So I had my interview today. And, as I suspected, my group interview was in fact viewed as mediocre. I don't present well in group interviews. "Hotseatitis", I think. My family moved some 14 times when I was a kid. I had to get pretty good at making friends, which I did on a one to one basis, but I was not so hot as the new kid in class. We also moved all over the country, so I didn't really sync up with conversational pacing (the psych speak for poor verbal social skills due to different speeds of communicating which vary from region to region in the US - think NYC versus "the south"), although I did very well with this in Omaha. Probably because the neighbor boy liked me and was very popular. It didn't hurt that we only had two classrooms of 5th graders.
Anyway, the big big boss is from Ohio and appreciated that I went to The Ohio State University. She also explained that in this school district (and I think in most jobs these days) people focus on how well you interact on a personal basis and less on how well you interact on a professional basis. I do very well on a professional level. Not so much on a personal basis. She said she's pretty much the same. Of course, I don't think we're quite THAT much alike on a personal basis, because I have a reason I don't discuss personal stuff at work. Despite the law, people still discriminate basis on sexual orientation. So while I will chat in general about my family, I do not discuss my day to day life. Add that to my general awkwardness in the syncing up on a social level and you get...well...me.
Oh well, at least my work speaks for itself and I've now been put on through to being recommended for hire (in a salaried position). If only I could have skipped the group interview...just one example of why having a JOB kinda sucks, that and having to actually work 40 plus hours a week (hence the time wasting...heh). There are some redeeming aspects of some JOBs. For example, if you have a passion for what you do, if you can land a position that is semi-autonomous, and if there's a pay scale that actually has raises that are predictable (so you're not at the mercy of kissing someone's ass to get a raise). As always...tune in sometime soon for another JOB update...
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6 comments:
I have the same issue here…(here we don’t even have anti-discrimination laws… go figure!) want a suggestion? Be the first to ask questions and focus the conversation on everyone except you. That way you would look interested, caring and a “good listener”. After all 9 out of 10 times when colleagues at work wanna make small talk is just because they want to talk about themselves ;)
I've had several group interviews and I actually prefer them over the one-on-one interview. I always do my homework and find out as much about everybody around the table BEFORE I walk into that interview. And I always try to ease the tension with humor, which is tricky because it is so easy to say the wrong thing.
Gentleman...you are correct and when in the job place that's what I do. Of course in a group interview THEY ask the questions. Really I was thrown off by the initial question of picking 3 adjectives to describe myself. Partly because I don't generally talk about myself in any kind of personal way (just sometimes past history stuff like when I was in school or about my family in general ways).
Trop...We had no way to do homework on the folks in the group interview, beyond the main contact, as they did not disclose this information (same with the prior two group interviews in another school district...it could be a school district thing not to disclose who will be in the interviews). Conversely, I totally knew who I would see for the second interview and did do some homework there.
Sounds really difficult. I'd rather take a math test!
Ooh, I HATE group interviews. One-on-one any day!
Lost...which part? Heh.
Citizen...exactly! I have poor socializing skills in groups with people I don't know...especially in interviews where I wouldn't expect that I'm supposed to socialize...sheesh.
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