Margaret Says

Usually it’s so simple deciding what to wear for interview and indeed on the job that it’s hardly worth discussing. But the younger generation has a different sensibility from boring old Margaret, so that it’s worth a blog article about it. Not that I, Margaret, am the one who decides what’s correct! It’s your potential employers who rule the roost. Here are the guidelines from a major insurance company (thanks for giving me permission to print, chaps)…. Insurance companies are a good standard for deciding what’s appropriate for a lot of New York companies. They are formal without being stuffy.

Lovely company, people seem normal and you could work happily with them. Good job, money and benefits. We’ve established therefore that you really want the job. But frankly, the interviewing team e.g. mixture of HR, managers and future colleagues haven’t quite got it together to co-ordinate questions & feedback. In the course of the interviews they all ask the same “difficult” question. Clearly they have all read the same book, “How to Interview People and Thereby  Impress Your Mother”. How do you answer so that you don’t sound stale? Worse, what if comes out that you gave an identical answer

It’s easy to obsess about the difficult interview questions. You know the sort of thing:  “What’s the most awkward situation you’ve ever dealt with?” (Tempting to answer, “I’m in it right now. How am I doing?”). But don’t forget the simple rules of interviewing. It’s a form of kabuki theater (stylized, formal theatre to the uninitiated), and you shouldn’t really try to bend or, heaven forbid, break the rules. It’s probably the first time the potential employer will have met you and if you do anything too out-the-ordinary, they’re going to start worrying, “Whatever will they do/wear/say when they have

You know they’re going to ask the stinkeroonie questions and you half prepare for them. Or you come up with what you think is a reasonable answer but no-one has told you whether it was good or bad  — an interviewer will never say in feedback, “It was your answer to my favorite ‘weakness’ question that made me reject your application.” So what’s a candidate to do? What is one of your worst weaknesses? Horrible question. The point is, you shouldn’t give them one. I mean, you want the job. Why give them ammo not to hire you. But they’ve