When interviewing, strive to get it just right
When interviewing, strive to get it just right
When you interview, you want to have a competitive edge. In trying harder, you may inadvertently do too much of what you should do less, and do too little of what you should do more.
Here’s an interviewer’s description of a candidate giving too much:
In 45 minutes the applicant talked himself into the job and then out of it. He started strong by impressing me with his candid, positive, ready-to-go style. Everything he said showed that he was comfortable with himself and his surroundings. He was a good conversationalist; his responses to my questions were clear, crisp and easy to understand. His answers weren’t the best I’d heard or the most insightful, but they came quickly and with such enthusiasm that, although he didn’t have a résumé, I felt good about his chances. If our interview concluded as it had begun, the job was going to be his.
After 15 minutes or so, I decided to change tactics and instead of targeting questions to what he had done and could do for us, I asked him to tell me about himself. He paused momentarily then leaned back and started talking. He went on for 30 minutes, either forgetting or not caring that this was an interview and I was making a hiring decision based on what he was telling me. And he told me plenty. He talked about dropping out of school, working drunk and getting fired. He was halfway through an off-color joke when I told him I had heard enough; the interview was over. On his way out the door he asked if he had done something wrong.
Now here’s an interviewer’s description of a candidate giving too little:
According to her résumé, the applicant had the experience, training, education and technical skills to be a good fit for the opening. According to our interview, she didn’t have the people skills to be a good fit for the company. She wouldn’t engage. I asked her what she knew about our business (Her response: “Not much”); why she was interviewing with us (“Because you asked me to”); and what she could do for us (“That’s up to you, not me”). I asked every question and used every technique I could think of to get her to make her case and got nowhere. I switched it around, invited her to ask me questions, but that just got me blank stares. I gave her an hour’s worth of opportunity to convince me of her competencies but she wouldn’t or couldn’t do it.
Finally, here’s an interviewer’s description of a candidate getting it just right ... up to a point:
This candidate impressed us from the get-go. He had a strong résumé and with the exception of one negative comment (“can be temperamental”) he had excellent references. We liked him; he liked us. We did our homework. We had a match. We told him we’d be in touch with an offer within the week. Then life intervened; a shuffle in top leadership caused a delay; all positions were frozen; no new hires allowed. We contacted the candidate immediately, explained the situation, reiterated that we were very interested in hiring him but were not in a position to make an offer as quickly as we had at first anticipated. We said we would work it out and get back to him as soon as possible and asked for his patience. That’s not what we got. We got “temperamental.” He called us every name in the book, hung up, called back and insulted us again.
Joyce Richman is a speaker and career coach conducting seminars and workshops throughout the United States, and the author of "Roads, Routes & Ruts: A Guidebook for Career Success." You can reach her at 288-1799 or JERichman@aol.com. Watch Joyce Richman's latest career advice Wednesdays at 6:35 a.m. during "The Good Morning Show" on WFMY News 2 or visit http://www.digtriad.com/business/columnists/career_minute/
