Why do job interviewer play psychological games on job applicants?

I went to job interviewer but the they didn't ask me about behavior questions or technical questions.

I feel like job interview is equivalent to UN negotiation at Gaza strip. It made me angry. I want to strangle the interviewer.

how do you respond to these stupid psychological games? I feel like I am in CIA interrogation session.

Sounds rough.

Sometimes the job candidate has already been selected, and they must interview "X" number of people to satisfy EEOC or internal policy. That might have been part of it.

What kind of position were you applying for?

What were the questions? What psychological games were they playing?

How did that feel?

I just an entire post that I wrote to reply to you, Piccard. I went down to the reply section and typed about 3 paragraphs and clicked submit. THen, as always, realized it was a response to Russ, which it isn;t, of course. So I copied it, deleted the post, and planned to click on "reply" to you, then repaste it so it would be a direct reply to you.

Meanwhile, I'm in another program and I used the copy/paste feature without thinking. When I came back here, my clipboard data was gone. This truly urinates me off to no end.

Now, I'm PO'd about the software and have no desire to respond. Jeez.....

HTML SPINNER: Why can;t the "reply box" just be a general reply? Why does it have to NAME the person it replies to? I mean, by the time you read through all the posts in a thread, you're ready to reply, NOT scroll back up, click "reply" on a certain poster (usually the OP), and then reply. It truly is a pain....

I agree with Stretch. This forum feature is not the most intuitive. If you want to say just something general to everybody you can´t do that - the feature makes you to always reply to specific person. If you use Quick reply and forget that you are replying to the last user that posted something it may confuse the user and it happened here several times.

Allright, Piccard, I'll try again (though with less enthusiasm):

ALL job interviews, for ANY job, are, in essence, a psychological exam. They want to see how you respond to questions (even odd-ball questions), problems, and scenarios. They want to hear how well you speak and articulate your thoughts. They want to hear your first, gut reactions, to questions in attempt to judge your character, moral clarity, deciseveness(sp?), etc.

I've been through "oral board" interviews for hiring and job promotions, and have been an oral hiring board panel member. Scenarios can be created where there isn;t really a right or wrong answer, but rather it's a test to see and hear what you do. Adaptability, judgement, adherence to law and policy, moral clarity, imagination, and a host of other criterion are trying to be elicited during these interviews. Many times, no matter how the interviewee answers a question or responds to a situation, the panel will change the scenario....build on it.... just to see what the interviewee does.

It's not an exact science.... it's just a feeling-out process. They want to see, hear, and try to understand who they're getting (or not getting).

I imagine most people, myself included, feel very uncomfortable at a job interview. Still, you have to understand it's one of the things you just have to do if you want the job.

There are a billion reasons why the interviewer may have been pushy. Maybe he had a bad day and enjoyed his position of power, attempting to terrorize you. Maybe it was part of the game, testing how you react under fire.

Getting all worked up at a job interview is bad. Assuming you want that job (you probably do, otherwise there's no point in going to a job interview) you should think about it not as a challenge but rather as a simple conversation. It's all about getting to know each other. While the employer wants to learn more about you, take the opportunity to learn as much as you can about the job so as to avoid a possible disappointment in the future.

If they try to push you my advice would be to keep calm, don't show that you're upset (let alone angry, that's a big no-no). Stand your ground and if it gets intense, let them know you've got a pair. Who knows, maybe that's all they wanted to find out in the first place.

But in any case, DON'T get too worked up because of a job interview. You have absolutely NOTHING to lose. But you have a job to gain - if you play your cards right and if the luck is on your side.

If the interview process turned you off, just imagine what it would be like to work for these jerks.

Remember, in an interview, you are checking them out too. It sounds like they failed your interview.

Chalk it up as a waste of time and move on. What else can you do?

Good luck with your future interviews.

You might be right, Garly, maybe they're jerks - but then again, maybe they're not. Piccard didn;t give any details about the kind of job, whether it was within his fiedl of experience or expertise, etc.

Most of times the interview is less about the job than it is about the attributes of the person. The interviewers, possibly, might not have cared whether you "knew how" to do the job or whther or not you had any experience in the field. Usually, with or without experience, they want to know "what kind of person" they'd be hiring. An in-depth test (read job interview) is a good first indicator.

A job interview can be this simple:
- Are you willing to work nights and weekends?
- Do you use illegal drugs?
- Are you ready to start right now?

Easy. Some jobs could be that easy. Couldn;t those questions be asked nicely or rudely and the interview would still be easy? Oh yeah.

A job with more demands dictates a more thorugh and intensive interview. If a guy can;t handle the interview, he most probably wouldn;t handle the job for long.

