The Interviewing Process
The Management 250 grading contract was an approach to class work I had not seen in the past. I have chosen two assignments that are clearly within my comfort zone, keeping an online blog and analyzing a case study. My third choice is the mock interview assignment. This is the kink in my Management 250 armor. The thought of going in front of a recruiter makes me very anxious. I imagine my feelings are similar to someone to going to court and being judged.
I have difficulty understanding how recruiting for a job actually works. Of course there are the clearly undesirable or unqualified candidates that will be gleaned immediately, based solely on their resume. But once the interviews begin, clear cut objectivity is lost. If an interviewer has several very qualified candidates for one place in the company, how does he or she choose? All of the candidates have similar experience in the field, especially if they are all interviewing right out of college, which is the position I will be in three years from now. Will it be the color of my shirt that sets me apart? Will the crease in my resume lose me the job?
The interviewing process is something I have very little control over. Even if I answer every question completely and politely, wear a clean suit, and have a reviewed resume in hand, I may not get the job.
Maybe, in fact probably, I am looking at the job interviewing process the wrong way. It is an opportunity not only for the company, but for the potential employee, to see whether he or she will fit into the position. After searching for interview tips online I found a site provided by Monster that addresses these same issues. You can see it here. If you are having these same concerns take a look.
Comments
Posted by: Jordan Schoenfeld
Posted on: September 14, 2006 12:45 PM
I see your anxiety about interviews and I used to be that way too. But now I tend to look at it in a different way. There is a sense of confidence you must carry with you while being interviewed, and the way I go about getting that self confidence is by telling myself that this interviewer is going to love my personality. It sounds weird to me too, but it's what I plant in my head. I'm very eager to show my personality to people since I know I am not doing myself justice by presenting myself as a resume and cover letter. There isn't any substitute for just acting like yourself.
Posted by: Meredith
Posted on: September 23, 2006 08:18 PM
Hi, Asta,
When I read your first post, I get a very clear sense of your thought processes around interviews, and I thank you for this degree of insight!
The best way for me to cut through my inevitable nerves about interviews is to connect with the interviewer. The more I can consider the situation a conversation, and the more I can shape the situation as such, the more at ease I feel. The stone-cold interviewer is probably my biggest fear, but I have yet to encounter one. I have begun to think this good fortune is a combination of two things: my own behavior will not allow the other party to be cold, and I do not apply for jobs where an interviewer would have the incentive to treat me like an inanimate object or pawn.
Similarly, and building off of Jordan's comment, perhaps the best way to avoid the interview nerves and formalities is to inject as much of your personality into the process as early as possible. Before you ever sit across the table from someone, you can be personable in emails, in phonecalls, in your relationships with the people who recommend you to your "official" interviewers. Then, when you actually walk into the room for your interview, the interviewers already has a sense of you as a person, and not just a name.
I look forward to reading about your mock interview. I think, with this choice, you have picked a great opportunity to challenge yourself in a safe environment.
-Meredith
ps: You receive a grade of .5pts of 1 possible point for the first round of blogging. While your post is on-time and with great content, you have lost credit for grammatical errors. Please see my blog (and the Blogging Guidelines on Bb) for additional details and suggestions for appropriate blogs: http://blog.case.edu/myers/mt-tb.cgi/9857
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Posted on: February 14, 2007 02:59 PM
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Posted by: ltkyqg dmcbzwh
Posted on: February 14, 2007 02:59 PM
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