New Interview Trends
We’ve all heard the saying “Finding a job is a full-time job.” Interviews can be long, tedious and, at times, hard to come by. By the end of the process, you have usually met with more people than you can count, visited the office multiple times, and are sick of talking about yourself. The process is becoming longer and longer, leaving nothing off limits when it comes to interviewing techniques. Companies want to know you can roll with the punches and have every intention of vetting out your thought process along the way.
When companies interview, there is a thorough process in place; they want the best!!! Let’s take a look at some of the new and more interesting interview techniques that companies utilize ways of interviewing candidates in order to make sure new hires are the right fit for the organization’s culture.
Unexpected Interview Questions
Everyone has at least one good story about an interview. Over the course of your career, you’re bound to get one question that makes you think, “Umm, what?” Some rather unexpected questions might be “What’s your favorite song and why?” “How often do you wash your car?” “What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream and why?” It’s important to keep in mind that there’s not a right or wrong answer to any of these questions; the interviewer just wants to see if you can think on your feet.
Weird Interview Settings
When applying for a position at Facebook, you expect to go through a long and grueling interview process. What you don’t expect is the founder to invite you on a walk in the woods. Last year, a select group of candidates skipped the traditional interview process to walk a wooded trail with Mark Zuckerberg. It sounds as if he wanted to put them at ease and really get to the bottom of why they wanted to work at Facebook. Non-traditional interview settings can help companies get to know potential employees’ personalities and understand how they interact with others outside the four walls of the office.
Presentations
As one of the final steps in the interview process, many companies are turning to presentations to really see candidates’ skills. These offer insight into the role, and the company gets to learn more about the potential employee’s thought process.
Cultural Ambassadors
Culture is the key when it comes to employers. In order to assess if someone is a personality and cultural fit for the organization, many companies are adding one additional person to the interview process. A cultural ambassador is someone that is less concerned with the candidate’s professional qualifications, but wants to learn about him or her personally.
While some of these new interview techniques and processes might come off as strange, candidates should actually view them positively, because they show that companies are putting more thought into their hiring processes. As an interviewee, you want to be educated about the role you are applying for and trust that the company cares about your long term career prospects, your cultural fit and your overall potential within their organization.
Hiatt, Katie; HR Perspective: New Interview Trends. March 22, 2013
