot would boo me off the forum but fancy titles, skinny jeans and daft hair cuts were not the order of the day!
 
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DarloRich

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I think i would have simply been confused on been offered a fist bump. I was never down with the yoof even when i was a yoof! ;)
 

Abpj17

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I'm still going for nerves

Incidentally, I watched the last series of How I Met Your Mother recently; and that had some fist-bumping between senior people at work... (tho admittedly a comedy).

And that took me to wikipedia where Obama apparently does regularly....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fist_bump
 

cb a1

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Based on the applicant's age, my first impression is that for me it would be the equivalent of a minor on a driving test. Raises a question, but on its own would be insufficient for a fail.
 

PermitToTravel

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Based on the applicant's age, my first impression is that for me it would be the equivalent of a minor on a driving test. Raises a question, but on its own would be insufficient for a fail.

I thought I'd clicked on the "alcohol limit for train drivers" thread and was shocked by your post!
 

Strat-tastic

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I can imagine him, ten seconds later, heading out the door after putting in a good interview... "What the &*&*& did I go and do that for! :roll: "
 

cb a1

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I can imagine him, ten seconds later, heading out the door after putting in a good interview... "What the &*&*& did I go and do that for! :roll: "
Been there, done that!

Age: 21. Status: Just left Uni - unemployed.

Last two questions for a starting role in a pension company after what I thought was a really good interview.

Interviewer: "Have you applied for any other jobs?"
Me: "Yes"
Interviewer: "If we offered you the job, would you still go to those interviews?"
Me: "Yes"
Interviewer: "Well, thanks for coming in, we'll be in touch"

I didn't get the job!
 

Clip

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I had 3 people swear in interviews a while back. Just stopped them there and then. Imagine going for a fist bump though - amazing!
 

RichmondCommu

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I am a university student ;) But no, I didn't fist bump my interviewer. That all being said, I'd've thought it would be very easy to tell him that that's not appropriate - there's a high chance he was just nervous.

Honestly, it just seems like such a petty reason for refusing to employ someone.

Nervous before an interview; yes we've all been there. However given that his interview had finished there should have been no reason for nerves. Our attitude was if he's done something irrational at the end of an interview what else is he capable of doing in another setting?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I can't tell if you have or haven't caught on to the joke :P

Yes I did, eventually! :)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Presumably the recruitment agency did not tell him that he should not fist-bump?

Suggesting that the agency should tell him not to fist bump is on a par with telling him to take a shower on the morning of his interview and to polish his shoes.
 
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RichmondCommu

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Personally, I think rather too much was made of it. It's a mistake in etiquette - presumably made out of ignorance; I don't see how that makes him liable to suddenly do crazy, random, things (more than any other young person!). And it's nothing that couldn't be corrected very simply with a quick word.
It sounds to me a bit like somebody was peeved at being singled out for this special treatment....

We have recruited several bright young things to work for our organisation since I've been employed here and all have demonstrated their ability to make rational and well thought out decisions.

If you instigate a hand shake and someone responds with a fist bump in no way could that be described as either rational or well thought out.

As for my apparent “special treatment”! Given my levels of responsibility and the fact that I rarely get involved in the interview process it was hardly going to keep me awake at night. In all honesty I did not seek to influence the decision on whether to appointment the young man, I leave that to others. I only discovered that we had hired someone else when I signed off the invoice from the recruitment agency. However it did not come as a surprise.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Only if you know that is something you should do. Never assume everyone is the same.............

Now that's very true however the recruitment agency and in particular the recruitment consultant that we deal with are very experienced and would always seek to cover all bases. They have put forward hundreds if not thousands of candidates for positions and if they thought it necessary to counsel against the use of a fist bump they would have.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Growing up in inner urban South London, fist bumps were an ingrained part of the culture. But the thought wouldn't even cross my mind to initiate one in a job interview and certainly not when being introduced to senior people. Some things in life, people don't tell you because it's so stupid unreasonable to assume it's a course of action that would be taken. The fist bump as described is one of them.

In my previous career I worked with someone who had been raised in one of the roughest estates in Newham. At times the language he used was appalling however he knew how to behave when out with clients. Despite the lack of a university education he was very successful and indeed made a lot of money.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I wonder how Richmond would have reacted if he'd been offered a hug? :p

To be honest I would have probably walked off and eaten my lunch.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I'm still going for nerves

Incidentally, I watched the last series of How I Met Your Mother recently; and that had some fist-bumping between senior people at work... (tho admittedly a comedy).

And that took me to wikipedia where Obama apparently does regularly....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fist_bump

As I said previously given that the interview had finished there would have been no reason for him to be nervous.

In all fairness what happens on a TV comedy program has no relevance here.

And as for Mr Obama, its hardly surprising that he wants to be seen to be in touch with youth culture.
 
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