Guild App help not answered in "Get Accepted to Any Guild" sticky

[kadragon]

I want to keep this as anonymous as possible.
I've been raiding for three tiers now and have cleared the first few heroic bosses before the next patch each time. I've talked to my current guild leader and he's ok with me leaving because I want to raid 25s, but he wants to keep the guild in 10s. We also have a replacement for my spot.
I want to join a guild whose progression usually reaches the last heroic boss before the end of the tier, but may or may not down it.
I've looked at a few guilds I'm interested in and reviewed their WoL parses.
One guild I think I would fit in well had an app for my same class/spec (Resto Druid) recently, so I looked at it to see what kind of players are apping to the guild.
The problem is that after reading it, I disagreed with many thing the applicant said. This guild's current main Resto Druid replied pointing out what is wrong with his current gems/enchant/reforge/spec, but replied with more wrong answers in my opinion (and the parses on WoL agree with me).
My problem is, if I app to this guild, I'm sure I'll be faced with the same "critiques". While I know I can easily defend my way of building my character, I don't want to offend their current member by telling him he's wrong.
One example I'll give to put it into perspective is their resto druid is gemming mastery over int.

TL;DR
The "Get Accepted to Any Guild" thread said not to offend any current members, but what do you do when their current raider of your same class/spec critiques you in your app with wrong information?

[Fetzie]

I would simply defend my gemming and enchanting in a mature and authoritative manner. Are you sure they are not just seeing how the applicants respond to criticism (trying to provoke an angry response)? Don't forget that you can always retract your application if you are then not satisfied with the response you get in return.

[Destruyen]

not only is the application process for the guild to get to know the person, it's the person's time to get to know the guild. the one thing people cannot argue against is numbers, show/explain the math if need be. for me it's bonus points if someone goes against a current raider with numbers that DON'T lie backing up their choices, maybe that's just me though. just be respectful in your responses to defending your gearing/gemming/reforging and link the math if need be. if the guild you app to still values their raider's mindset over your's even after you've shown proof that your way is actually better then i would withdraw my app ASAP if i were you.

[Charon]

^ those. Or just apply to a different guild.

[leethaxor]

If your character is gemmed and enchanted correctly then you won't be critiqued on your itemization.

Make sure to review your character before you actually apply, so that your armory doesn't have any errors. I'v emore then once screwed up my reforging and walked into a bad interview because "WTF why is this mage reforging parry on his legs?"

The only time you have to defend something is when your going off into left field which I often don't think is smart to do unless your constantly putting out very high number's or your performance is unquestionable.

If a guild is going to grill you just for the sake of grilling you... Then you most likely don't need them. Or that's my opinion.

[Reev]

Being able to defend your choices well even if they aren't the same as what the "experts" already in guild say is a huge plus in my mind.

That said, there's a lot to be said for people who show a willingness to change or adapt to the needs of the guild. If you say, "I do it this way because XYZ, which I think is a valid gearing strategy, but if the guild would prefer me to switch to ABC in order to be more effective, I'm willing to make that change."

In actual fact, the difference in reforging is seldom a large difference. What I want to know from an applicant is if they understand their class. Proper gemming/enchanting/reforging can display that, but a well reasoned argument, especially from a malleable spec like resto druid, is more impressive to me than just someone who copied EJ.