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Subject:RE: Recent unusual interview experiences From:jgarison -at- ide -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 9 May 2002 13:37:29 -0400
Indeed.
There have been several times that I have been asked a lot of tough
questions. There have been times that I was subjected to something akin to
guerilla interviewing (I was interviewing for the Doc Manager position, and
I was confronted by all seven writers in the group at the same time, at
least two of whom had been passed over for consideration for the job). I
have even had some just plain bizarre "interviews" (imagine entering a room
with a single chair, three blackboards covered with words, phrases, and
drawings, and having someone enter, not introduce himself, and start by
slapping a pointer at one of the blackboards and announce "This is a quote
from Thomas Mann. What does it mean to you?").
Yet only once have I ever ended an interview early, and that was after about
15 minutes when both the interviewer and I had arrived at the conclusion
that I was way too senior for the position they were trying to fill. I said
that, since we were wrong for each other, the best thing to do was to not
waste any more time. I also volunteered to get them in touch with some
people I knew who were at the level they were looking, which they agreed to.
The eventually hired someone I recommended, and I got a nice thank you note
from them.
I am neither easily offended, nor do I wear my feelings on my sleeve. Nor do
I wish to spend 8+ hours a day with people whose behavior crosses the
boundaries of politeness. I've been a tech writer for a mere four years, but
I have yet to have a co-worker (or an interviewer!) behave in a manner I
consider rude.
"People who take themselves out of consideration because they don't like the
interview
process are providing further proof that the process works."
Absolutely. As many people have pointed out, an interview is not a one-sided
affair.
Striving for grace under pressure,
Rebecca :-)
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