A little background. I’m a manager in one of the Big-4 accounting/consulting firms in one of their consulting practices. We’ve been interviewing college students for Intern or Analyst level (entry level) positions. At the previous firm I worked for, I interviewed candidates at all levels from campus hires for Intern positions to experienced Manager level.
So. For anyone who is currently looking for a job, ever wonder what the guy on the other side of the table is thinking during the interview?
What do you think are your greatest weaknesses?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
If the candidate takes ages to answer a question do you ever accidentally zone out while they are droning on and on and on?
Do you have any questions for me?
Have you had anyone show up wildly inappropriately dressed?
I would think the interviewees are well prepped by their colleges, hence the question if there have been any unexpected outliers.
Do you follow a pre-set script of questions, or just freestyle it knowing you want to get certain information?
How do you recover from a question that completely throws you?
I have interviewed dozens of people in similar roles as well. I hate being interviewed in a rigid and structured way so I don’t do it to other people. It is all conversational but still focused. The interview just changes with each person to see where it goes and I let them know that up front that is what we are going to do. I have given written tests but without any actual answer key. I just judge everything as a whole on a pass/fail basis. There is about an 80% failure rate for the way that I do interviewing but I don’t think I have ever made anyone overly nervous and some people have passed that I wouldn’t have thought when they walked in the door based on their resume.
Do you like the really structured interviews and interrogation sessions or do you like to use a more informal approach relying on your own judgment? I have walked out of two interviews myself because I didn’t like the way I was being treated and I took that as a bad sign for a place you might consider working even though I was perfectly qualified.
Do you like it when interviewees are aggressive and pushy or if they let you take complete lead and tell you the ‘correct’ answers?
How often does someone disqualify themselves simply walking into the room? Either by there appearance or just the general ‘vibe’ you get seeing them for the first time. Before them even introducing themselves and shaking your hand?
How often does someone move to the top of the list under the same circumstance?
We don’t have details of what screenings happen before you actually interview them, so we don’t know when you get their resume in front of you. How much ‘slop’ do you tolerate in a resume before it gets tossed?
What are you really asking with the “What is your greatest weakness?” question? Do you really want people to say they work too hard? Do you want honesty? What would be some “good” weaknesses for the jobs you interview for, if so?
I was going to follow up my questions to find out what answers he wants to get.
Are you looking for something in particular when you ask, “What do you like to do in your spare time?”
I’ve interviewed for a couple of places (no place that really mattered. I’m a college student and am suckling on the government teat right now) and during the interview they ask those “name an instance where you went above and beyond what you were called to do” and I usually talk about my military service, as that has been the major influence on my life. Is that not kosher? How do you feel about vets?
On an application under “Why did you leave your last job” I put “Tired of people trying to kill me.” Would you have hired me?
People often feel intimidated because I am awesome at everything.
I see myself giving up my position of wealth and power for a position of even greater wealth and power.
No, I usually stop them and try to steer them towards the point.
So far no. Everyone generally has worn a suit. I did interview one girl for an internship position who looked sorta like Harry Potter. We had a good laugh about that during the decision discussion. She was extremely qualified though so the managing director was like “offerus extendo!”.
I have certain broad attributes I’m looking for. Some are defined by HR to be in line with the companies core values. Some are my own. I generally like to freestyle but within a pre-defined framework. I’ll have some canned questions to keep the conversation moving. Mostly what I want to figure out is:
Probably the best answer is to just say you don’t know and maybe how you would go about finding out. If you try and fake it, I’ll probably know and it will just make things worse. I’m looking for how you answer questions as much as the answer themselves.
I’ve had candidates walk out of interviews after I asked them some basic technical questions.
I look for candidates that are confident and assertive without being pushy, arrogant or aggressive. I assume they will be looking to me to drive the interview, but they should not sit there impassively. They should also be enthusiastic, but without being over the top.
Not very often. I generally try to avoid snap judgements either way. But I’ve definitely had some candidates give off a bad vibe during the interview.
By the time the candidates come to me, their resume has generally been screened by either HR or someone else in the group.
For campus hires, a minimum GPA is also required.
Once a resume has been accepted, either a recruiter and maybe another manager will phone screen the candidate or a manager will interview the student on-campus.
The next step is an office visit, usually with a couple managers or directors and a partner.
After that, a decision is made.
What were some good responses that you’ve received to non-technical questions?
What non-technical achievements have impressed you the most?
Why do some interviewers like to throw in a completely off the wall question, like “If you were a candy bar, what kind would you be”?
What are deal breakers for you in the interview?
Have you read Blink?
Wow, that’s so deep.
::Gazes at Rand Rover with creepy, staring, adoring eyes::
How deep - if at all - do you screen applicants’ backgrounds via Google searches?
I’ve made an attempt to keep my professional and ‘artistic’ (as a DJ and musician) identities separate on the net for fear of this being a detriment to my employ-ability. I realize a more conservative large corporation and a younger, smaller start-up would hold varying degrees of comfort with having an artist in their midst so it’s sort of a case by case basis, but I do wonder how you handle the Web-based background check.
Not at all. If it gets to the point where we are considering making an offer, a formal background check will be performed. This mostly consists of confirming your education and work history.
Why? Obviously I can’t speak for all interviewers and companies, but in the grand scheme of things, a Big-4 accounting firm is one of the largest and most conservative places you could work at. And I have coworkers who are DJs and musicians and whatnot.
Also, our firm has its own Facebook page.
I don’t care about a persons interests outside of work so much as a I care about a person’s ability to put on their “game face” with clients and act in a professional and competant manner.
There is a certain irony in that a lot of companies look for well rounded people with active social lives and lots of extraciricular activities and then work them 14 hours a day, essentially turning them into the very people they didn’t want to hire.
Beats me. Maybe they are fucking with you (as there is no “right” answer to such a stupid question) or they are trying to evaluate your attitude when given a ridiculous request.
Be careful they aren’t asking you a “case study” question like “why are manhole covers round?” or “how many bowling balls can you fit into a Boeing 747?” These are actually serious questions. The purpose is not so much to get a right answer as it is to see how you will take a vauge question and logically break it down in order to approach a solution.
I sometimes toss out an unanswerable “Kobayashi Maru” question like “what would you do if your manager asked you to do something you thought was illegal in order to keep a client”. Mostly I’m looking for how they answer, not what they answer.
I don’t have many hard “deal-breakers”, but I seriously look down on the following:
Lateness
Profane language (although I might overlook a slip-up)
Acting like a psycho
Trying to bullshit me
Not knowing something you claimed on your resume
Inability to answer the “why do you want this job” question
Inability to articulate why I should hire you
Empty rhetoric or flattery (I know working for us would enhance YOUR career…what does that do for US?)
Arrogance
Being argumentative
Oh yeah…and telling me you’ll just “pick it up”.
With this in mind, I have also interviewed quite a few people over the years. I regret to say that I often make up my mind about the candidate within a couple of minutes of meeting them. Provided they have the requisite skills and experience, all I need to know is if I can work with them. (Humor and a little irreverence tend to be my criteria - I don’t want to work with someone who’s boring and won’t make my life a bit more pleasant). I realise this is slightly unprofessional, but I think it’s also very human.
Do you ever find yourself doing similar?