by Mary M. Redoutey

Created on: December 23, 2008

Greta, a kind compassionate woman with 17-years of good experience providing counseling and case management services, arrived at the office of a potential employer a bit late due to traffic. Her hair was a mess because of the wind and rain outside and she was sopping wet. She shivered and her hand, when shook, was cold and clammy. When spoken to by the employer, her voice indicated nerviousness. She did not present well in that interview and she hoped that the potential employer would be understanding and tolerant of the difficulties that she faced even getting to the appointment given the adverse weather and other factors and would not just judge her on that 45 minute interview period of her life but that he would view her as the professional she had always been, and as a dedicated employee worthy of the chance provided by a job offer.

Tania, arrived early for her interview appointment and was very presentable in her appearance. She smiled at the employer, wowed him with her nice handshake, her smile, her speaking ability, and her personal charm yet she had absolutely no job experience and no real substance. She spoke easily and well, answering all questions well as she had rehearsed the answers after being coached by a friend who worked in the field but did not possess the knowledge or experience background needed for the position.

Were those who believe that people should be picked for jobs soley on the basis of an interview have their way, poor Greta would never get a chance at obtaining the job for which she is well-qualified and Tania who is unqualified for the position would get it due to her well coached presentation in the interview... I ask you: "Is this wise or fair?"

It is true that interviews are important but it is equally true that the interviews do not normally provide employers with enough information with which to pick a potential employee. There are so many factors which can get in the way of a good interview and good employers thus need to focus not just on one interview but on evaluating the job applicant in a number of ways...

I frankly wonder if people can in fact ever "be selected for a job based only on their interview performance." It does not seem likely to me that this is even possible. Typically, the employers of today rely on others to do the basic prescreening of employees. These people post the job openings, screen the resumes, and contact the potential interviewee, screen the potential employees on the phone, google potential employees, check references, etc., often prior to the first interview, and provide the employers with much information that the interview cannot provide him. They provide a track record wheras the interview only provides a frail and limited fragment of time much like a snapshot image.

Would you offer someone a job based on one snapshot? I honestly believe that it is impossible to do so as always there is more information provided to the employer than just that given to him in the interview and also that it would be unwise for an employer to hamstring himself by relying only on the snapshot provided by the interview and by ignoring the resume, the background check, the google check, etc.

I firmly believe that the employer and the job applicant both benefit from a more careful and considerate approach to job selection than that provided by just one job interview.

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