Interviewers need to make good impression too

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Dear Joan:
I don't know how unique my question is but no one has been able to give me a decent answer. I have worked as a job developer and placement specialist for years. Conducting employment search workshops are second nature to me. I am not a novice in the arena of job search.

My question is: How do you interview with someone who does not know how to interview?

I've been out of work for a month and I've had four interviews and I am just appalled at the lack of interviewing skills people have.

One interviewer read my resume and said very disparaging things about my former employer. She noted where I graduated from high school and asked if I knew her sister. In the course of the interview she referred to me as "girl." When she called to inform me she chose another candidate, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I interviewed with a college dean who was more concerned about how I got my resume to open like a book, and would I go back to work for a former employer if I had the chance, than about my skills and qualifications.

Another interviewer kept me waiting 35 minutes with no explanation, and was rude in her manner. Maybe she would not have been so pious had she known her dress was popped open and her safety-pinned together bra was exposed.

Please advise me on how to deal with lack of professionalism. Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
Unfortunately, your situation is far from unique. And as companies continue to lay off professional staff that does the hiring, the problem is likely to get worse. This issue cuts across many industries but I get more reports that smaller organizations have the biggest problem with unprofessional interviewers. They usually have more informal interviewing systems and standards.

Because employers are flush with available would-be employees they may not see the need to present the best professional image to attract the best and the brightest job candidates. However, professional interviewing behavior is not only critically important to their recruiting efforts, its going to keep them out of court.

For example, illegal and leading questions that do not deal directly with the candidates' work history and qualifications could come back to haunt a company if an angry candidate feels these questions caused him or her to lose the offer. These illegal questions involve areas of race, religion, marital status, cultural heritage, spouse's occupation, whether you have children and so on.

Appropriate questions are called "Bonofide Occupational Questions" employers are wise to require anyone who interviews to attend interview training to know how to use them. The best interviewers stick to the resume and job description to aid them in their questioning.

·        First they validate the candidate's resume by asking questions about dates and checking out other details and stated facts.

·        Next, they begin to ask questions about each of the key qualifications the job requires. And here's where inexperienced interviewers make the most mistakes. Often, they haven't taken the time to determine what the actual requirements of the job are!

·        Good interviewers look for a match between something on the resume and a key job qualification. Then they begin to zero in on that past experience...probing for details so they can see if the candidate's job background is going to help them succeed in the new job. They want to find out if the person is under or over qualified, if they have the depth of experience that's required and if they possess the political and interpersonal savvy that is pertinent to the job.

·        The best interviewers know that they need to shut up and let the interviewee do the talking. They know how to draw them out with open questions designed to solicit more information. They're masters at friendly non-verbal encouragers and language such as: "Then what happened?" "Very interesting...tell me more about that." and "Give me an example of a time when you..."

·        Skillful interviewers know how to get the information they want by asking legal questions. For instance, if the interviewer is concerned about whether a woman is able to travel they don't ask: "Do you have any children?" or "Does your husband care if you travel?" Instead, they ask, "Is there anything that would prevent you from traveling over a weekend or for a week at a time?"

·        Smart interviewers know how to make small talk designed to relax the candidate without violating their privacy, wasting excess time, or stepping over the line of professionalism. They stick to "safe" subjects while they're breaking the ice and when the interview is over. They know the candidate is sizing up the organization--and the interviewer-- as much as the interviewer is evaluating the job candidate.

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