War Stories

Two posts in one day?! Maybe the world is coming to end. I'm interested in hearing your job search stories. What is driving you crazy? What have you appreciated? It's definitely still an employer's market and I just want to check in to make sure that potential employees are still being treated well.

Madam Interview

I must preface this entry by saying that I feel lucky to be landing so many job interviews. The conclusion I draw from this is that I am professionally desirable and have skills that are of value. In the past two months, approximately 85% of my initial phone interviews have turned into on-site, full-team interviews. There are generally 3-4 steps between those two stages, which usually involve some sort of analytical exercise and some more phone interviews. Thus far, my skill set and experience/background is good enough to propel me to the final stages. Here is where the process becomes confusing.

If I have reached this stage in the interview process, I am feeling pretty confident of my professional skill set. In other words, I have done quite a bit to prove my hard skills. For many of the companies I have interviewed with, these case studies I have to complete are often long and complicated and do a more than sufficient job of demonstrating my technical skill set. Beyond that, I have been asked very specific technical questions by many people...over and over again. Short of actually working for the company, I don't know how else to demonstrate that I can do what I say I can. So, the final interview is more to see how I fit as it were. This is a chance to demonstrate my soft skills. How do I relate to people? Can I think on my feet? Am I abrasive? Communication skills? Etc, etc.
For those of you who have read this blog before or who know me personally, you know my background is in clinical psychology. I have been trained in, essentially, how to communicate with other people...crazy people. I have NEVER felt anything but supremely confident in my people skills. Sure, everybody has their pet peeves and annoying habits but I am very in tune with mine and these don't generally come out in the first meeting with others. I can safely say my first impressions are usually positive, if not on the shyer side.
In fact, some of the feedback I received from several of the folks who interviewed me (during the interview) were, Wow! You have such a great presence about you. You really seem cheerful and upbeat. and Oh my gosh! You're so funny! You would totally fit in to this team so well! and Exactly! That's the type of thinking we're looking for in a candidate! Perfect. It's perfect.. I can quote more, but I would be bragging. In general, all of my interviews went very well with one HUGE exception:
The Interviewers.

In general, my final interviews consist of talking to many individuals or "decision makers". Overall, there appears to be one person who is always prepared, has questions on hand, has my resume, and is ready to go. Usually, this person is the hiring manager. The other 3-5 people can really vary but they are all part of the team who will decide whether or not I should be hired. What has been my experience thus far is that the interview with the hiring manager goes very well. I am able to answer questions specific to the position, tell them how I make the best candidate, tell them why I want to work there, etc. Then, depending on where I am, the other individuals may or may not be prepared to interview me or may or may not really care. Many have not had my resume on hand (which is why I always bring extras), most don't have business cards, many come completely empty-handed, and one never even introduced himself. Their canned questions last about 5 minutes, to which I attempt to answer to the best of my ability and then they rattle off what they do for the 10 minutes. The last portion of the interview is left to allow me to take over with any questions I may have. I usually ask the same ones because they're really good ones, and most of time, the interviewers have really bad answers.
How on earth is one supposed to come out ahead in an interview like this? Today I received an email from one of those companies letting me know that I wasn't a "perfect fit". How could they tell? What could those people have possibly reported back to their boss about me? Maybe I was never really a consideration to begin with but yet another case of "seeing what's out there?". STOP THE MADNESS!
Employers: For God's Sake, Listen To Me!
A). Do NOT bring me in for a 3 hour round of interviews if I am not, at the very least, in your top 3 candidates.
B). Do NOT send in your staff to assess me if they are incapable of doing so fairly. Of course the next guy who has the same Alma Matter as your Marketing Manager is going to seem like a better fit if he doesn't ask us the same questions - or any questions pertaining the job at all.
C). If you think I am a great fit, then hire me! I promise you, you can look forever for the "perfect fit" but Jesus Christ will probably never walk through the door no matter how long you look. Statistically, it is in your best interest to hire the first person who fits all of your criteria for said position. I should know!