5 4 3 2 1......

Another thought is that while Picard may have thought he was interviewing for a specific job, the interviewer may have had other jobs in mind knowing that Picard's job was already filled, much like in the Monty Python vid. or Maybe he was brushing up on his interrogation techniques as practice for upcoming openings at the CIA. . .

Anything's possible.....I suppose.

Another thing to remember, many of the best interview courses teach a simple concept...

"Hire for attitude, train for skills"

Contrary to what many people believe, for many companies attitude, leadership qualities, "gravitas", cultural fit, etc tend to trump skills and prior experience. This is especially true in certain roles and/or in progressive companies.

The rationale here being that knowledge and skills can be taught or bought. But attitude and other intangibles cannot ever.

Please trust me when I tell you that this mindset is prevalent among many of the best companies.

Hope this helps,

So Picard, did you get the job or not?

Sounds like you had a rough session. I have taken a couple "train the interviewer" type courses in a couple roles I had in a past life. I remember that for some jobs, the interviewer was being trained to put the person being interviewed in an uncomfortable mindset, to see how they handle stress, and responding under pressure. It's not "nice", but, sometimes it's by design.

Of course, other times, it's just a nasty person doing the interview...

When I interviewed for my last job (about 3 months ago), I approached it in much the same way as I approached an irate end-user from my tech support days. Do your best to answer their questions, keep your calm, and always try to convey that you care about addressing their problem thoroughly as soon and as well as possible. You may not be able to slamdunk solve the matter immediately upon request, but it will have your attention until the problem goes away.
I think this just backs up the idea of coming across as someone they want to deal with everyday, who will tackle the job cheerfully. Obviously, it helps to be remotely competent in that area. In my case, I had never worked with the particular systems they needed dealt with; however my background and my attitude were enough to get me in the door.
At any rate, best of luck to anyone who is searching. This is not a great time to be in that situation...

I would not be where I am today in my career were it not for the interview. You can only put so much on paper, and no dialogue. After doing commission retail sales for a living long ago, I learned how to tell people just what they want to hear, and then shut my mouth and let them say the next thing. Selling yourself is no different than selling a 75 Maverick. You have to be able to read your customer, build an instant rapport with them, and confidently convince them you have what they want and are the only person they can get it from. Beyond any other job skill I have, that gets me the job when I have absolutely no credentials on paper to have the job. The way it usually goes is I start at or near the bottom of the list at the start of my interview. It's because on paper I don't have this huge stack of diplomas and formal training and certifications. But as we progress through the interview, I know just enough of the technical aspects of this work and how this industry functions on a general level that I can "sell the package" as being just what they are looking for, with the right experience, the right knowledge, and most importantly, the right level of confidence.

The technical skills are what allow you to keep the job, and I figured out a long time ago that I can learn what I need to do my job once I get there pretty much, but what gets me in the door has very little to do with actual technical skills, and everything to do with being able to read the interviewer(s) whether in person or over the phone, and being able to tell them what they want to hear, with confidence. Heck, most of the time they practically give me the answers anyways. By the time I get out of the interview, I have become one of the top two candidates for the job, and all that's left then is a quick follow up and negotiation and I am in, if I want it. And the beauty is anyone can do this, all they have to do is practice, just like I did selling waterbeds and used cars for a living a long time ago.

If there's one piece of advice I offer to anyone in any interview about what to say about themselves, it is this. If you can convince the interviewer that you are an expert problem solver, you are most likely going to get the job. Go through your life history, especially your work history, but if that is lean use whatever life experience you can to demonstrate that you can solve whatever problem you are faced with. That one aspect of yourself will pretty much make or break the deal, all other aspects being more or less relative amongst the candidates. You may not have the best set of technical skills, but you will have the advantage over the rest of the applicants if you can make the boss believe you are can rise to the occasion.

That's a fantastic question that should be directed to the author of UBBThreads ;-)

I personally use Quick Reply w/ little regard to who I'm replying to UNLESS I need to quote someone. No need to overcomplicated, though I suppose for those who view threaded (ick) vs. flat (yay) it could become a bit confusing.

These are personal opinions of course ;-)

I had a few high pressure interviews a long time ago (I'm one of the lucky ones who hasn't had to go on an interview for many many years!) On one, I closed the interview early by nicely telling the person that they were not offering what I was looking for. Boy, that took him by surprise. He asked what I didn't like and I told him that they used the "interview by intimidation" technique which was probably born from a "management by intimidation" style within the company. That culture was not something I could work within. Nowadays jobs are not as plentiful as they once were, so one may have to go after a position that they don't really care for all that much.

