I have had a lot of interviews over the years and a few stand out as good and bad measures of whether or not I was a good fit for the job. Starting with the bad experience, I once had a job interview where, after reviewing my resume and basic qualifications I was sat down for an unstructured interview. I got the sense very quickly that the interviewer liked me and at the time, wanting the position, I made a point to make personal connections with the interviewer rather than focusing on job questions, as they were very open-ended. I ended up getting the position, and as it was a lower level position, it’s not that I wasn’t a great fit or couldn’t perform the job duties, but I quickly realized how important job growth within the position was to me and did not feel this was something that would be available to me. I left that job in less than 6 months for another position which promised me more growth.
I had a much different experience at my most recent position. I actually felt really great about the interview experience, as the owner of the practice sat me down and discussed ideal principles and values, and then gave me a math test followed by a short job shadowing experience. At the time, I had never had this done a test at an interview and was surprised. However, it actually made me feel confident that I could prove my intelligence and linear reasoning which was necessary for the position. This test showed strong reliability and utility for the position, although I am not sure how valid it was, and ultimately I stayed at that position for over a year, only leaving due to understaffing and job rotation, which became overwhelming at a small practice.
If I could go back to both of these interviews, I would say that the first interviewer should have been a lot more focused, using structured interviews that focused more on the specifics of the position. To the second interviewer, I would say that this interview was actually a great way to test if I would be a good fit for the position. It was one of the most beneficial and structured interviews I have experienced and ultimately I might have stayed at this position for a long time, had it not been for understaffing.
