I recently wrote a column admonishing interviewers for poor hiring practices. That’s always a popular topic with job seekers who feel victimized by unthinking and uncaring gatekeepers.
If you’re one of those job seekers, you can stop feeling vindicated now. Although I mostly agree with you, acknowledging the situation is not the same as resolving it.
A better goal would be to build resilience to bad interview processes. This you can do by sharpening your wits while removing any chips on your shoulder.
The wit-sharpening is needed to help you turn bad questions and situations to your favor. To be agile, however, you’ll need to ditch any grudges you’re carrying about hiring processes and the job market in general.
Starting with the second strategy, here are two tips to help you drop the chip.
Treat interviewers as future co-workers. Whether interviewers are management-level or "only" HR representatives, they are people you hope to work with in the near future.
Following this tip should make it easier to summon genuine respect for the individuals while directing your thoughts to making their job easier.
For example, when the phone interviewer asks for the second time for your salary expectations, you might answer by appreciating his or her position before explaining your own reluctance to provide a number. So, instead of saying, “I just can’t tell you until I hear more about the job,” try, “I know you need numbers so you can be sure I’m in the range. But I’m a bit stuck without hearing more details. Would it work for us to come back to that question in a few minutes?”
Imagine the interviewer's pressures. Are you a 50-something candidate interviewing with a 25-year-old? Before assuming that you won't get a fair shake, or that the interviewer doesn't have the experience to make a good hire, imagine yourself in the same situation at 25.
If you have trouble doing this, then talk with younger managers in your social set. Ask what pressures they’re under and how they feel about hiring and interviewing. And if your social set doesn’t include younger workers? Well, that’s a correctable problem.
What if you encounter interviewers who clearly don’t want to be there? Instead of imputing a poor work ethic to these people, imagine that they were pushed into this with no training, or that they have a gigantic workload. Your task is to figure out how to make their job — hiring you as the best candidate — easier.
Now here are just two tips to make you more quick-witted in the interview itself.
See every question as an opportunity. A candidate reported with exasperation that the interviewer asked, "Does your current employer give performance reviews?" and when she answered "No," the interviewer followed up: "Then how do you know you're doing a good job?"
Among a multitude of wrong answers was the candidate’s flustered, “What kind of question is that?” A quick-witted and strategic reply: “That’s why I’m looking elsewhere. I know I’m doing what’s needed or I wouldn’t have the job. But I’m strongly motivated to exceed expectations and I need the manager’s feedback to do it. Your company is known for that, which is why I’m here.”
Answer the real question. Never mind if the words coming out of the interviewer's mouth are "Describe your worst boss" — they don't need or want that answer. What they want to know is how you get on with bosses and what kind of leadership works best for you.
So answer that question instead: “I don’t think in terms of best and worst when it comes to bosses; it’s part of my job to get along with them so I make sure that I do. But when it comes to management style, I tend to thrive in situations where I can operate with some independence and meet the criteria my boss has set for me.”
One last tip: Interview as often as possible. To lock in these new habits, you need practice. So take as many interviews as you can and give your best effort every time. Eventually, these tips will become second nature, and you'll see that there aren't very many "bad" interviews — just matchups that don't happen.
