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Do interviews work?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
How effective do you think interviews are at choosing employees? I personally think that they are similar to exams, in that you can train people to pass both, but it doesn't neccesarily mean that you have all of the knowledge to do the job. Has anyone experienced any different forms of selection? One of the worst I've had was an online test off BT, which was full of crap like "It is important to have friends at work - do you agree, disagree, don't know" What a load of bollocks.

Does anyone on here actually interview people? I've held auditions for things, but it's not quite the same thing since you're actually seeing them working then (well if you can call acting work :razz: ). How useful do you find it, and what can/can't you tell from an interview? Ah well, I hope that in my future line of work, it will be more 'informal chats' - "can you use this camcorder? Yep. Wanna job? Yep."

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The online test for BT is bollocks, but its run by Accenture- what else do you expect? But it is only the first stage.

    Interviews are the best way of deciding candidates. If you can't handle the pressure of an interview, you can't handle the pressure of the job.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Interviews are about as good a method of any. Normally they'd already have had to do a CV, maybe a short phone interview and maybe some tests before a proper face-to-face.

    I can't really think of another way to employ. You could do an "on-the-job" type interview where you actually do the job, but even in one day it would be diificult to discover anything you couldn't find out through the right questions.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm shit at interviews. This probably explains a lot. :rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote:
    The online test for BT is bollocks, but its run by Accenture- what else do you expect?
    What is wrong with Accenture?

    I ask because I don't know much about this company and someone from there has asked me for my CV with respect to getting me a job there when I graduate.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Randomgirl wrote:
    What is wrong with Accenture?

    I ask because I don't know much about this company and someone from there has asked me for my CV with respect to getting me a job there when I graduate.

    I'm temping for them and I hate it. Positively hate it.

    If you get in on a decent grade then I don't think its a bad company to work for. Plenty of scope for promotion if you ahve ability. Not bad if you're getting head-hunted by them.

    I don't like what I do. And the office is staffed by temps like me, all graduates just arsing about. It's not great.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Depends on the interviewer i think. If they chat to you like a normal person and make you feel comfortable then its great. but when they start asking you questions like 'you have a deadline, you cant meet it, you cant get help, im out of the office, your on your own it has to be done on the company loses the contract, what do you do?' then its crap.

    and saying if you cant do the interview means you cant do the job is stupid. You may be a total wizz with maths and numbers but lack in social skills. So you may be able to do a number crunching job superbly, but because you lack social skills it means you fail the interview.

    Interviews are a pretty bad way of judging someone, i could go in and tell someone everything they needed to know about a particular job if i had done the research and ace the interview as it were along with my fake CV. Doesnt mean when it actually comes down to the work i could do it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NeoNero wrote:
    and saying if you cant do the interview means you cant do the job is stupid. You may be a total wizz with maths and numbers but lack in social skills. So you may be able to do a number crunching job superbly, but because you lack social skills it means you fail the interview.

    You rarely work in isolation. Being able to work with your colleagues is as important as anything else.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    structured interviews are effective. i also think its a good way of judging whether a person will fit in with the company.

    the weirdest inteview i had was for Boots. i was 16 and just wanted a cashier role but i was invited to a group interview with people much older than me who wanted much higher positions. i had to give a presentation to everyone about the person next to me. i just found the whole thing bizarre. (i got the job btw).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    but when they start asking you questions like 'you have a deadline, you cant meet it, you cant get help, im out of the office, your on your own it has to be done on the company loses the contract, what do you do?' then its crap.

    :lol:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    but when they start asking you questions like 'you have a deadline, you cant meet it, you cant get help, im out of the office, your on your own it has to be done on the company loses the contract, what do you do?' then its crap.

    do anything and everything within your powers to limit any effect or damage in both an immediate and in a future timefram
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    But that wont do, it has to be finished by the deadline, you cant cut anything out, it has to be done.

    Least thats what happened in one my interviews and if im honest, id rather not work with people like that. Its the same as the 'why do you want to work for this company'. I bet 99% of people have no interest in the actual company they work for (field is different) they just want to earn money to live. Stupid questions arnt what the interview should be about, you should see if you can get along with the person and see if they can do the job they are applying for.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NeoNero wrote:
    But that wont do, it has to be finished by the deadline, you cant cut anything out, it has to be done.

    Least thats what happened in one my interviews and if im honest, id rather not work with people like that. Its the same as the 'why do you want to work for this company'. I bet 99% of people have no interest in the actual company they work for (field is different) they just want to earn money to live. Stupid questions arnt what the interview should be about, you should see if you can get along with the person and see if they can do the job they are applying for.

    By any means necessary (for that deadline/project question).

    I have an interest in the company I want to work for. I'd not want to just work for anyone, and enjoying the job/environment is extremely important, as you well know.
    Knowing or having an idea of where the company is going is useful, as you have a better idea of job security, benefits on top of salary, promotion potential etc.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NeoNero wrote:
    when they start asking you questions like 'you have a deadline, you cant meet it, you cant get help, im out of the office, your on your own it has to be done on the company loses the contract, what do you do?' then its crap.

    But if you have a role with any sort of responsibility, you have to be able to work around issues like that. That's how it is.

    Interviews are like exams- if you do the prep, and you know what answers to give, then you will be fine.
    You may be a total wizz with maths and numbers but lack in social skills. So you may be able to do a number crunching job superbly, but because you lack social skills it means you fail the interview.

    Hard cheese.

    You need to be able to work with other people in a job. If you can't deal with other people, then you won't get the job, and you won't be good at the job.

    That's life, mate.
    Interviews are a pretty bad way of judging someone, i could go in and tell someone everything they needed to know about a particular job if i had done the research and ace the interview as it were along with my fake CV. Doesnt mean when it actually comes down to the work i could do it.

    You can normally tell when someone is bullshitting you, to be quite honest. Few people are good enough liars to get away with it.

    If someone can do the interview assessment, they can normally do the job.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NeoNero wrote:
    Interviews are a pretty bad way of judging someone, i could go in and tell someone everything they needed to know about a particular job if i had done the research and ace the interview as it were along with my fake CV. Doesnt mean when it actually comes down to the work i could do it.

    But a good interviewer would see through that easily. You wouldn't be able to bullshit your way through scenerio based questions if you only had book knowledge of the job, you'd crumble because the answer they would want wouldn't be in the ones you had prepared.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mist wrote:
    But a good interviewer would see through that easily. You wouldn't be able to bullshit your way through scenerio based questions if you only had book knowledge of the job, you'd crumble because the answer they would want wouldn't be in the ones you had prepared.

    Id disagree with you there, the amount of tv/newspaper scandels of getting someone with no skill working in a position of authoritiy, wether its in the railway industry or at buckingham palace proves my point i think. I think its very possible to bluff your way through an interview, especially if you have done your home work and not actually have the skills required to do the job. As is also proven by many office workers who have no under standing of how to use a PC yet are required to use one daily.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NeoNero wrote:
    As is also proven by many office workers who have no under standing of how to use a PC yet are required to use one daily.

    But "general office work" would probably not demand an exacting interview. Probably many of them would have been temps and only vetted in any way by the agency they came from.


    What would you say is better than interviewing, then? Being as I've already said that even to get to most interviews for a demanding job you'd have to have done tests and produced a suitable CV.
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