I hate job interviews

[wildcat]

I don't know about you all but I really dislike interviews - sometimes it is the people on the other end of the phone or across the desk, sometimes it is the stupid questions I get over and over and sometimes it is the tough questions I may not know the answer to because I just freeze up. But most of all, I don't like talking about myself - just too private and introverted. Add it all together and I often find job interviews to be about as fun as going to the doctor. Any other INTJs out there go through similar feelings during interviews? Well, back to more fun....

 

[eridanus]

I hate 'em too. I do contracts and, since college, I haven't had too many successful interviews...most jobs have come through contacts and/or previous cow-orkers.

 

[justin]

I've just become the interviewer for my company. Remember that the person on the other side of the table from the interviewee may not like interviews that much either

I'm having a hard time recruiting enough engineers to keep our company's wheels turning. The economy sure has picked up this last year or so.

 

[SteveR]

Either side of the table can be tough. I interview for jobs in my area and am also on a team for doing interviews of anyone in the QA area so most of the people I see are engineers, chemists, microbiologists, pharmacologists, or pharmacists; a very tough group to evaluate for soft skills and company compatibility.

I hate doing interviews almost as bad as I hate being interviewed so I have adapted my questions more to finding out if the person work out in our world. I let others determine if they are competent in their skill area. I prefer to get more involved with their personality and if they know how to deal with people and problems. I leave the HR fluff to HR and techno babble to the techies. I just want to know if this person can cut the mustard with daily life in the pressure cooker and if they can manage their operation without causing more problems than they fix.

I hate trick questions and don't do them. I also distrust applicants that are too smooth and too polished. My radar goes up and I want to dig deeper to find out if this person is real or just acting like they think I want them to be. Phonies put me off.

 

[maddythebeagle]

My sister just became unemployed and will be looking for a new job. We do a lot of the practice questions from some of the books. She thinks that helps. I think it helps to have somebody go with you to the job interview for moral support although she is pretty crabby before, but at least she gets there on time.

 

[cube_rat]

I HIGHLY recommend reading "Ask the Headhunter". This book turned around my perception of job interviews.

 

[boutros]

I think I may the only peron here who likes job interviews.  You get a certain level of adrenaline from a stressful moment.  The keys for me are

1. go to as many as possible to get used to answering questions
2. have stories about past work experiences prepared so that you can answer a question with a story instead of a hypothetical.  If you don't have a good story for a question make one up. This demonstrates your past experience better than a couple of lines on a resume. (I think that this is most important and most neglected)
3. have intelligent questions prepared for the interviewer. This shows that you can think on your own and understand what is important to the interviewer.
4. if at all possible solve a problem or show how you can solve a problem for the interviewer. In the job interview for my current employer they showed me an excel sheet that they used frequently. They told me how an error would occassionally pop up. I showed them how to fix the error. It doesn't have to be an immmediate fix like this. Just show them how your skills fits their needs.
5. express interest in the job. This is obvious but I have interviewed several people that just didn't seem to want the job. This tells me that even if I offered it and they accepted they wouldn't be a good preformer.

An interview is like a sales interaction. You ask questions, find problems, solve problems.

I have been offer the job in 80+% of the time I have interviewed for a job and every time I really wanted the position. Of course I am young (27). The hard part for me is getting the interview. Especially at my last employer where 80 people would apply for one job and they would interview 8. Thankfully that is all behind me.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I think I may the only peron here who likes job interviews.  You get a certain level of adrenaline from a stressful moment.  The keys for me are

1. go to as many as possible to get used to answering questions
2. have stories about past work experiences prepared so that you can answer a question with a story instead of a hypothetical.  If you don't have a good story for a question make one up.  This demonstrates your past experience better than a couple of lines on a resume.  (I think that this is most important and most neglected)
3. have intelligent questions prepared for the interviewer.  This shows that you can think on your own and understand what is important to the interviewer.
4. if at all possible solve a problem or show how you can solve a problem for the interviewer.  In the job interview for my current employer they showed me an excel sheet that they used frequently.  They told me how an error would occassionally pop up.  I showed them how to fix the error.  It doesn't have to be an immmediate fix like this.  Just show them how your skills fits their needs.
5. express interest in the job.  This is obvious but I have interviewed several people that just didn't seem to want the job.  This tells me that even if I offered it and they accepted they wouldn't be a good preformer.

An interview is like a sales interaction.  You ask questions, find problems, solve problems.

I have been offer the job in 80+% of the time I have interviewed for a job and every time I really wanted the position.  Of course I am young (27).  The hard part for me is getting the interview.  Especially at my last employer where 80 people would apply for one job and they would interview 8.   Thankfully that is all behind me.

Not surprising that I never got nervous about a job interview. Figured I was way smarter
than the person interviewing me and if they couldn't see the advantages to hiring me,
then they they could just stick it. I took the same approach to romance with some interesting results. Egomania has some huge advantages as long as you can still
function in society.

JG

 

[Howard]

I have done 100's of job interviews, I always start off by asking the candidate what they are looking for in a company, then try to show how the company can meet their expectations.

Too many Candidates try to sell themselves, they should be trying to determine whether they are a fit for that particular organisation, selling yourself on a job that is not really for you means you will be looking again in the near future.

Ask questions , what qualities is the company looking for, let the interviewer look after detailing the financial apects.

Ask for the order, is there any reaon why you don't think I would meet your requirements, then send a follow up FAX or Email, thank the interviewer for the time, looking foreward to hearing from you again etc.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I have done 100's  of job interviews, I always start off by asking the candidate what they are looking for in a company, then try to show how the company can meet their expectations.

Too many Candidates try to sell themselves, they should be trying to determine whether they are a fit for that particular organisation, selling yourself on a job that is not really for you means you will be looking again in the near future.

