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As I sat down in the conference room for my latest interview I was shocked the questions that my potential manager was asking me. They were more personal than professional. They included:
Have you been to this side of town before?
What do you think of our offices?
Are you from the area? Where did you grow up?
What do you like to do on weekends?
Who do you expect to be in this years Super Bowl?
The weather has been cold this winter hasn't it?
I was shocked. I come to my job to work and do not expect to make any small talk or personal conversation with my boss or coworkers, so why should I have to answer all these silly questions?
Yes after ten minutes of this foolishness I was asked some questions about my talents, education and experience but it seemed like the small talk lasted forever.
What do you recommend I do next time a potential employer asks me questions about things that are not job related and gets into mindless chit chat?
These people have to work with you for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. They want to make sure they can get along with the person hired. Same thing happens at my company.
Quote:
What do you recommend I do next time a potential employer asks me questions about things that are not job related and gets into mindless chit chat?
Crawl out from under your rock, shut off World of Warcraft, and reconnect with the real world...?
What's wrong with those questions? In fact, the employer was probably doing (normal) people a favor by trying to put the applicant at ease. It also allows the employer to assess your interpersonal skills. Maybe he figures the applicant can be trained on hard skills but if the applicant is a stiff dud who doesn't blend and who isn't engaging, then the employer might want to find someone else.
I was part of the interview process at my last job. We would always ask questions like that before the official interview started. Gave the person a chance to relax a little bit and talk. We would have to sit beside this individual for 8 hours a day if they got the job and we wanted it to be someone who would blend in with the team.
I think the small talk part was the most important to be honest. We already had the resume in hand, we knew the technical side, we wanted to know the personal side as well.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles
What's wrong with those questions? In fact, the employer was probably doing (normal) people a favor by trying to put the applicant at ease. It also allows the employer to assess your interpersonal skills. Maybe he figures the applicant can be trained on hard skills but if the applicant is a stiff dud who doesn't blend and who isn't engaging, then the employer might want to find someone else.
I totally agree. It's a shame that most of the interviews I've gone on were formalized with no small talk built in. Since good interpersonal skills is essential in my field, the interviewers miss a golden opportunity to assess these by just jumping into the standardized questions.
those questions aren't that bad, maybe he is just trying to get to know you? if you don't like being social then just play the part if you really want the job
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