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The Bizarre Business Interview Techniques

Posted on October 26, 2009 Written by ripitup

Have you ever been to an interview where it felt like your interviewer was reading questions from a how-to book? Some book about how to strategically corner the candidates and make them sweat? Some might have gotten more professional but still the employers are forgetting one significant fact: THE CANDIDATES MIGHT QUITE POSSIBLY HAVE SEEN THOSE BOOKS TOO! What I mean is, sometimes the interviewers are so lost in playing the good cop/bad cop game or using the oh- so- cliché “treat them mean, keep them keen” strategy that they forget we can play along too.

Some might try to push your buttons so hard to test your endurance. It’s a tough industry,right? If you can’t take 30 minutes of stress, what use are you to them? But come on, they should not underestimate the intelligence of the audience. Most of the time, you can smell the tactics from a mile away and you choose one of the two paths: 1)You play along and prove you have balls of steel (metaphorically speaking of course) or 2) Judging by the technique that so lacks originality, you decide that you don’t want to work for them anyway. Of course there are some who can get caught off guard, which is exactly why these games still exist. But seriously, they are not as efficient or scary as they are believed to be. Let’s take a look at these questions taken from real life cases.

The interviewers are two career women, both partners of the law firm, interviewing a female lawyer intern to-be. One of the questions asks the girl where she sees herself 5 years from now. Easy question. Easy to come up with a smart, promising answer. But then this question comes:

– “What if you decide you want to have babies and quit the practice? or you want to cut back hours? What then?”

Now, this question is stupid for one simple reason. The candidate will lie. If she doesn’t want babies, she will say so. Even if she is thinking about it, she will say no. No woman in her right mind will admit to considering having babies in the 5 years to come. They want to job and they want it now. It’s not even certain they will (want to) stay in that firm for that long anyway. So they will lie. So if the interviewer can’t anticipate the lie, they should really not be interviewing at all. If they can and they should be able to guess the answer, they should just not ask. Either way, it is a waste of time for both parties.

This one is priceless. It happened to me. The co-founder of a small PR company wanted me to pledge my loyalty to the firm. She wanted me to assure her that I was to stay with the company for a long time. Now this question is hilarious for two reasons: For one, obviously I can’t know how long I want to stay at a company I haven’t even started to work for yet. And two, this woman used to work for another company but she left after 2 years to start her own. So, she didn’t stick at one place and she’s expecting me to?

If you have stuff to add, please do. We might fee frustrated at the time of the interview, but afterwards it just turns into a funny anecdote we love to laugh at.

The Power Play Between The Potential Employer and The Employee

Posted on October 26, 2009 Written by ripitup

PART 1: THE FRUSTRATING MULTI STAGE TESTS

I have been through at least a dozen interviews and listened to all my friends interview horror tales. Just yesterday, a friend of mine was telling me about how she left her office for an hour to be able to get to an interview for a company. She hates her current job and she tries to get as many interviews as possible, though it gets tricky to find the time to leave the office.

She was expecting a one-on-one traditional interview, dressed for the part and feeling all confident. She had knowledge and probably more enthusiasm than all the other candidates combined. So she was really taken aback when the Human Resources Rep. announced that she was ready to distribute the test to all the waiting candidates. My friend was more than taken aback, since the woman hadn’t let her know about this “little test”. Moreover she seemed to have informed all others. Now she had to translate 5 medical articles. The test duration was three hours yet there was no way she could be away from the office that long so she did her best for a while and then fled the scene. So apparently the actual interview will take place for the people who score desirable test results. Oh, I think it is best that I mention she wasn’t applying for a interpreter job.

All the big corporations seem to have made a habit to put candidates through a set of tests that take place through a period of weeks and each test takes hours. Well, if you are really, really willing to get the job, you might think that the time & effort you invest in the tests and if you are lucky, the interviews are a small price to pay. But then again, who in his/her right mind applies to only one corporation/company at this ridiculously fragile state of the economy and the fiercely competitive job market? So you apply to all the firms that fit your criteria: the ones that you can possibly commute to, the ones that pay reasonable salaries and/or that are remotely relevant to your education and/or to the career path you want to follow. So imagine applying to an average of 20 jobs, and that 90% puts you through those stages of exhausting tests and then don’t usually bother to call you back with some feedback.

