URBS 615—Professional Seminar
The Interview
The purpose of the interview is to find out about those things the interviewee is afraid to tell (whether from modesty or shame):
- How smart are you?
- How independent are you?
- Can you work and share and decisions with others?
- What happens when you don’t get your own way?
- Can you make mistakes and take responsibility for them?
- Do you work hard? How lazy are you?
- How well do you understand the work that you propose to do?
- Do you like yourself?
- Do you like me? Can we enjoy working together?
- What makes you angry?
- What makes you frightened?
- What are your strong points?
- What are your weak points?
- How much are you worth in salary?
- What do you want from this job?
- What do you want from me?
- What happens when you are angry, scared, or frustrated?
To get at these issues, interviewers often ask “stress questions” such as:
- Leading question (“What do you think of the statement that planners, like doctors, like to play God?”)
- Zapping you personally (“You’ve done a lot of job jumping. Why should we believe you’ll change that pattern if you get this job?”)
- Questions for which there is no answer (“If you are hired, how would you do the social element for our comp plan if you were given three months?”)
- Tell us a little about yourself (don’t recite your resume)
Do’s & Don’ts for Interviewing
- Know why you are taking the interview and want the job
- Know precisely what you can do on behalf of your employer
- Know how much you are going to cost
- Interview panels eliminate people, they don’t choose them. Stay loose, don’t fill in silence with sales talk.
- Save your best shots and questions for the person who has power to hire you.
- Be positive. If you have nothing positive to say, say nothing.
- Don’t act cocky, flippant, or overconfident.
- Don’t accept (or reject) a job on the spot. Sleep on it.
- When you get a firm offer, negotiate for the future not just the present. Negotiate the terms of your promotion. Know what success on the job means and where it can lead, before you accept.
From Warren Jones & Albert Solnit. 1980. What Do
I Do Next? (Chicago, IL: Planners Press)
© 2003 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 13 January 04