Thoughts for These Tough Times

(It all started when I was born....

Resume, not Autobiography)

Ok, so there are unfortunately a lot of people out of work for the first time in a long time - some of whom had previously been with the same company for many years.  For a lot of people, interviewing for a job takes some practice.  There are, of course, some people who are very hard-working and talented but just don't interview well.  Conversely, there are people who are very good at interviewing but not so great of employees.  

Actually, if you think about it - people who are constantly between jobs or trying to get a new job before getting let go probably have a lot of experience with interviewing and have really developed their skill.  Perhaps an employer should be wary of the excellent interviewee.

Those who have been employed at the same company for 10+ years haven't been on an interview (most likely) in that amount of time (or a least not more than a handful of them) and are most likely out of practice.  Even if these people interviewed for promotions within their companies - internal candidate interviews are much more direct and less nerve-wracking - since the person is already known, less is overanalyzed.  

Now, to protect the guilty, I won't get too into it - but in my past, I have definitely had experience with working alongside what must have been the 'professional interviewee' - some real George Costanzas, if you will.  I believe a good friend and loyal blog reader Emily will vouch for having had a similar experience.  The individual was nice and pleasant upon first meeting; it was quite understandable how the person could get through the requisite hour-long first impression.  However, the complete and total lack of any basic understanding of how to do said job combined with whatever ignorance, incompetence, and/or lack of effort that prevented him or her from becoming good at the job made for a workplace problem.

Perhaps it's not the interview that really determines who will be a good hiring choice, although the interview definitely seems to be a necessary part of the hiring process.