Ask A Job Interviewer

[jamestyler]

• People not wearing suits and looking like a million bucks, gone. There are certain events in life that call for you to look your best, your wedding, for example.

I was interviewed for a job last year. There was some guy blocking me on the stairs clutching his head in his hands. He was wearing a tracksuit, trainers and some decorative chains that would make Mr T proud. I thought he was drunk and about to vomit, I bypassed and continued.

When I got to the office I was greeted with a smile. "Finally someone in a suit, I just kicked out an idiot in a tracksuit."

I got the job.

• The ones who don't work out are the one's who are selling themselves. They turn everything around about how great they are. They speak in generalities and stumble when I ask for specific examples.

I hate that. Especially in group interviews when it turns into a competitive bragging session. I have an intriguing background (well, it's normal to me, strange to everyone else) and always play it down... then in one on one interviews admit flaws or inexperience, say I'm eager to learn new things and adapt. And I'm often successful with that. Those who go too far to impress just look foolish.

Though I did play it too casual once... my department was closing so the company re-interviewed us for new positions. I was asked a pretty standard question, "If I had to canditates with the same abilities and background, why should I choose you?"

The whole situation and the way they dealt with it didn't exactly make me want to take it seriously. So my answer was simply "Because I'm bringing sexy back."

I was not hired for the new department.

 

[Captain Shaw]

The jobs i am qualified for all all minim wage dead end jobs so no matter how much thought i but in to the interview before i go i all ways struggle to come up with a convince answer to why do you want to work for us question.

 

[Barbados Slim]

From all my experience in getting interviewed the most common thing interviewers seemed to be looking for is my ability to bullshit and schmooze, and being a good bullshitter is not a helpful trait for any job I've interviewed for.

This is probably why you had trouble at those other interviews. The people who have the attitude that you have BS your way through an interview fail that interview. I actually chose one person over another because we all felt like the latter person was a bullshitter and the former was being herself.

I certainly didn't do much in the way of bullshitting in any of my interviews. People 'feel' like they need to bullshit because that's what the resume guides say to do, and it certainly seemed like what the interviewers wanted from me. But here's the thing, if you ask me what my biggest weakness is, I'll probably tell you an actual weakness, instead of declaring that "I just work too damned hard", "I just love my workplace more than my friends or my family", or any other complete bullshit attempt at spinning a 'weakness' into a 'strength'. If you have seen Michael on The Office interviewing for a job at Corporate then you know what I mean.

Here's a little secret: Most managers suck at interviewing. They ask stereotypical questions like "What are your weaknesses" or "Where do you see yourself in five years" that don't tell you anything about the candidate. Why? Because while there are a billion guides for interviewees, there aren't as many for interviewers. My company has a three part course for managers and they had an entire day on interviewing. It was eye-opening how the process is useless without preparation. I'd say the exception would be like more technical stuff where skillset is specific.

As far as weakness strength thing, here's my question I ask tells me the same thing but in a much better way: Describe a time when you were highly effective at rebounding after a failure. The question forces them to actually draw from an experience where they did something wrong. They have to tell me a story. Stories are key. Stories are specific. Non-specific answers tell me nothing about the person. And for me, it's an automatic fail if someone says "I don't ever make mistakes" which believe me is most people. Point is, being honest and admitting that you're a flawed human who can own up to your future errors while working with that company goes much further. You do have to come up with a story that's appropriate because if you said something like "one time I fell in love with the receptionist and she put a restraining order on me" then you've just gone too far.

And I am suspicious of anyone who tells you that "selling yourself" is bad. That's what a job interview is. True, it's not all about you--rather, it's about what you can do for the company. That's what they want to hear. What skills and experience do you have that they need? Draw attention to those things. Find out what problems the department is facing--a fairly straightforward task if you ask the right questions--and explain how you think you can help them.

Which brings me to one of the most important points: ask questions! Not to the point of annoyance, but never say "I can't think of any" when an interviewer asks, "do you have any questions for me?" Have some good ones prepared if you are bad at coming up with them on the spot. But they really want to see that you are interested and engaged, not just going through the motions.

The reason I say that is because there are two things that most people suck at: being salesmen and talking about themselves. So selling yourself up is usually a colossal failure. Instead, you answer honestly and specifically with confidence and charm and it'll always be more impressive than going "look what I can do!" The stories of your experience will sell yourself better than anything else.

If you have little work experience, use your college or volunteering or other experience. I got my management position because I produced a short film in my off time and was able to tell my now boss about running a 40-man film set. Instead of saying "I'm a hard worker who doesn't mind overtime" which sounds like BS, I talked about waking up at 6am, filming until 8pm and then downloading footage until midnight.

You're right about the questions. I'd even go one better and ask questions while the interviewer is describing the job and company. Not only does it keep you paying attention but it turns it from a question/answer into a flowing, normal conversation which is perhaps the best type of interview you can ever have.

The person I ended up hiring was because we had a 90 minute long conversation about her background, her previous job, about my department. She asked about the organizational structure and so I ran out and showed her the org chart. We talked about everything while staying on topic (no talk about kids and sports and movies, we weren't shooting the shit).

