Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Exactly! They know what your experience is from your resume or application - if they're interviewing you, they want to get to know you, which means your personality.
So if they want to talk about TV shows, go with it! Trying too aggressively to "steer" the interview back to the job isn't always the best idea.
Maybe so but to bring up things like TV shows in an interview...well suppose its someone who doesn't have a TV set like the previous poster ( and my sister ). Could be he/she doesn't like current TV or perhaps its a religious reason as to no TV in their household...or perhaps he/she could be a "snob" as to the lack of TV...all three could be a "turnoff" to the interviewer.
To me asking such questions like "..how do you feel about Betty White?" Is almost the same as asking at an interview "...do you approve of abortion?" Not everyone supports abortion of course, but also not everyone in America is in love with Betty White either.
Maybe so but to bring up things like TV shows in an interview...well suppose its someone who doesn't have a TV set like the previous poster ( and my sister ). Could be he/she doesn't like current TV or perhaps its a religious reason as to no TV in their household...or perhaps he/she could be a "snob" as to the lack of TV...all three could be a "turnoff" to the interviewer.
To me asking such questions like "..how do you feel about Betty White?" Is almost the same as asking at an interview "...do you approve of abortion?" Not everyone supports abortion of course, but also not everyone in America is in love with Betty White either.
The answers don't have to be grand lectures standing atop the desk. If it had been me I would have said "I haven't seen the show outside of commercials but I liked her on the Golden Girls." If I didn't own a tv or just didn't find Betty White entertaining I would have said "I haven't watched the show but it's great that she still gets acting roles at her age."
What kind of job was she interviewing for that they spent 20 minutes asking her about Betty White and then did a credit check?
Let me get this straight:
...Checked her credit report during the interview!!!
...Checked out her Facebook page right in her presence!!
Again I say...I would have just walked out. No, ran out.
That's why I asked what type of job this was. I know that employers do both but this interview sounded a bit far fetched. I wonder if the OP or her sister exaggerated.
I've also had interviews (especially noting the interview with the director whom hired me) where half the conversation was about non-job topics. Usually when it gets too tangential, I'll try to steer it back with a related question.
My sister had an interview today for a rather large retail chain. The interview lasted for 30 minutes..however 20 of those minutes the questions being asked were about actress Betty White...the last 10 was doing a credit check and checking out her Facebook page.
Rather than being asked questions such as if she could do the job and/or her past work experience she was asked questions like "..what do you think of Betty's new TV Land show Hot In Cleveland?" My sister just played along which wasn''t easy for her since she doesn't watch TV much less having an interest in Betty White.
OK if you were my sister..how would you handle this? Walk out of the interview? Asked to be interviewed by someone else? Play along?
I'm a remodeling contractor and I may spend an hour or two with a customer before signing a contract, sometimes even longer.
I would say that we spend most of that time talking about pets, fishing, playing golf, our kids, family, etc. and very little about the job.
I find that if I can get a customer comfortable when talking with me about 90% of them will hire me to do the job.
That's not to say that I don't take care of them or that I don't keep them informed about the work going on.
It's just that if you can find something that we both enjoy talking about then I can win them over and get them to sign my contract without even asking. The hardest customers to sell are the ones I have nothing in common with.
I'm a remodeling contractor and I may spend an hour or two with a customer before signing a contract, sometimes even longer.
I would say that we spend most of that time talking about pets, fishing, playing golf, our kids, family, etc. and very little about the job.
I find that if I can get a customer comfortable when talking with me about 90% of them will hire me to do the job.
That's not to say that I don't take care of them or that I don't keep them informed about the work going on.
It's just that if you can find something that we both enjoy talking about then I can win them over and get them to sign my contract without even asking. The hardest customers to sell are the ones I have nothing in common with.
busta
Exactly! That's basic sales strategy. And the original poster says the interview was with a retail company, so sales might very well be a component of the job.
I don't see anything all that odd about the interview as described.
I have done several phone and face to face interviews over the last 2 weeks and have asked dumb filler questions like "where do you see yourself in 5 years", etc. I did it to fill up the allotted interview time.
My company interviewed a girl who was 10 minutes late because of a bad accident. When she arrived we gave her a few minutes to calm down (she was visibly nervous about being late) and someone said "just be glad you weren't in the accident" and she replied "especially as high as my insurance is" that led to a 15 minute talk about Flo (the Progressive lady), the Snapple lady and the "where's the beef" lady. It was fun and I remember her interview like it was last week instead of two years ago.
So, it was interesting... but, did she get the job??
I'm a remodeling contractor and I may spend an hour or two with a customer before signing a contract, sometimes even longer.
I would say that we spend most of that time talking about pets, fishing, playing golf, our kids, family, etc. and very little about the job.
I find that if I can get a customer comfortable when talking with me about 90% of them will hire me to do the job.
That's not to say that I don't take care of them or that I don't keep them informed about the work going on.
It's just that if you can find something that we both enjoy talking about then I can win them over and get them to sign my contract without even asking. The hardest customers to sell are the ones I have nothing in common with.
busta
But you're talking to a client/customer not looking to hire them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
