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.