Ten things that I wish I can tell applicants during their interview

In the past several weeks, I have been, and still is, screening applicants for our team expansion. It has been fun and learning experiences going through different conversations. These also reminded me of other interview conversations from years ago.

While I screen for IT positions, I am interested in knowing the work attitude of the candidate more than their technical skills. I hope these will give tips to those who are hunting jobs.

^Source

Read on and tell me what you think... 😊

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"How are you?"

"I'm good."

"How was your travel time for coming to here?"

"It was fine."

No, it is not fine when you are late for 12 minutes. That is actually my subtle way of asking why you are late. Please be more sensitive next time.

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"Give me an instance when your manager called your attention because of something you did wrong."

"I can't think of any."

That's a very convenient answer. There has not been a perfect employee in history, though.

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"Our HR noted here on your resume that one of your previous employments was terminated. Why was that?"

"Because of alleged security violation."

"Alleged? So the case was not proven and you didn't commit the allegation?"

"I did it, ma'am, but I didn't know that the tailgater will go inside the production floor."

I wish you just kept quiet.

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"It is stated here on your resume that you had ITIL training. What is ITIL to you?"

"Information Technology Infrastructure Library."

Please do not lecture me with acronym. I asked what is ITIL to you, not the meaning of the acronym. And if it helps for you to know, I have my ITIL certification.

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"Why do you want to resign from your current employment?"

"Because the company has no process and they have a lot of issues."

Not really. It is you who can not adapt. When you look for another job, sell yourself and do not speak ill of others.

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"Why do you want to join our company?"

"For higher salary."

I, and every employer, know that everyone is after the money. The least you can do is not to be too blunt about it. I wish you can present value that you can bring aside from just focusing on what you will get from the company.

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"What do you know about our company?"

"There is very limited info on Jobstreet."

We have a full blown corporate website that is running on the internet. If you did not do your research then I'd rather hear it than you blaming a job portal.

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"If we hire you, where do you go from here? What's your career plan?"

"To climb the corporate ladder."

"Which part of the ladder?"

"Any higher position than my current role."

Oh boy, you don't have a career plan. There is no such thing as "any" position here or anywhere.

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"Why are you applying for this position?"

"Because it is the same with what I'm doing so I already know how to do it."

"Why are you looking for another job?"

"To try something different."

Darn. I wish I can rewind your answers.

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And for the best part...

Our HR approached me and asked if I still want to interview a candidate who is late. I looked at my calendar to see the schedule; an hour and 15 minutes late for the only interview schedule that morning.

"What's her reason?" She may have met an accident along the way then I can be very considerate.

"She forgot to set her alarm."

And she had the guts to still show up and give that reason? Honesty is not the best policy after all.

"Tell her to go back to bed!" At pass ten in the morning.

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^Source


Now let's go to the flip side of the ten with seven and learn from those who nailed it!

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"What's your ideal boss?"

"I prefer a leader than a boss."

Darn. I was not expecting that!

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"What is customer service to you as an IT support engineer?"

"Battle of patience."

Yes, we need that!

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"If you are supporting a customer on the call and your manager tells you to drop everything to do as he says, what will you do with the customer?"

"I will tell my manager that I will get to his requirement as soon as I am done with the customer because I am in the middle of a call."

Right, managers also need reminders from time to time that they need to be rational.

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"What will you bring to us if we hire you?"

"My commitment to high quality IT service."

I'll count on that!

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"What makes you stay in a company?"

"The people."

"What about the people?"

"Collaborative and easy to work with. Inspiring leaders."

Fair enough.

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"Let us assume I am a customer who calls for a problem about network printer because I can not print. How will you walk me through troubleshooting?"

"Click the Search button beside the Start button, type Printer. The result will show "Printers and Scanners" under System Settings. Click on that and..."

Okay now. I admire your keenness to small details. Customers, especially non-IT folks, will love that.

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"If you receive an issue that you do not know how to handle because you haven't encountered it before, what will you do?"

"Ask Google."

Of course, there is Google! We need people with initiative and self-reliance.

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