Interviews And I

The MBA is complete, the new baby is born, and the next step in life is coming. I'm filling out numerous applications online, networking as well as you can tied to a motel in little Thames, Idaho, and trying hard to interview well when I get the opportunity.

If you are anything like me interviewing is nerve-wracking. The interviewer is throwing questions at you, questions that use phrasing like, "Tell me about a time when . . ." followed by any number of topics - customers, supervisors, ownership, challenges. The truth is I don't interview well. I'll tell you why - I believe in being sincere, and in giving honest answers. If that honest answer includes a stupor of thought, even though it is immensely frustrating, then so be it.

I've read a dozen articles on interviewing skills. Most of them say the same thing. "Anticipate the questions, and prepare a response." I can see the wisdom in that, but I can also see the problem. I appreciate the "me in 30 seconds" statement, and the idea behind it. But reciting something I've written in advance of the question feels false. It feels insincere. I know if I were the interviewer I would want the genuine person answering my questions, not some pre-written, memorized script being recited at me.

On the other end of the spectrum, having something to say that is full of substance and information in answer to those questions would be nice to have on hand. And being that I was the one that wrote and refined those answers, I can state them with passion and sincerity. So where is the line between an actor saying lines, and a person sincerely sharing their experience? Having failed in a few interviews I am becoming converted to preparing my answers in advance of the interview, and committing them to memory.

I recently had an interview that I believe went well. Reflecting on it I made a realization that I think is worth sharing. These questions I answer and ask in return can result in a human connection, rather than a professional, impersonal interrogation. How? By turning the questions into conversation. When I have a positive, semi-intimate experience talking with someone an interesting thing happens - they stay in my memory. They become more than just another face, another interaction.

I am skilled at doing this myself. I am excellent at opening people up. It takes an honest interest in the person, and a smile. Nothing more. People will talk all day long when you talk about them. In the motel business it's a series of questions. "What brings you to Thames?" "What are you going to do here?""Where are you from?" All of these questions can lead into the pitch. I've mentioned previously that the TJ Motel is more of an experience than a motel. It does not have your typical motel rooms. It has rooms that are more akin to cabins, and have more of a homey feel.

Talking with someone, having a conversation with them, can change their perceptions, and give you control of the impression they have of you. Yet the interview always seems to be a Q and A session with the candidate on the hot seat. Although I've been confident of a good interview in the past, there have been some where I did not get a call back, which leads me to find out where it went awry.

Often an interview can go well, but from it the interviewer can discern whether or not the candidate is a good match for the job. In other words you can still be a great person, but you would be an ill fit to this particular position.

I've heard people say they always get the job. There may be some outliers out there where that is fact, but they are few and far between, and know something that the general population does not. The right answers to every question tweaked to the particular employer. A noble aspiration, but one built on talent, I think, rather than possibility.

I appreciate a rejection based on a mismatch, but I cannot help but feel some disappointment. It is my ambition, after all, to be taken seriously and allowed to utilize my talents, education, experience, and leadership in a business setting of my choosing. If you are talking to me, then I want you to be talking to me. If I have applied to your business, then I want to be a part of your business. I understand that wanting is not always qualifying, but I aspire to qualify. If in conversation I can achieve that, then what is the harm in trying?