The Interview

Probably one of the worst movies, ever. 

However, I was thinking of the job interview.   I was thinking of the job interview that landed me my first adult job.   It was in a small town several hours from where I lived.  I arrived the night before to get a good night sleep and to have some time to research the community so I could answer any questions about linkages and underdeveloped resources.  My interview was at 1 pm and lasted for a few hours.  At about 2:15, my prospective boss and I went for coffee in the hospital cafeteria.  Someone asked me what I had done in the morning.  I replied that I came in the night before and read the community paper, and toured the community.  In the morning, I had a little nervous energy so I decided to get my hair done.  Once I was hired, my new boss told me that I got the job because I got my hair done.  At the time, I was 20 something and proud of my appearance and fashion sense.  My boss felt that I was taking such a risk getting my hair done in a small community right before a job interview. 

The interview was grueling and almost three hours long.  I thought I did well but apparently that didn't matter.  I was hired because I got my hair done. 

One of my friends is currently changing her career direction and has applied for a job that she really feels would be a great fit.  She was so excited to get an interview.  I hadn't heard anything from her so I asked how it went.  She felt the first interview had gone well, then she felt the second interview had gone really well, and she also felt the third interview had gone really well, but they still hadn't finished that process with all applicants.  Three interviews for one job with multiple candidates.  Common sense would suggest that this was a huge waste of time. 

Almost right after I talked to her, I read an article about job interviews.  It suggested that progressive companies are eliminating the job interview as they aren't getting any useful information from the job interview.  In the competitive work place, everyone who wants a job is very well prepared for the job interview.  There are tons of books, articles, podcasts available for anyone who wants to prepare.  In addition, you can likely find a website that publishes the actual interview questions that a particular employer uses to conduct interviews.  People were getting hired because they were good at job interviews but not necessarily a good fit for the job.  Some employers are trying to evolve their interviews to focus on the soft skills such as the company values.  This doesn't seem to yield better results given most companies have values like integrity or respect.  Who is going to claim that their own personal values are not congruent with that?

Companies are doing more creative things such as having them do the job for a day or a week.  Or creating a situation where they are can show case skills that the job requires. 

The work force is changing.  Employee turn-over is a huge cost to employers.  Recruitment is a huge cost and recruiting the wrong employee can be a huge cost to the company in more than just dollars. 

Common sense tells us that the rules of yesterday no longer work.  Everyone needs to adapt and evolve in order to move forward.   So, when we have an aged former reality star whose most famous quote is "You're fired" tweeting that his thinking is not evolved at all, well, that is troubling.  Perhaps in the long job interview that was the Presidential election, we should have just chosen the candidate who kept getting her hair done. 

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