I can see how smart an idea these tests/interviews are for the employer who wants to make sure only the best candidates are hired. But what about the potential employees whose time spent isn’t taken into consideration at all? The problem with these interviews are that they are the brainchild of executives/human resources people who have most probably forgotten what it is like to be hanging on the phone, hoping for a positive reply, or at least a heads up on the situation so they can finally move on.

Imagine how terrible it would be to actually pass the test but after getting hired, you realize that the work environment and the organizational culture are nothing like what you imagined they would be. Of course it is a worst-case scenario, but unfortunately it happens more often than not. As the unemployment rates go up, the employer gets the upper hand. Job applicants get more and more desperate, depressed even so they tend to cross-fingers and settle for what they can get, rather than question and challenge the system. Which brings us to the second part:

PART 2: AN INTERVIEW IS A TWO-WAY STREET

Another friend of mine applied to 20 jobs before he got his current job, and only two of them provided a response. One was negative and the other asked for an interview. The interview ran smoothly and after the second one went well also, it was time to negotiate the conditions. Of course the concept of negotiation was what went through my friend’s mind. When his then interviewer told him about all the perks and conditions, he expected my friend to start working the next day. Instead my friend asked for some time to think about. Yes, he needed the paycheck but he also needed to think it over. He was going to invest at least 10 hours everyday to this job and he had to decide if the trade-off was going to be worth it. He eventually said yes. But the funny thing is what his boss recently confessed to him about that third interview. He said that he never even thought about his interviewee may not jump at the offer; that the interview actually had two sides. My friend was also evaluating if the job and the employer was worth his time and future work.

It is funny when you think about it. People who are in the hiring position rarely even consider that you may not like to work for them. As far as they are concerned, there’s plenty of fish in the sea and if you are not pleased with the offer, they know hundreds of people who will. But this unfortunately creates a bitter and vicious cycle. The more power the applicants give away, the more powerful the firms become. The more powerful they become, they get all the options and the right to choose – which in turn gives more power to the employer.

This is exactly where you need to realize it is a power play. You need to show to the interviewer that you are a qualified candidate (we are assuming that you are fit for the job). You also need to evaluate the manners of the interviewer. From the way the interview is conducted, you can actually get a lot of clues about the work environment.

TO BE CONTINUED…

The “Shit-I’m-too late/too-old Syndrome”

Posted on October 21, 2009 Written by ripitup

It’s so easy and so common to get into this way of thinking. As you grow older- even if you are in your mid 2os- you hear this phrase a lot. People talk about how late it is to start over. How late it is to make a dramatic career change. To start a new relationship. As depressing and somewhat convenient to feel that way, it’s also insanely ridiculous. It is hard to shake the thoughts if you are living in to a society where people seem to be dying to start their careers and get married and have kids. And it looks like a lot of societies are like this. Hell, the first time I heard the words “my biological clock is ticking” was on American TV and the woman was merely in her late 20s. Come on, give me a break! I don’t know why people are so willing to conform to such inconvenient stuff. The fact that some people met the love of their loves in high school doesn’t automatically oblige you to marry your boyfriend at the moment in a rush. And if your friend has gotten his/her dream career at the age of 23, it is her life. Not yours. There is not a timeline everybody can follow or has to follow. Luckily, I manage to isolate myself from this syndrome most of the time. I used to have a strategy to cope. Whenever I seemed to be lose hope, I would remind myself that I would never forgive myself if I didn’t just work my ass off and didn’t do everything humanly possible. But then I read a great life story and well, I figured the advice in that book was much more effective and efficient. A Turkish drama student went to the Stated upon graduation. He was 26. He started to live the starving actor’s life, in a different country and at the age of 26. His name is Aykut “Ike” Ogut and about a decade later he was pretty much where he wanted to be – with still a lot of things to do for himself. Oh, and believe me the guy didn’t have it easy. He went through poverty, drinking too much, having health problems, depression…But he didn’t give up. And he made it. He jokes that he is yet to be in a movie with Tom Cruise. But from where I look, he is doing pretty good. He lived in L.A and New York, he played both little and big parts, he directed sound departments. He is happy, well-off and quite successful. Not the mention, it is quite a long and complicated journey. But he did it. First he had to start and he started at 26. So it is only natural that he would write a book on self-growth and motivation and how to achieve the stuff you want to achieve, no matter how insanely difficult it might seem. His words work just fine for me and I’m 25. And my plans are just as complicated, including the whole going to L.A. and making it in Hollywood thing. Of course he is only human and he does occasionally get depressed and wonder if he can pull some stuff off.Like writing this book when he was 35. Writing is hard and I can imagine how much endurance books will take. But he didn’t give in. This time he just read about the accomplishments of authors who got published after the age of 35. See? It’s a wonderful way for the mind to work.

