Finally landing a job interview after what can be an exhausting job search might bring both a rewarding and a frightening feeling. The common applicant will go into an interview with big expectations and a lot of fear. Being informed and prepared will help ease the process and hopefully land the dream job.
The feared questions
Recently, Forbes magazine released the collective opinion of top executive recruiters, who agreed that there are only three true job interview questions. Any job seeker might just as well get ready to respond to them. The questions are:
- Can you do the job?
- Will you love the job?
- Can we tolerate working with you?
These are the key questions and any other ones asked are just a follow-up to them to gather deeper information. They might be phrased in different ways, but their final objective is test the interviewee on strengths, motivation, and how he/she fits the company.
Questions that shouldn’t be asked by the interviewer
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) may hold any company liable if suspected to be including illegal interview questions during its hiring process.
Illegal interview questions include those related to a candidate’s:
- Age
- Race, ethnicity, or color
- Gender or sexual preference
- Country of national origin or birth place
- Religion
- Disability
- Marital or family status, or pregnancy
An applicant must be careful when approached with questions that directly regard these topics, unless he or she feels really comfortable about it. The reason why these questions are illegal is that they can provide a window for discrimination.
Questions the applicant should ask
A candidate should always ask questions during an interview. This shows that he/she is prepared and confident, and also interested to know more about the company and the position. Luke Roney, content manager for CareerBliss, recommends asking the following questions:
- What happened to the last person that worked in this position? This question will let the applicant understand if staff is commonly promoted into the company or if they just get burn out and leave.
- What do you like about working here? The answer will give an overview of the company’s corporate culture.
- How do people usually interact and work together here? It is important to understand the environment within the organization. Getting details about it can also open opportunities for interviewees to give information about themselves which can fit the company in a more specific way.
- What does it take for someone to succeed at this job? The answer to this question will provide insight into what the company is looking for in the candidate and gives the opportunity for the candidate to reiterate his/her relevant strengths.
- What’s next in the hiring process? Asking this will erase the uncertainty of not knowing how or when to follow up.
Easy path to ruining an interview
US News contributor Alison Green enlists these mistakes which will narrow anyone’s chances of getting an interview call back:
- Being late
- Being unprepared
- Not showing enthusiasm
- Being rude to the receptionist
- Sounding bitter
- Not being able to give specific examples in response to questions
- Claiming to have no weaknesses
- Answering the cell phone in the middle of the interview
- Sharing inappropriately (like complaining about the last job)
- Lying about anything
Some horror stories
Badjobinterviews.com is a collection of interview tales that will lead from embarrassment to laughter. Here are just some of them:
“There were maybe 10 of us waiting [for the elevator] on the ground floor, one of which was an attractive woman. A man joined us in line, and started to chat with her. She responded politely and then chose to ignore him. He then started to yell at her [saying] something about how he was interviewing for a great job with a great salary and he could buy and sell her…I started to recognize his voice [and] asked him if his name was, let’s say, Bob. He said, ‘Ya.’ I asked him, ‘Is your meeting with Bruce?’ He went white and said ‘Ya.’ I said, ‘It’s cancelled.’ And, no, I never heard from Bob again.” — Bruce A. Hurwitz, president and CEO of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing, New York City.
“As a young man just a year or two out of college, I interviewed at JP Morgan. The interviewer could not find my resume so she asked me for a copy. The only copy I had was a crumpled up one in my pocket. This was not a great start. Lesson learned — have good copies of your resume with you. … I will say this, though. In places I go for an interview, if they have to ask me for it, they probably are not ready for me and I have to ask myself if I really want to work there.” — Henry Motyka, job hunter, Norwood, N.J.
“The applicant, crossing her legs appropriately for the interview, stood up to shake hands with [my] hiring manager, and fell forward on her face” — her legs had gone “totally numb … The interviewer helped her up and said nothing of the incident, and ultimately hired her for the position. After she had been in the position for some time, she confessed to her manager that she was surprised that she was offered the job. His reply was: ‘You made the greatest impression of any of the applicants.’” — Terry Henley, director of compensation at Employers Resource Association, Cincinnati, Ohio.
The job interview is an essential part of the hiring process, thus the importance a candidate should give to it and the dedication that must go into getting prepared for it. Doesn’t matter how confident a candidate feels, you can never know what can occur inside an interviewer’s mind.
