Going on interviews without preparation is like taking an exam without studying for it.
This week I was at a workshop observing some people who were role playing interviews. One person was the hiring manager; the other was the interviewee.
The question that the hiring manager asked the interviewee was this: “Can you give me an example of how you handled a conflict with a client, internal or external?”
The interviewee said: “At my previous job, many people didn’t think that I was going to be good, because I was hired to add another layer of controls, and people in other departments weren’t happy about it. After I had been there for some months, my manager had gotten an email from an employee in another department who said he was skeptical of the work I was going to do when I was hired, but I was doing a great job in my position.”
You see the problem right? Please tell me you do!
The interviewee did not answer the question.
The workshop participants critiqued this round, and then the interviewee got a second shot at answering the same question. He said: “I’m known as an even tempered person. I can deal with angry customers because I don’t get angry back.” Continue reading
