Q: Dear Doctor, what does an interview consist of and how should I prepare?
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
The Doctor Is In: Career Advice that will Get You to the Top
Q: Dear Doctor, what does an interview consist of and how should I prepare?
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7 comments:
Based on my experience, the information presented in this article seems pretty accurate. It is nice to have the form laid out and explained in such simple terms. The most interesting part of this breakdown is the 'Probbing/ Follow Up' section. In my mind, I had always clumped together this section with the questions section but after reading the explanations of both it is easy for me to see the differences. Thinking back on my interview experience, I can remember participating in each section of an interview this article brings up. I like how the article didn't forget to include the 'Thank you' aspect of the interview process. This section is very important and is not often explained or suggested. Also, I like how the article reminds us that as an interviewee, you are also interviewing the company and figuring out if you want to work for them. Overall, the article does a successful job of simplifying and breaking up the interview process.
This sounds right. Interviewing and career networking, goes along these lines pretty well. I am always torn when I read things like this that show you how to do well in interviews, because I am all for learning new skills, but it makes people feel fake. I have read a number of articles on this blog about improving people and presenting skills, and I think its important, but I feel like if I was to think about it and practice it, I would become fake. I think the most important thing in an interview and meeting anyone new in general, is to not overthink everything and be honest. Of course this is hard, I know I still struggle with it. If everyone follows these steps then were becoming robots. This might be a bit of a stretch to parallel to, but when I would audition people for a show, I could tell right away who was just being themselves and how was trying to be someone else, I always preferred the honesty, even if it meant showing your nerves. Brushing up and refining yourself for interviewing can help, but I think just going for it as you are is the right thing to do.
This looks about right, but my first instinct was a lot like Annie's. If we all start to follow these rules so strictly (and we are) then it completely takes the personality out of interviewing for both parties. That's not to say that it's not good to prepare for interviews or to think about what questions you have been asked before in order to make yourself a better qualified candidate, but if we all follow these rules what makes us different? Then we start judging people less on what they say and more on what they look like or where they went to college (something that would work in our favor but not other peoples) and all the personality of interviewing is drained out. It's a given that someone will ask me if I am qualified or what I feel like my three biggest strengths are, or what three words describe me (which I have gotten twice and is a horrible question), but I am also surprised all the time by interviews and what they want to know. So while this is good prep it is not a hard and fast rule and it shouldn't be because you want to fall in love with the job too, and you can't do that if both parties stick to an itemized list of talking points and not get down to what is really important.
This article makes sense, but it is not really presenting any new information. In my experience, this is generally the format that interviews follow. However, it can be dangerous to rely on this outline and expect all interviews to go this way, since all interviews are different. I think a more helpful article, which is what I was expecting this one to be, is one that laid out a basic interview format, but then also listed some potential questions that could be asked during each stage of the interview. This would be very helpful as it would bring together the format expected, which is generally the format followed, but it would also help give an idea of what to actually prepare for for each stage of the interview. However, while pretty helpful to know, having a set outline for an interview makes it pretty boring. Spice it up a little bit some time maybe. Obviously that is much more of an option for employers than potential employees, but the interview has to fit the job and kind of give the interviewee some sense of what the company is about.
I take real argument with articles that try to make something as complex and multi-faceted as an interview and turn it into a bullet point process for accomplishing the task. This presents the process in a way that makes it seem like interviews always go the same way with every interviewer at every company, and that simply is not true. Also, what age group is this article targeting? The blog name suggests recent college graduates that are looking for careers but in today's economy, I would say that most individuals went through an interview process long before that to get an intership, summer job, or even to get into college in the first place. Then, there is the content of the interview timeline which suggests that the question portion and the follow-up portion are two separate sections of an interview, when in my experience they are one longer section. Maybe boiling it down like this helps differentiate the purpose of the two points, but it should have a "Rinse, repeat" at the end of number four to indicate that you will probably do that a couple of times. In essence, go into an interview and be a human who likes other humans and genuinely wants to know about them and what they do and hopes the same is expected in return. You might even find that that knowledge takes some of the pressure off of you to 'perform well' in your interview because you get to just be you. If the company does not like you, then there is probably a better place for you to work.
The Doctor is in: Career Advice that will Get You to the Top OR, more accurately, Merriam Webster is in: Here are Things that Often Happen in Interviews.
I read this article alongside Aubrey and was just as appalled as she was. Who is it who needs this information? Certainly not people aspiring to have professional careers, as I am sure that population would understand at least what an interview is. I would easier believe that this article is aimed at high school sophomores preparing to begin the college process, who have never had to interview for anything before. The author also breaks it into such cut and dry sections, as though every single interview will have each of these components, every time, in this order. The reality is (or should be) that all of these things will probably happen during your interview, but the lines will be extraordinarily blurry. Interviews should be conversations, not carefully separated chapters that, once memorized, will bring you success. Just be a genuine person capable of answering questions and having conversation, and you will not need a breakdown of what happens in an interview (or as they call it, career advice that will get you to the top).
This article was right on point. In every interview I have ever been in, it has pretty much followed this structure. From college interviews, internships, to jobs, this structure is pretty much a must-know. Even though each interview is a little bit different from each other, this list is still a good start for a beginner to interviewing, which is what this article is trying to be. To address some of the complaints made by previous commenters, The question asked was rather simple, so the author gave a more simple answer to get the questioner on the right path. The author even mentions at the bottom of the article that it is a general overview that will help the person who asked the question in their next interview. Even having a brief guideline before an interview will help the inexperienced until they have enough experience and insight to hold their own.
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