The current thinking on best interviewing approaches is to identify the specific talents (empathy, focus, etc,) that are required by the job (not a trivial task and usually not well done), then build interview questions that will reveal/expose those talents. Talents fall into many categories and most people really don't know their own talents so it can feel very much like a psych exam (or games) when you are being interviewed. Depending on the company culture and the skill (and talents) of the interviewer this can be done very well or very badly.

Skills, knowledge and work history count for something but talent is what makes the difference between good and great for both employees and employers. Or so they tell me .

- Eric

no I didn't get the job. the company hire a moron for the position. They said I am a nice guy and have the right skills but they just dumped me.

I found out the company hired someone else less experience but he must have a silver tongue to seduce the interviewer.

I work in IT technical support for Window environment. How do I tell the interviewer that I haven't work on the system before? I told them that I was willing to learn the software. There was only 1 proprietary software the company used at work. They weren't willing to train new candidates hence they rejected me.

I was applying for position as senior tech support in Window environment.

now I know what CIA interrogation feels like. It makes you sweat, and cause you to doubt your answer.

3 different interviewers ask me same questions again to determine if I answer the right question. Interview lasted 3hrs. I can't recall the questions since I was thirsty after 20min into the interview. I drank alot of water.

they deliberately put me in seat under bright light while the interviewer sat in darker area of the room. The light shined in my face causing glare.

This technique sounds like CIA interrogation to me.

Were you possibly interviewing for a job in law enforcement or a job in some kind of high security area/field?

I have been to a couple of interview boards for law enforcement positions in the distant past, and that sounds like what you are describing.

For one department, I had passed all the written, background, physical fitness, physical agility, psychological, and polygraph tests. I actually max'ed out the written, physical fitness, physical agility and passed all others with flying colors. Then came the interview board....

Four hours in front of 12 officers plus the assistant chief. All the coffee or water I wanted to drink. No restroom breaks.

They did it to test my ability to handle stress, and think on my feet. I had these guys coming at me NON-STOP for 4 hours. I knew it was coming, made it through and still did not get hired. Found out later there was a quota to meet, and I did not fit the image and plumbing of said quota.

Picard,

Sounds like it wasn't a very fun experience. I'm sorry, bro.


I do have a question for you though since I'm not an IT guy at all. I'm curious if the role you were going for is one with lots of high pressure situations often for extended periods?

The reason I ask is that I've found most people in the world are not as ill-intentioned as we think. No I not niave enough to think there are no bad guys out there, but most folks do what they do believing it is right or they have a reason for it. Just curious if this was their way of seeing candidates in an extended high-pressure scenario.

I never sweat an interview. You have to go into it with the mindset that it is theirs to lose, not yours. You have to believe you have the goods, and even if the job market is crappy it doesn't matter because you have what they need. Even in a bad market houses get sold, cars get sold, and people get hired for jobs that come available. How do you make the sale under those conditions? If you have the right approach, it doesn't matter what the conditions are, you can get what you need everytime if you just go about it confidently. I have turned down far more jobs after the interview than those I have not been called back on. It wasn't always like that, but once I figured out that it was just another sales job, it made a lot more sense. It is not about what you know as much as it is about what you can make the other guy believe.

There was a movie released in 1999 called "Suckers", about the goings on at a used car lot. There is a ring of truth to what is said in that movie about salesmanship, probably the closest thing I've ever heard to the truth. There's a fine line to their approach, and it is easy to become unethical, but if you watch the movie and listen to the monologues from the Sales Manager (the bald headed jerk in the movie), you will hear exactly what I am talking about. It doesn't have to be as cold and ruthless as he makes it out to be, but the underlying truth is universal to successful salesmanship.

Well, there are limits. If they absolutely require some background in support of a given product, there is not much you can do. In my case, I found out later they were trying to fill the job for a couple months and my background with supporting other products in a similar environment, coupled with my personality/attitude made me a good fit.

In your case either the silver-tongued devil had that experience you lacked, or the image he conveyed was more what they wanted. So in that sense, your comportment during the interview was obviously important. Now my interviewers were not trying to be harsh or put me on the spot (although having to get through military security to get to the interview was intimidating in its own right), so I can't claim to have overcome that obstacle. But being in this field for 13 years and knowing that I am good at what I do also makes a difference. I can carry myself confidently.

I even managed to get an offer for a different job that was totally out of my scope (I have done mostly Windows Server stuff with some network admin and voice com; they needed Unix/InfoSec) by studying up on the technologies, telling them that I was new to the material, and thereby telling them that I could take initiative. If it hadn't been night shift, it would have been a great experience...