I have been through many interviews in my life, some for jobs, others for scholarships, or awards. All of witch have gone differently. Just recently I went to the career fair and have been searching for a new internship to do this summer. After talking with some companies there were three that I was interested with so I got interviews lined up and polished off my resume. All three went extremely well however there was a vast difference between one company and the other two. The first two companies; Lewis and Walsh both were great examples of all three reliability, validity, and utility. They had great representatives, and they asked me about who I was as a person and my hobbies etc. More importantly than that they asked me about my qualifications. They had many questions about my competency with different programs and my experience working in construction. This allowed me to show my worth and be able to tell things about myself in a non bragging manner, because now all I was doing was answering their questions. The one company who was different however was a completely different interview. They had the reliability, but lacked in utility. As soon as the interview started I was having a great time. We were all cracking jokes and had a long conversation about my hobbies and theirs and it ended up being a 30 minute discussion on fishing. I walked out of the office feeling great. As if I just crushed it! Then I realized, they never asked about my experience, or what I can do. They don’t know about my work ethic or want to understand if I can read drawings or lead subcontractor meetings. This discouraged me. I knew that if I got the job I would solely be hired of the fact that I got along with them. I ended up accepting an offer from Walsh and things are great! However maybe if that other companies interview went a little better and they had some utility in the conversation I would have chosen differently.

References:

Swift, M. (2022, October). Selection. [PowerPoint slides].