/* There are a LOT of BAD interviewers out there : */

There are a LOT of BAD interviewers out there

October 15th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under
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Here’s a news flash!  People may not be getting job offers because of a high number of bad interviewers. 
 
Last week I had a telephone interview with a HR person of a company I was very interested in working for.  I spent a fair amount of time preparing for the interview, immersing myself in the company website to attempt to get familiar with their culture and what they might be looking for.  I reviewed the job description and my resume to make sure I could talk about my skills and show that my skills were a fit for what they indicated they wanted in the job description.  I wrote a list of questions to ask based on what I was finding through my research.  I eagerly anticipated the interview so I could learn more about the position and convince the interviewer that I was a great fit. 
 
The time came, the phone rang, and the interviewer started her interview.  She asked me how I heard about the job (which I had already told her in my cover letter).  She then asked me if I was bi-lingual which was not on the job description and what was my salary range.  That was it!  Was this an interview? She could have asked those questions in an email.   I deferred the salary question as best I could, but without more information, it was hard not to give her a number.  The rest of the “interview” was me asking questions and trying to determine what she was looking for and trying to sell myself. 
 
This seems to happen a lot.  A lot of interviewers have no idea what they are doing, have not been trained, and are doing their company and the candidates an injustice by pretending to do their job.  I used to get upset about these kind of interviews because I knew there would not be a second interview.  I now understand that there’s not much you can do when this happens if they are the gatekeeper.  It seems a shame that these people get paid to do a bad job.   
 
Have you had a bad interviewer?  Any suggestions on what we can do about them?
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