- So Liz, I have another brainless job interview question for you to ponder.
What's the question?
- It's the one "How do your skills fit this role?"
Did you get that question on a job interview recently?
- Yep - last Thursday. The guy asked me "How do your skills fit this role?" and I had to answer it.
What did you say?
- I had your voice in my ear. I said "It would be great if we could talk about the issues you're facing. Then I could tell you what I think about your situation, and I could also tell you how I've handled similar obstacles in the past. That way, we don't have to go to the abstract question of which skills of mine fit your requirements -- we could skip all that and just talk about what you're dealing with and how I'd approach the problem."
Great job! How did the interviewer react?
- He wasn't into my answer at all. He wanted me to say "Well, I have communication skills, so I'd be able to communicate with people and get their ideas. I have this skill, and I have that skill." It felt like he wanted that fourth-grade, oral-exam kind of answer. I'm so done with these weenie interviewers, Liz.
Did the interviewer rise to the occasion and tell you anything about his pain?
- He didn't. He said "It's a question designed to get you to look inward."
Then you vomited on his desk?
- I wanted to. Who are these pseudo-shrinks who are set loose to interview job-seekers? Why would he think that my ability to rattle off a list of my Skills, whatever that means, makes me Introspection Man? It's nauseating.
Most interviewers have had no training whatsoever. They get their interview questions from an in-flight magazine. It's really sad.
- Why do they want you to talk about your Skills?
Listen, the Skills dogma gives everyone on a job interview an easy way to avoid being human. Behavioral interviews where they ask those "Tell me about a time when...." questions are another variation. They want to get abstract so they don't have to talk about the things that aren't working in the company now. If they ask you a "Tell me about a time when..." question, they can sit back and evaluate your answer without having to say "Everything isn't working perfectly here. How would you fix our problem?"
Likewise, when the interviewer asks you "How do your skills fit this role?" they're able to avoid having to tell you where they feel weak and vulnerable. Can you imagine calling a plumber to fix your tub drain and asking the plumber on the phone "How do your skills fit this assignment?" The plumber would probably just hang up.
- Why do so many interviewers treat job-seekers with so little respect?
They've been taught that job-seekers are a dime a dozen. The good news is that when you can feel in your gut that you couldn't work alongside someone or work for someone in fear -- was this interviewer your boss, if you get the job?
- Yes.
When you realize that, then you can just move on. You can make the interview short. You don't even have to stay for the whole interview. You can take off, or you can stick around to see if you can learn something -- even something about how NOT to interview a job-seeker.
- There is a lot of fear in the corporate world, isn't there?
Tons of it -- and it's the same way in the institutional, start-up, government and not-for-profit worlds, too. There's a lot of fear everywhere. Once we see it, then we can deal with it. It's the people who don't see it and won't acknowledge it who have problems.
- Thanks for preaching the gospel, Liz!
Same to you, my friend. Trust your body!
