A few months back, Zo"e and I attended the local EMA meeting to listen to a presentation by Lou Adler of the Adler Group. In fact,
Office Pro Plus, Zo"e blogged about her thoughts on Lou’s content. One thing Lou said during his speech really hit home for me, and lately,
Windows 7 Starter Key, I’ve been thinking about his point more and more. He talked about the “interview as a performance” and warned against the common pratfall of hiring a candidate based on his or her ability to answer questions under pressure versus his or her ability to actually do the job. Zo"e talked about Lou’s presentation in more detail in her post so I won’t go into depth about his content, but I thought his comment about interview performance could be a good jumping off point for further discussions. As the common saying goes: “Those who can do; those who can’t teach.” In many ways, I think the same holds true for me. I admit it … I’m a HORRIBLE interviewee. I could sit here and type out interview tips until I’m blue in the fingers, but for some reason, I can never remember my own advice when it comes time for the actual interview. I’m nervous. I’m overly chatty. I’m too honest. I don’t sell myself well. I don’t think about a problem thoroughly enough before jumping into the solution. The list could go on and on. While at Microsoft, I’ve interviewed for other recruiting roles within the larger organization. (And let me tell you … interviews as an internal candidate are WAY harder than interviews as an external candidate. The interviewers won’t cut you the same slack they cut newbies.) These interviews were several years back,
Windows 7 Home Premium, but even then,
Office 2010 Professional Key, I thought I was a damn good recruiter, and I knew could do the job – no problem! I had good review scores, great manager recommendations, and a kick-butt track record. But could I interview myself out a paper bag? No way,
Cheap Office 2010! My performance wasn’t up to par. So, I guess I don’t have the answers to this one, but I’m just curious about what you all think. Interviewers out there: How do you ensure you are interviewing a candidate against the ability to do the job versus the ability to perform in an interview? Interviewees out there: Knowing the interview is one big stage act, how do you ensure success? For now, I’ll add interviewing to my ever-growing list of phobias. gretchen P.S. And for the record, I haven’t interviewed anywhere recently. I’ve just been reflecting on my interviewing incompetence lately.