I have had quite a few different jobs since I joined the workforce when I was 16 years old. As I have climbed positions and worked for different companies and establishments I have had the chance to see the varying degrees of interview processes. The interview always feels intimidating and scary, I feel when I walk in like I am being judged, and I am, but that is the point of the interview: judgment for whether or not you are the right fit for the position.
I have interviewed and been offered jobs and numerous places, and in the about 15 job interviews I have done in my years in the workforce, I have only been passed over for the job twice. One of these interviews was conducted over the phone, and I do wonder if had the interview been conducted in person would it have gone differently.
After reviewing this week’s course materials I noticed one strikingly different interview. I only had one interview that I was handed a job description and asked if I felt good about the requirements and about how I felt I would perform. This was refreshing. I got a chance to see on paper how I felt about the job and told directly what was expected of me.
In two other jobs, I have had part of the interview process involved background screening and drug testing parts, which were time-consuming, but necessary for weeding out candidates who were unfit for the job before they made it to other portions of the interview process. I did however find them off-putting and thought the lengthy processes likely would steer away from some good candidates as well.
The background screening took two weeks to complete and involved me inserting 5 references, and each reference had to complete surveys and interviews on my behalf. This was frustrating and took a long time, especially since one of my references was slow to do their part.
I found almost all jobs I interviewed for conducted multiple hurdle approaches. Additionally, even for my small fast-food jobs, I had to take tests that tested my customer service abilities or looked at my ability to handle stressful situations. I think nearly every job has also had some level of bias within the recruiting process.
I found this particularly noticeable in my interview process for an upscale clothing store in which I had to put together outfits for potential clients, and was judged on my competency-based on my outfit and how I dressed. I ended up finding myself on a team of people who dressed and had similar attitudes to me, which was not a surprise after the interview process had gone and was so specific to hire certain people.
There is definitely an improvement that needs to be made in the hiring processes in our current job market, and we still see significant bias and hurdles placed in potential employees’ ways. These can be seen as both helpful and harmful for the business and its talent pool.
Resources:
How to Take the Bias out of Interviews: https://hbr.org/2016/04/how-to-take-the-bias-out-of-interviews
Lecture Material Provided in Class
