06/11/2018

What’s a Job Interview Good For?

New research finds not as much as you might think

Not long after I graduated from college, I went on a job interview. I did the appropriate research on the publication. I wore an appropriate outfit. I was (I think) appropriately personable and articulate. But a few minutes of conversation made it clear to both sides that my skills didn’t quite match up with the Web 1.0 content job I’d put in for. Then the editor asked one of those familiar job-interview questions that everybody rehearses: “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

That’s when I knew I was sunk. I had an answer, but it hardly mattered—I wasn’t being asked a question so much as I was being told, “We’re going to do this perfunctory job-interview thing because that’s what the protocol calls for, and then we’re wrapping this up.”

Time has eased the sting of my crummy job-interview experience. But the cliche-ridden job interview appears to be built to last: According to Glassdoor, interviews, presentations, and other get-to-know-you meetings can eat up nearly 25 days of the average hiring process, with scant evidence that they’re useful predictors of job success. Just as the performance review process deserves a rethink, so too does the interview process.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.