Today’s job interview is nearly unrecognizable ‘from back in the day’
➔ There was a time when a job interview was precisely that. You went to someone’s office; sat across a desk; they asked you questions, you answered; you asked them questions, they answered. You left; went home and wrote the interviewer a nice thank-you letter.
And waited. Waited for them to call you; or, you waited an appropriate amount of time (which always seemed too long) and called them back. That was then.
Today that still happens… on occasion
Today, before you are submitted to the job screening process, you’ll probably have someone – someone representing the employer, or a recruiter – peruse your LinkedIn profile. If you’re fortunate enough to clear that hurdle, you are entered into the race to the job offer.
In the 21st Century, online, digital world, the hiring process is right in lock step with the times. After you submit your resume electronically and, if you survive the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), you have your shot at an interview.
Except that this is not your father’s interview. Nor is it the same interview that you experienced when you first began to apply for jobs. Today, your interview(s) may take on an entirely different appearance.
For starters, you may go through a phone screening where someone from the company (maybe your hiring manager, maybe not) will do an initial evaluation of you by phone. Then, it’s on to the interview.
Or, you may be asked to complete an online evaluation and submit it electronically. The good news here is that you may have several days to complete this process. Take your time drafting your responses.
You also may experience a traditional one-on-one interview. Or, you may face a panel interview where you’re evaluated by three or four persons at once. Or, you may experience multiple interviews, from a multitude of people.
Then again, there’s the video interview. But that’s an entirely different labyrinth for you to navigate. It could be a face-to-face interview, except that you could be literally thousands of miles apart.
No matter what, you will most likely have to endure one of these non-traditional forms of interviewing before you can make the final cut.
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