Interviews
Ron Graham
Though there are tips for interviewees all over the Internet, and many of them can be found in the misc.jobs.* Wisdom FAQ there's not much with tips for interviewers. Maybe since they're the ones with the jobs, people think they hold all the cards. But an unprepared interviewer wastes the company's (or whatever organization it is) time as well as yours, whether you're being interviewed or depending on the interviewer in some other way.

When you're an interviewer

If the interviewer totally controls the meeting, to the extent that the interviewee has become passive, then the interviewer misses the opportunity to gain important information:

  • non-trivial answers to questions
  • attitudes and values
  • hidden qualities, agendas, LIES
  • "psychic interaction" (i.e. when two people "click")

In order for interviewers to get the most out of the meeting, they should

  • be prepared (e.g. read the resume or other supporting documentation -- you'd be amazed at how often interviewers don't, then say "tell us about yourself")
  • be courteous
  • ask specific questions (as opposed to "tell us about yourself")
  • be able to pay attention (e.g. no distractions, no fatigue, no daydreaming)
  • avoid causing distractions
  • avoid annoying auditory habits (e.g. throat clearing, spitting, etc.)
  • avoid obfuscation (e.g. run-on sentences, tangents, bullshit, etc.)
  • don't use fillers (e.g. "y'know")
  • don't supply uncomfortable seats (if you have no comfortable seats, think about a neutral site)
  • don't supply bad lines of sight (as opposed to face-to-face conversation)
  • avoid asking stupid questions (e.g. "how 'bout them Browns?")
  • know the stakeholders (especially the people who would work with the interviewee that's hired)
  • know any and all goals (including "hidden" goals like diversity targets, reorganizations, etc.)
  • know the questions interviewers aren't allowed to ask (e.g. about physical health, family plans, etc.)
  • interviewees will sometimes practice for interviews through role-playing and auditioning with friendly audiences -- why don't you try it too?

And of course, interviewers have to avoid the Illegal Questions or variations thereof:

National Origin/Citizenship

  1. Are you a U.S. citizen?
  2. Where were you/your parents born?
  3. What is your "native tongue?"
Age
  1. How old are you?
  2. When did you graduate from college?
  3. What is your birthday?
Marital/Family Status
  1. What's your marital status?
  2. Who do you live with?
  3. Do you plan to have a family? When?
  4. How many kids do you have?
  5. What are your child care arrangements?
Affiliations
  1. To what clubs or social organizations do you belong?
Personal
  1. How tall are you?
  2. How much do you weigh?
Disabilities
  1. Do you have any disabilities?
  2. Please complete the following medical history.
  3. Have you had any recent or past illnesses or operations? If yes, list and give dates.
  4. What was the date of your last physical exam?
  5. How's your family's health?
  6. When did you lose your eyesight?
Arrest Record
  1. Have you ever been arrested?
Military
  1. If you've been in the military, were you honorably discharged?

Not that interviewers WILL avoid these questions. Some are honestly clueless and don't know these questions are illegal. Others will take a chance, to see if they can steal an answer from you, knowing that if you make noise about it they can get in trouble -- but they won't have to hire you, you troublemaker. :-)

When you're being interviewed

Corcadilos gives us his "Six Secrets of the New Interview":

  1. Insiders have the best shot at the job.
  2. The real matchmaking is done before the interview.
  3. The interview is an invitation to do the job.
  4. The employer wants to hire you, and he will help you win the interview.
  5. The boss wants one thing from you: to solve a problem.
  6. You will win the job by doing it.

There are two questions being asked in this situation. The employer asks, "can you do the job?" You ask, "is this the job I should be doing?" Because we normally respond to most invitations for interviews, we often interview for the wrong job. We can't prove we can do it, we may not even care about it, and we don't get hired. We have wasted time.

The fact is that you're not there to answer questions. You're there to show you can do the job. There are therefore no alternatives to understanding what the job is. You have to research the company; you have to know how to get around the Human Resources guard at the gate, and locate the decision-maker who needs your skill. Then, and only then, does what we think of as "interview etiquette" matter.

Conventional wisdom on interview etiquette is found in the Wisdom FAQ.

References

Corcadilos, N. The New Interview Instruction Book. Lebanon, NJ: North Bridge Press, 1994.
Uris, A. 88 Mistakes Interviewers Make. ISBN 0-81445-906-4
The Usenet misc.jobs.* Conventional Wisdom FAQ

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