Ask questions , what qualities is the company looking for, let the interviewer look after detailing the financial apects.

Ask for the order, is there any reaon why you don't think I would meet your requirements, then send a follow up FAX or Email, thank the interviewer for the time, looking foreward to hearing from you again etc.

I always tried to follow the rules, i.e. do your homework, send a note, follow up, ask
for the "order" etc. Probably my personality was simply "too much" many times.
Interesting that I never really recognized this until very late in life.

JG

 

[justin]

"ask for the order"? Can someone explain this to me?

 

[Martha]

"ask for the order"? Can someone explain this to me?

Old fart sales talk. If you want a job, ask for it. If you want work, ask for the work.

 

[Intuit]

Well, I guess I'm odd in this group also as I have always enjoyed interviews. That being said, I have only had six interviews in the past 29 years and was offered a job in all but one instance where I ended up being second to a good friend of mine that was trying to move back to the area. My approach is that I am very good at what I do (not arrogant) and I have a lot to offer an employer with my problem solving skills. I have several patents and that always looks impressive to potential employers. My strongest asset though is the ability to listen to others and respond with positive, honest answers. As Boutros mentioned, show the prospective employer how you can solve their problems. It works for me. Good luck.

 

[wildcat]

I don't know. It could be the people that enjoy interviews are more extroverted by nature. Does that describe all of you odd posters?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Interesting that I never really recognized this until very late in life.

Remember that thing I said about realizing ten years later how dumb I was ten years before?

Wait ten years...

 

[ats5g]

A few of my coworkers and I were talking about the interviews that we had with our managers before getting hired. One of my coworkers asked my boss, "What do you hate most about your job?" to which he said "Interviews".

- Alec

 

[Spanky]

I hate interviews from a team of people. Each spends about 1/2 hour to ask questions to provide stories of how you take charge, solve problems, resolve conflicts, improve process in specific situtation. At the end of the 1/2 hour, each gives about a minute to ask question.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I loved interviewing.

Unfortunately I was usually interviewing because I needed someone to take up the slack, and until I did, it was usually ME taking up the slack, leaving almost no time to DO the interviews...

 

[astromeria]

I loved interviewing, yet I'm an introvert. But as a tech writer/editor, I was being interviewed almost entirely by my fellow introverts, so we got along very well and enjoyed talking about the work. Plus I was able to portray my nervousness as excited enthusiasm to the boss. My follow-up emails always included things like how much I liked the team and how impressed I was that the team loved working there. (This was sincere, BTW.) Gets 'em every time...or it used to.

Twice I interviewed for a job and didn't get it. the first time was a clear case of age discrimination. I was 34. Small office and all the Important Folks were men and support staff were single cute women in their 20s who went to a bar after work. I was a married mother of 2 who needed to get home right after work. They said I "wouldn't fit in." The other time I interviewed but wasn't hired, my group at a software company was being axed and they gave us a few weeks to find another position in the company or we'd be laid off. There were no open documentation positions at the time, but I shopped myself to 3 groups, 2 of whom made me offers. The group that didn't was the one I most wanted to be in--and they took the 2 younger, hipper doc folks from my group but not me (by this time I was 41 and coloring the gray!). I went back to my office and cried. Well, that trendy-product group was all laid off a year or so later, while the team I joined became the most important in the company, and I was very secure despite bad times. Careers move in mysterious ways!

 

[BUM]

I was on both sides of the table and sometimes got nervous too. Through it all I remembered that I disliked being put on the spot so I would do that to the interviewer at the time I thought best and challenge the boss to give me the job now! It never worked usually because the guy didnt have the authority.. but it often worked the following day.

On the other side... I'll never forget this answer... I had no job opening but this guy really wanted in. I asked. "What would you do here?". He answered, "Anything you ask. You're the boss." I liked that alot. I still often wonder what that guy is doing?

 

[Martha]

So did you hire him, or no?

 

[bearkeley]

I actually interview folks for a living....I think the key is to think of it as just a conversation rather than an interview.  With the way the employment market is nowadays, it really is a two-way street out there...the days of IBM where they employer would sit across from the desk from an applicant and say:

"So tell me, why should I hire you"  has changed to an applicant, asking the employer :

"So tell me, why should I work for your company?"

So if you're the INTJ applicant sitting in front of an ENTP employer,  consider asking them questions to see if the job fits what YOU'RE looking for.   Even better...if that doesn't work...ask them when they plan to make a DECISION

(For those of you not familiar w/ MBTI, ENTPs, like yours truly, are known for hating decisions!) 

 

[Spanky]

"So tell me, why should I work for your company?"

That's kind of attitude I hold during the entire interview process.

 

[geeman]

I have an interview coming up on Friday at a goverment agency. I am the type of person that gets really nervious before and during the interview. I guess I put a lot of pressure on myself to get the position. Do you guys think that there is a difference between interviewing with the government vs. commercial? Any other tips for me?

Thanks

 

[justin]

I have an interview coming up on Friday at a goverment agency. I am the type of person that gets really nervious before and during the interview. I guess I put a lot of pressure on myself to get the position. Do you guys think that there is a difference between interviewing with the government vs. commercial? Any other tips for me?

Thanks

Yes. Talk slowly to the interviewer, and keep reinforcing your ability to show up at 8:00 am, take 2 hour lunches and leave promptly at 5:00 pm. You'll go far in government. Find out the political leaning (if any) of the department you are interviewing with, and then criticize/praise George Bush (depending on political leaning). Don't stand out too much or appear too above average. The hiring manager doesn't want you to take his job one day. Make sure you don't appear overly qualified.

Just my experience in several government jobs.