Interview Pit Falls

There are thousands of articles on the internet about interviewing, techniques, and ways to prepare for a meeting with a prospective employer.  This is not one of them, this is simply a collection of anecdotes and perhaps some interesting insights that are not the same ole same ole.

You showed up too early - while some might appreciate the eagerness, I do not.  Corporate cuts have eliminated the receptionist in most small to medium offices.  This means that the person you are interviewing with is the one that will be called to greet you at the door and get you settled in.  A good executive prioritizes their tasks and runs a tight schedule.  If the prospective employee shows up 15 or 20 minutes early, they may put unnecessary pressure on the person they are interviewing with.  Small and growing offices may have expanded into the "lobby" and "the conference room" and there is no true place for the interviewee to sit and wait.  It's a good idea to arrive early but stay in your car until just a few minutes before you are supposed to meet with the hiring authority.

You peed on the seat - I swear this happened.  The candidate was not hired.

You did not follow directions to the facility and then called the interviewer to walk you through them because you were late and lost - I really don't even know why I sat down with this person when they finally made it to the office.  Our office was a bit difficult to find on a GPS, so I explained that in an email to the candidate and told them to follow these simple directions, they did not.  The candidate was not hired.

You spoke negatively about your old job/boss/co-workers - an interview is not a complaint session about your current or former situation - blaming or deflecting blame is a big warning sign.

You kept trying to fill in your ideas about the job you were interviewing for instead of listening to the need and requirements of the position - just because the title is same, it does not mean that the duties and expectations from one company to the next are.  Eagerness to demonstrate your qualifications is one thing but constantly going into specifics that don't apply the current position is a big no no.

There are dozens of other reasons but I suspect they have been covered ad nauseam .  These are a few interesting tid bits to help along the journey.

The Exasperating Student



Hermione with her hand up



Abigail and Dolley readers patience is not something I was born with.... In the First Grade, my teacher sent home a note that read, "Dolley needs to learn patience with others."  This impatience is not accompanied by anger or malice but born of the fact that I am a quick study.  All of my teachers, after Mrs. Bowman, will attest to the fact that I can be an exasperating student, I ask questions well before the teacher has reached that point in the lesson.  Usually three steps ahead of the instruction and impatient to grasp the full concept and move on, I get bored waiting for others to catch up.

 

It has been many years since I was in a classroom but recently spent three weeks in intensive training.  To my surprise, I had more patience with others but was still three steps ahead of the teacher and still asked all the questions needed to fully understand the material.  I don't memorize, I learn and in that process probe and prod more information than a lesson plan calls for.  Alas, I'm not terribly popular with teachers.

I have to restrain myself from answering all of the questions that the teacher asks.  I try to be quiet and will always gauge my fellow students to insure that I have not become grating.  The majority of the time, my fellow students don't mind and some are even thankful for my questions.  I am sure others wish I would just be quiet.  A kindred spirit in the class is always a relief and I am more than willing to sit back and let them ask all the questions.

As I sat in my classroom recently, a scene from Harry Potter kept flashing through my mind and I endeavored to do my best, not to be Herminone.  I'm am relatively certain that I did not succeed in that regard but equally certain five years from now I will still remember the material.  In the weeks ahead, I hope MY students will appreciate the time, effort, and work I put into learning the material even if my teachers would have rather me sat quietly.