Answered: Your Most Burning Questions About Interviewers

A reader on Google+ asked me a question about why interviewers seem to focus on specific questions. She had lived in a foreign country and found that everyone seemed focused on that part of her history.

What you should know about interviewers and interviews

Some highly trained interviewers studied the art of interviewing and kept up with the latest trends, Many are not that well-trained.

You assume there are trick questions or there is a goal with the question. This may be true for the highly trained interviewers but in many cases, it isn’t.

Most job seekers admit to being nervous in an interview.

Secret is many interviewers are also nervous. If you took a survey of people who don’t hire every day, you find they too get a little nervous. Perhaps they never were trained in what to ask and how to control the interview to get the results they want. They be just asking questions that come to mind when they look at your resume.

Other people will be highly trained and they will do a background check. They may be trained to see certain red flags.

Red flags for the interviewers

• Did you do something unusual in your career? For example, work in a foreign country? They may wonder if you are itching to leave again. Will you be satisfied working for them?
• Self-employed in the past? The questions come to mind are multiple:
  • Are you likely to leave to start up your own business again?
  • If you are in the same field as your self-employment, are you just there to collect information? Will you leave with proprietary information you can use in your own company?
  • If you build a successful following in this company, will you leave and take the customer base with you?
• Tried different jobs in the past? Will you get bored and want to go try the next thing after the company invests money in training.
• Does your online presence show any personality traits that are not good in the work place? This could be anything from drinking to excessive anger, ranting and complaining, or just being mean. Will you bring all that with you is what the interviewers may be thinking.

Relax

The more relaxed you are prior to the interview, the better it will go. Learn all you can about the company so that you can have a role in controlling the interview. By asking intelligent questions about the company and its products, you begin to show why you would be a good employee.

The best thing for you to do prior to the interview is rehearse answers to tough questions. Practice eliminates a lot of anxiety and lets you pre-plan. There are many resources for interview preparation. Many career professionals will role play the tough questions and give you solid answers as part of an interview coaching service.

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