Interviewing

Probably even about five years ago, interviewing was a dreaded activity for me. Luckily, it has changed positively since. In the last few years I had several interviews and had very good memories about them; almost all of the positions were offered to me that I interviewed for. In general, I think I do well in interviews, but I have much to learn about giving them. I did have a few times that I had participated in giving interviews, but still much room for me for advancement there.

Most interviews I participated in had pretty much the same structure and questions. Usually, I met with the entire IT department in different sessions. Interestingly, similar questions came up among these sessions, so I only had to come up with one good answer and was able to reuse it.

The seemingly hardest question was always my favorite, and it was this time also with the one I had with my friend (who has plenty of experience with interviews). They ask with your biggest weakness, which I love turning around to come out with strength. I think it is kind of expected. Most of my friend’s questions were among the ones from the list and the ones I am used tom, but there is one that I find the most challenging. I have to think hard to phrase my answer to the question about where I see myself in the near future. I want to show interest in growing in my field, but I also want to show that I do not want to leave the work place soon I am trying to get into. It is useful to have a brief understanding of the organizational chart for a proper answer.

Interviewing someone else is a larger challenge for me. I do not only have to focus my thoughts about what I want to ask, but I have to be able to receive, understand, record and react to the answers. It is a lot to accomplish at the same time. I have done some interviewing while I was working as an IT Manager in Hungary, and I had to participate as a co-interviewer in my department when we were hiring temporary help before. It is hard to keep a balance between being general in the subjects of the questions and still getting some specific answers out of the interviewee. Also, keeping to appropriate questions is harder tan one would think. Although, I want to keep the interview kind of personal and somewhat friendly—to represent the kind of environment we have properly—professionalism in the questions and interaction is also an important requirement for a successful interview. It is easy to become too stiff or too friendly.

Both giving and participating in an interview requires a lot of preparation, self-control and awareness. Practice and preparedness are key concepts for success for these activities.