Comments - The 3 As to Ace-ing an Interview - RecruitingBlogs2024-03-28T19:59:47Zhttps://recruitingblogs.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=502551%3ABlogPost%3A1713512&xn_auth=noI absolutely hate the stateme…tag:recruitingblogs.com,2013-06-11:502551:Comment:17136062013-06-11T19:01:20.638ZLinda Ferrantehttps://recruitingblogs.com/profile/LindaLoCicero
<p>I absolutely hate the statement, 'Tell me about yourself' in an interview, and I'm a recruiter!! The biggest reason I don't like it is that we expect candidates to have an answer prepared for it, but we've already put our prejudiced spin in place! We expect a certain type of response (whether or not we admit it to ourselves, we are expecting something 'specific') and when we don't get it, the candidate falls into the 'not prepared for the interview' category. </p>
<p>What if we changed it…</p>
<p>I absolutely hate the statement, 'Tell me about yourself' in an interview, and I'm a recruiter!! The biggest reason I don't like it is that we expect candidates to have an answer prepared for it, but we've already put our prejudiced spin in place! We expect a certain type of response (whether or not we admit it to ourselves, we are expecting something 'specific') and when we don't get it, the candidate falls into the 'not prepared for the interview' category. </p>
<p>What if we changed it up a little bit and asked something like, 'So, tell me a little bit about what attracted you to this job'. Give the candidate a place to start and don't leave them flapping in the wind. Any time I hear about a recruiter talking about how candidates are 'unprepared' for the interview, I have to remind them that recruiting is THEIR job, job searching isn't a job for our candidates. We say they should treat their job search as a job, but in reality, I'd rather have someone stumble over the inane questions that really lead us nowhere. </p>
<p>For the record, I'm a behavioral recruiter so behaviors are extremely important in our process. We analyze behaviors and determine level of manageability within the client company. The 'tricky' questions are only helpful if you have a company who's culture promotes changing quickly and you're looking for how someone thinks on their feet. Even so, it's not the best method to determine one's viability in the position. I don't like 'trick' questions, nor do I like putting candidates on the spot. It makes for a very ineffectual interview.</p>