 

[Ariadne]

* Training counts in these fields but not so much as experience. The successful candidate will put the emphasis on EXPERIENCE first and then mention schooling or training. Those are nice but in manufacturing the processes seldom operate like they do in the classroom.

The same thing happened when I applied for my current job (in an office) - they were at least as interested in the 4 months experience I had in a similar agency as they were in my 4-year university degree.

 

[Nobody]

As far as weakness strength thing, here's my question I ask tells me the same thing but in a much better way: Describe a time when you were highly effective at rebounding after a failure. [...] And for me, it's an automatic fail if someone says "I don't ever make mistakes" which believe me is most people. Point is, being honest and admitting that you're a flawed human who can own up to your future errors while working with that company goes much further.

When I would do interview with RA candidates we'd ask: Do you have any prejudices? 9 times out of 10 the person answered "Oh, I don't have any." Each time I wanted to yell bullshit. Everyone has a prejudice and failing to acknowledge it didn't go far in a job that deals heavily with diversity issues. The second worse answer came when asked In your opinion, what is the biggest issue on campus? Everyone answered "diversity" then failed to acknowledge any prejudices. I told my boss that the first person to answer something other than "diversity" should be hired on the spot.


-nobody

 

[Lookingglassman]

My military experience has helped me tons in interviews. It is funny watching the faces of the interviewer when he/she asks me, "What is the most stressful situation you faced at a previous job?" and I start to tell them "war stories" like the time my loader got blown up in Iraq or when I had to face down a Serbian patrol in macedonia. Every job in the past that an interviewer asked me this question and I answered with a war story, I got hired.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

And I am suspicious of anyone who tells you that "selling yourself" is bad. That's what a job interview is. True, it's not all about you--rather, it's about what you can do for the company. That's what they want to hear. What skills and experience do you have that they need? Draw attention to those things. Find out what problems the department is facing--a fairly straightforward task if you ask the right questions--and explain how you think you can help them.

Which brings me to one of the most important points: ask questions! Not to the point of annoyance, but never say "I can't think of any" when an interviewer asks, "do you have any questions for me?" Have some good ones prepared if you are bad at coming up with them on the spot. But they really want to see that you are interested and engaged, not just going through the motions.

The reason I say that is because there are two things that most people suck at: being salesmen and talking about themselves. So selling yourself up is usually a colossal failure. Instead, you answer honestly and specifically with confidence and charm and it'll always be more impressive than going "look what I can do!" The stories of your experience will sell yourself better than anything else.

If you have little work experience, use your college or volunteering or other experience. I got my management position because I produced a short film in my off time and was able to tell my now boss about running a 40-man film set. Instead of saying "I'm a hard worker who doesn't mind overtime" which sounds like BS, I talked about waking up at 6am, filming until 8pm and then downloading footage until midnight.

You're right about the questions. I'd even go one better and ask questions while the interviewer is describing the job and company. Not only does it keep you paying attention but it turns it from a question/answer into a flowing, normal conversation which is perhaps the best type of interview you can ever have.

The person I ended up hiring was because we had a 90 minute long conversation about her background, her previous job, about my department. She asked about the organizational structure and so I ran out and showed her the org chart. We talked about everything while staying on topic (no talk about kids and sports and movies, we weren't shooting the shit).

OK, then I just misunderstood what you meant by "selling yourself." You are right, making up a bunch of BS and trying to look good won't get you anywhere. I think people are bad at selling themselves because they haven't examined themselves enough to know they're really good at it, and what they aren't so good at. A good resume is not slapped together in fifteen minutes. Mine took many hours of work, over a few weeks. But it was extremely helpful to go through that process. It helped me identify exactly what I did accomplish in my previous jobs, how I benefited my teams and employers, and that gave me plenty to talk about during actual interviews.

I know I had a really good time during my interview, because I had long conversations with each person. I homed in on what subjects I knew well that they were interested in, and things evolved pretty naturally from there. I think most people are just too nervous in job interviews to really be comfortable. I know I was nervous, but once I started talking to people I became very relaxed. And I am not a "people person" at all. It just takes some confidence and knowing your skills and abilities.

 

[John Picard]

One part of job advertisements I hate is "team environment", "must be a team player", and all that BS. Anyone who believes that an organization that operates by committee can succeed is a fool. Don't get me wrong, because I realize the importance of team meetings, floating ideas, and all that, but for the most part we are all individual cogs contributing to the success of the machine. One problem with "teamwork" is that the 80/20 rule normally kicks in -- 20% of the people end up doing 80% of the work.

 

[JoeZhang]

I can't say I have any great advice because I haven't done a real job interview in over 15 years. Before I set up for myself, all of my job interviews were pretty much bent and the result of networking. Academia was particular bent, most times, the job specification was written so it was impossible for most people to even apply and of those who did, only I could get the job.

 

[Kaziarl]

May have already been asked, I didn't see it though.

My biggest uberFail when it comes to interviews is when the ask "The Questions Of Doom."

Why do you want to work here? is the big one. Especially if it's somewhere I don't really want to work, I just need the money.

 

[Ethros]

I just imagine the interviewer to be David Brent
Brent wants a new secretary
"Money don't make my world go round, I'm reaching out to a higher ground"