Although I have been interviewed more than once, I have never interviewed anyone myself before. Thus, this was an interesting experience. I found that I was less interested in the answers to the questions than in other aspects of the responses. Though this was possibly due to the fact that the interview was for a fake, undetermined job and thus that the questions did not particularly apply to anything, I think that the things I started to look for would probably apply to a real interview as well.
For instance, I was interested in the gaps between my questions and the responses, and how confident my interviewee seemed while attempting to think of a response. I also noticed how much he made eye contact with me while responding. Most importantly, however, I was looking to see how articulate he was in his responses and whether the responses actually applied to the questions that I asked. I think that these things would help identify someone’s confidence, ability under pressure, and even verbal intelligence. These things seem to me to be more significant indications of a potential employee’s fit than a fairly rehearsed response to a standard question such as “What are the strengths that you will bring to this position?”
When it was my turn to be interviewed, I found myself thinking of these behavioral indicators more than my responses. Of course it is important to think of useful and pertinent responses to interview questions, but I think that it is at least as important to come across as someone who would be a confident and outgoing contributor, someone who would easily fit in with the company and the company’s other employees and supervisors.
While those who are eventually interviewing me for a real job may not think the way I do, the indicators that I noticed certainly will not be bad things for me to keep in mind as I prepare for whatever future interviews I may have.
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