Ogut’s advice relates all areas. I f you want to be an actor, but you are yet to start, you are supposed to encourage yourself by reading about people who have gone through similar paths. It is ridiculous to compare for an actress to be in her 20s to compare herself to Jodie Foster and say “Boy, I’m too late! I’m too old to start!” Well, by Jodie’s standards everybody is screwed. I mean she was acting in commercials when she was in diapers. She was acting with Robert De Niro when she was 13. You are not supposed to think like that. But by all means, please think about Gerard Butler. He actually has a law degree. He didn’t start acting until he was 25. Sure, he did fantasize about it but he didn’t even really try. He was from Scotland, and already in his mid-20s. But he hated the office and took his chances. Have you checked him out? He is one of Hollywood’s most sought after leading man. And Britain’s. He got to play Irish, Scottish and American roles. He did action, comedy, drama, romance AND musicals. He did theater and movies. This is the guy you should be reading about. Not Tom Cruise who got his first acting gig it in 19. You should also avoid the failure stories. Sure, not every one makes it but it doesn’t mean you are not going to be able to succeed.

It is not just about acting. It’s about everything. People can find true love at 50, or at 15. You can make your dreams come true at any age. Of course it might be tough if you try to be olympic-good at an athletic sport after 30,as Seth Godin puts it in his book “The Dip” . But other than that, you can bungee-jump at 83 (has been done and the guy is live. make sure to get some tests before though, just in case), you can be American and get to play in Japanese TV shows after you hit 30 (Timothy Ferris) or you can also get yourself published at 60. Of course I am not telling you to take it slow ans wait. I am just saying that whenever you get stuck, there are plenty of real life examples of people who come from similar backgrounds as you and that their stories are the perfect way to get inspired.

Oh sure, you will have a pessimistic friend who says he/she gets more depressed with stories like that. Hell, maybe even you are that easily depressed friend. You can always find an excuse not to put yourself out there. I am just trying to help out with finding the reasons not to stop trying.

Dreaming of 240-Hour Days

Posted on October 21, 2009 Written by ripitup

Most of us can’t manage to pull things off as we would like to, can we? I mean I don’t know about you but I have so much to do, 24 hours hardly ever seem enough. Oh there are plenty of blog posts out there telling you to write about how should be useful to others by giving something of value and they are always writing cool stuff with catchy titles. But those article writers usually seem to be concentrated on one stuff. Writing and/or exercising and throw in some time for your family and you are set. Come on! Since when is it that simple? I am doing my best to manage time, yet 24 hours seem barely enough. Let’s lay it all out:

*Dreams:

– What do you dream of? I don’t mean what you see when you are asleep. What do you want to do – What do you want to become more than anything else in your life? If you want to do something that seems rather hard to achieve and do that something on your own- be it trying to make it as an artist/musician/actor/film-maker/writer…, it is a full-time job trying to map out a career plan and figuring out how the hell you are going to finance yourself along the way. I want to e a full-time writer and a film-maker and actually act out my favorite parts. And once I get there (the attitude has to be when, not if), I know I’ll make money out of my dreams but how to get there in the first place seems to be the issue; especially if you have a strong sense of what you want to do. And if you want to make movies in a country other than your own, you have work& residence permit issues which is totally a drag on your own. Oh, and you are not going to be granted one easily, especially if you are not a student. And if you want to be a student, it costs even more money. Have you checked out the costs lately? Which brings us to our second issue: Money.

