What’s the diagnosis? Sweaty Palms? Deer in the headlights look in their eyes? Sudden amnesia? Butterflies in the belly? FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN? If you’ve been on the receiving end of a job interview lately, you have probably easily recognized the symptoms of Applicant Distress Syndrome!
Due to the current jobless rate and economic conditions in the United States, hiring officials are faced with the daunting task of culling through hundreds of job applications for even one position. This is equally true for the federal government in their efforts to fill nearly 5,000 vacant positions at any one time. After Human Resource offices have accomplished the difficult task of sorting through volumes of resumes to identify the best qualified group of candidates, the next step in the hiring process is the job interview.
Job interviews are time-consuming and expensive for both managers and applicants. The result should be to gain new and supplemental types of information from the applicants during the interview process which demonstrates how their experience directly relates to the new position and will enable them to be the most successful candidate among their current competition. So why is this such as upsetting and mysterious experience for the job seeker? And why do hiring officials feel the process is largely a waste of time?
There are two basic reasons, with both centered on “preparation”.
First, if applicants are unprepared for their interview, they are sure to “bomb”. As a former federal hiring manager, I found it very interesting to see the different levels of preparation of applicants. No two interviews were the same. Each applicant had their own style and level of preparation. Some were better at the art of interviewing than others. Most were dressed appropriately in business attire and carried a portfolio or briefcase with copies of their resumes and references at hand. The better applicants performed in the interview, the better their chances of being hired. However, on more than one occasion I would ask an applicant about a specific item in their resume. Deer in the headlights! Amnesia! Blank stare! Or sometimes, if an applicant was unprepared to answer a question, they would instead proceed on rambling tangents, filling the air with mind-numbing and irrelevant noise. It is not hard to eliminate this candidate once they demonstrate their complete lack of preparation. So, other than studying their own resume, how do candidates know what to prepare to ensure a good interview performance?
Second, the content and construct of the interview is the fundamental link to providing the results the manager seeks in whittling down his field of candidates to the ‘best of the best’. Poorly constructed questions will not elicit meaningful information helpful in culling the list of candidates. I once asked a newly hired federal employee to share her experiences regarding a telephone screening interview. I was shocked at her response. The panel’s first ice-breaking question was, “Could you please describe to us what you look like?” This was clearly inappropriate and not job related. How would a candidate have prepared for that question? And what type of useful information was gained for the hiring manager? Poor interview questions coupled with reliance on first impressions and gut instincts are poor predictors of good hires. It also calls into questionable legal practices and may be counter to merit system principles. Agencies get in trouble when selecting officials unintentionally veer off into topics in violation of Federal EEO laws.
This week I have been teaching “Federal Job Search – By the Numbers” to hundreds of current and former military personnel who are about to be separated or retired and would like to land the best 