I find it really odd that some companies still try to pretend they have the upper hand when the economy is doing well. I have no idea why they behave like this. I suspect that because the industry overall is driven for whatever reason toward younger people - and try to drive out older workers - that they have almost no memory. Certainly no concept that the people they are dealing with tend to be incredibly intelligent, and tend to network with others, and will tell people to steer clear of certain companies that don't project the right attitudes.


In other words, the evaluation done during an "interview" is a TWO WAY street, not one way. Companies that think they are there to interrogate a subject to see if they will sing and dance just so are doing it wrong. The people they think are there to plead their case for a job may have many other irons in the fire.


In a down market, the behavior of toxic companies is even worse. I've seen some truly awful and frankly, stupid, behavior.