* Money vs time vs freedom

– How do you make the money to support the dream and yourself? Full-time jobs- especially ones that aren’t related to the area of your desires are total buzz killers. Trust me I tried. It doesn’t mean so much that you are earning some money if you don’t have the time to enjoy it, or don’t have the freedom to deal with the pre-work required to work for your dreams (like application,queries,interviews,writing…). Add traffic if you are commuting and well, you are screwed. Trust me, I know- I’ve been there.

* Health and Looks

Do you like to look good? I do. I feel amazing when I look my best. But looking good takes time, even for all the gorgeous male and female celebrities we see. The guys didn’t get those abs sitting on their asses and women well…most of them aren’t even naturally pretty. It takes exercise and healthy eating and time to pamper your self. So yeah, in between working on your art and trying to make money, you need time to look after your appearance. You need the time to cook or find good food – and I mean good for body and soul, not just for the soul- and find an exercise that doesn’t feel like an exercise; something that your body will feel like a natural necessity rather than an obligation. I found mine. But unfortunately going out dancing can be a challenge if all your friends are pub-loving people. Swimming is also great but for me the commute to the pool and the drying process takes so much time and I also feel so blissfully sleepy afterwards. Oh, and don’t forget the colds we seem to catch in the winter.

* Sleep:

– How many hours please you? Let’s say we are not one of those genius folks who figured out how to happily get the energy they need with only 4-5 hours. We need 7-8. Or even 8.5. That already takes 1/3 of the day!

* Traffic & Commute

– Do you live in a big city? Well, mine is one of the biggest in population and it is not small either so the traffic gives me nightmares. It even takes so much more time than it should. Even if all you have planned out is a cup of coffee with a pal, you still have to get on the road.

* Friends, Nightlife and Romance

Social life. I love going out, whether at night or in daylight. I love spending hours with my friends,just chatting away or drinking. I also love going out at night and who can deny the adrenaline you get from flirting with a hot stranger. Or you could be in a serious relationship,which means you need to devote quite sometime to the person you have welcomed to your life. Are you adding up all the hours we need? And we haven’t finished yet…

*Depression

– If you tend to have an overworking imagination, you probably have the tendency to get depressed. Not just the type of blues depicted in pop songs, but more like the nightmarish type that gave inspiration to some rocks songs and definitely grunge. Remember how happy Kurt Cobain was? No, I am not a fan. My favorite band is actually Bon Jovi. But depression happens to the both of us. If Jim Carrey went through it, it is only natural to expect to hit rock bottom once in a while. The upside is, we experience most feelings more strongly than the others and that helps us create. The downside is,the extremity of the blues can be suffocating. So in between the blocks we get into with our creations, the energy we lose to our not so perfect biology, we also have to maintain our sanity. Which can be tricky when life doesn’t go your way. And how often does life seem to go out its way to please you anyway?

* The people who love to try and change our minds

– Just today my dad was hinting I should get a regular job. And he means well. He also knows I am happy right where I’m- trying to make my dreams come true and living my life the way I want to. We all have people around us who seem to think that they know what’s best for us. People who think this is just a crazy phase. Or people who just get a kick of depressing others because they are miserable in their own lives… Whatever. People talk. As determined as we can be, it is still downright annoying that most people don’t respect the path you have chosen. You can learn to avoid them, or block out what they tell you but even that takes time and energy.

Have I left something out? Yeah.If you are married and/or with child(ren), your situation is a lot harder. Then there’s the housework…Or maybe you have to take care of an elderly relative too? Things are difficult enough when you can afford to be selfish. So seriously, how do we do it? How do we stay healthy, focused, good-looking, stress free, successful and driven? How do we multi-task and manage time to perfection? Of course we also need activities that are just for fun,just for the minute…So what do I suggest? I am a little hyper so maximizing action and living in the fast lane works for me. I talk fast,move fast,get stuff done fast. I read on the public transport, I write whenever I’m alone. Of course I am forced to slow down at times, like when I get sick or the stuff I need to do involves other people. But I try to make the best of the mere 24 hours I’ve. Coffee helps. Dancing myself to the oblivion gives me thrills and burns me calories. Am I always successful? Hell,no. Look at the title. But I’ll be damned if I let anyone or anything steer my course…