What do you / don't you want to hear from a candidate in an interview?

[TLO]

As I've moved up in my company, I'm less involved in the hiring process for new employees.

I kind of miss it though. The good interviews. The bad ones. The absolute train wrecks.

Anyway, what are things you like to hear from candidates? What don't you want to hear people talk about?

[kozzman555]

I was responsible for hiring two shifts of call center agents for a few years. One thing I liked asking prospective employees was if they did any gaming. This wasn't something that was a deal breaker either way, but if they did play video or computer games, it was a point in their favor.

My reasoning is that I needed my agents to be able to think and react quickly, be able to communicate problems and come up with solutions on the fly, problem solve, and be comfortable navigating through computer programs and screens quickly. Video game players, by and large, tend to posses those skills more than the non-gamer population. I can always teach my new agents the information they need to know to do the job, but I can't teach them to be able to think and act quickly and precisely.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by kozzman555

I was responsible for hiring two shifts of call center agents for a few years. One thing I liked asking prospective employees was if they did any gaming. This wasn't something that was a deal breaker either way, but if they did play video or computer games, it was a point in their favor.

My reasoning is that I needed my agents to be able to think and react quickly, be able to communicate problems and come up with solutions on the fly, problem solve, and be comfortable navigating through computer programs and screens quickly. Video game players, by and large, tend to posses those skills more than the non-gamer population. I can always teach my new agents the information they need to know to do the job, but I can't teach them to be able to think and act quickly and precisely.

And played video games on your network

[Couch-Potato]

Ugh, I'm usually on the other side and have seen and heard it all from interviewers lol

Here are a few to avoid if you are the interviewer:

1) We're like "family" here...gross.
2) We like to keep our team "hungry"...worse.
3) I sent you a facebook invite...go **** yourself!

Also, at this point in my career if I hear anyone try to explain their "management style" to me you've already completely lost my interest, I want to work "with you" NOT "for you."

Here's a question, similar to the video game one above, that I like to ask in the business world on either side of the interview process: "What are you reading?" Folks don't just tell you the name of the book unless it's extremely well known, they'll tell you what it's about and why they chose to read it. This conversation get's you away from just the job and work related skills and helps you understand how well they communicate, can they tell a compelling story, what their motivations or interests are, and gives you some insight into their persona.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Couch-Potato

Ugh, I'm usually on the other side and have seen and heard it all from interviewers lol

Here are a few to avoid if you are the interviewer:

1) We're like "family" here...gross.
2) We like to keep our team "hungry"...worse.
3) I sent you a facebook invite...go **** yourself!

Also, at this point in my career if I hear anyone try to explain their "Management style" to me you've already completely lost my interest, I want to work "with you" NOT "for you."

I'll also add

"We're looking to shift the paradigm, here"

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bowser

I'll also add

"We're looking to shift the paradigm, here"

We had a guy come in and do an in-office Ted Talk of sorts; really impressive dude; Fortune 200 CEO and all that jazz; big wig at Ford, IIRC. He's in the middle of his show and starts talking about paradigm shifts and shit like that - I just leave. I get up and get coffee.

I come back after about 15 minutes and things have gotten back to even keel. Afterwards we go out to lunch; 3 of us and him. And he mentions "hey, I saw you leave during that spot..."

And I was honest with him and said "Yup - had no interest in the corporate word salad; came back a little later to see if you'd gotten yourself off the mat..."

He says "yeah - EVERYONE hates that crap. Can't say I've seen anyone just leave the presentation like that before, but I'll use that going forward. I actually pointed out when you were getting coffee how god-awful that sort of crap is and how everyone just tunes it out. There's just no utility in that kind of language..."

So hey, tip o' the cap to that guy. But what confuses me is why anyone still does it. I mean EVERYONE knows that shit is cringe as all get out. Nobody hears it. Are the folks that do it THAT full of themselves? Or so lacking in self-awareness that they don't realize that nobody is impressed by it? What schools are still churning out folks that do that crap?

[smithandrew051]

I do not like it when the candidates are not fans of the Kansas City Chiefs.

[New World Order]

If you could eat at Lulee's with one of the following, would it be A: Jesus, B: Muhammad, or C: Golda Meir?

[TLO]

Originally Posted by New World Order

If you could eat at Lulee's with one of the following, would it be A: Jesus, B: Muhammad, or C: Golda Meir?

LOL - This is great.

[big nasty kcnut]

I want to hear I will **** up but I always fix my **** ups and overcome

[BWillie]

I would not like to find out that they got their previous job from a friend or family.

[displacedinMN]

Dont ask---How flexible are you on the 2:30 dismissal time?

(We did not hire her)

[displacedinMN]

I want people to be honest. I have sat in on a lot of interviews, had some that felt like a sales pitch, not for themselves, but for insurance. Didnt really talk about classroom things.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

I want people to be honest. I have sat in on a lot of interviews, had some that felt like a sales pitch, not for themselves, but for insurance. Didnt really talk about classroom things.

I used to do pretty involved interviews. Thought exercises, problem solving questions, hell, I might have thrown a riddle or two in there. I felt like an interview that was less than an hour long was half-assed and I didn't do enough. Results of all that time, work and effort was about average. Some good, some bad.

I truly don't give a shit anymore. If your resume got you in the door, you're probably qualified. Now I just want to know if I want to work with you or not. If you're faking it, your job history will probably give you away and you won't make it to the interview. But if you have a good job history, requisite qualifications and are in the top 10% or so of the resumes I have, I'm gonna presume you're qualified.

Now just prove I want to work with you. My results aren't any worse - they're probably a little better. And ultimately it's a hell of a lot simpler and even if a person doesn't work out, at least I don't hate seeing them when I get in the door.

[KC_Lee]

When I'm interviewing a candidate and all I'm getting are vague banalities that anyone applying for a position would have on a resume. It gets worse when I ask for specifics and the vagueness continues or gets worse.