NOT ALL INTERVIEWERS ARE SKILLED AT INTERVIEWING

There is a sliding scale of interviewer competence. At one end of the scale, you might be faced with a skilled interviewer who has been trained by the HR department to ask questions that will probe exactly what you have done in the past that would help their organisation to succeed. At the other extreme, you could be faced with an unskilled interviewer who may just have volunteered to interview for the first time because another colleague unexpectedly fell ill! The unskilled interviewer may not have any particular questions and may just be relying on gut feel to judge whether they can get on with you or not.

It is impossible to predict what sort of interviewer you will be faced with. You might think that more senior managers or interviewers in the larger, multinational or more sophisticated companies might be better trained than more junior managers or those in smaller organisations. But that is often not the case.

Giving examples

A skilled interviewer will ask probing questions about challenges you have faced, and may want examples along with detail as to what you did, why you did it, and what you learned. An unskilled interviewer may just ask some superficial questions.

But whether you are faced with a skilled or an unskilled interviewer, you should aim toprovide examples wherever possible to back up your claims. Examples make a much stronger impact in the mind of the interviewer than generalised statements or opinions that you may make about yourself.

Consider the following exchange between an unskilled interviewer (I) and a candidate (C):

I: Are you a good team player?

C: Yes, I think I am.

I: Thank you. And now the next question...

However, compare it with an exchange in which the candidate gives a short example – even though the interviewer did not actually ask for one:

I: Are you a good team player?

C: Yes, I think I am. Just as one example, I have been taking part in a continuous improvement team for the last six months in addition to my day-to-day responsibilities. I have learnt a lot about working closely in a team to improve how we operate in the business. I can tell you much more about it if you like.

I: There’s no need for now, but thank you. And now the next question...

As you can see, giving an example makes the candidate’s response much more vivid – the candidate seems more believable in professing to have good team skills. A skilled interviewer will automatically ask for examples, but an unskilled interviewer may forget to do so. So try to give an example to substantiate your claims and make yourself more memorable.