TYPES OF INTERVIEW//PART-4

Meandering Interview:

The meandering interview is often hosted by an inexperienced interviewer, for instance a manager at a small or start-up company who does not often conduct interviews, and hasn’t had any training.

While informality may feel comfortable, the onus is on you to make sure that your skills and abilities are discussed and highlighted. The tone of the interview may change from informal and conversational to formal, with intense questioning. In this situation be attentive to the shift and adapt your performance accordingly.

Sometimes the meandering interview style may be deliberate, as the employer may prefer a more casual approach. The interviewer knows the questions they want to ask, and the qualities they want in a candidate. However instead of following a prescribed format, they allow your responses to direct the order and content of the questions. Some interviewers prefer this style since they can learn much more about you from how you respond to these informal questions than from your responses to more predictable questions.

You might encounter a ‘chatterbox’, an interviewer who dominates the conversation, even when asking questions of you. They end up telling you about their organization, the position, and what they are looking for, but don't give you a chance to tell them anything about yourself. This is frustrating, because at the end of the interview they will not know much about you. In this situation, you will need to politely interject (perhaps when they are taking a breath) with your comments, and quickly mention your top skills and attributes before they jump in again.

Helpful Hints

Employer perspective ~ Why are they conducting this type of interview? Are they unprepared? Relaxed in their style? Or are they being strategic? Your response to the lack of structure could be assessed to determine how you might respond in an unstructured working environment.

Preparation: Determine your interview strategy in advance. Find the opportunity to share your skills and experience. Your preparation can put you ahead of other candidates who might become frustrated by the lack of structure. You can actually prepare for this type of interview by carefully thinking through what kind of person you are, how you react in different circumstances, what qualities you are looking for in a job, and what you think they are looking for in an employee. You could conduct a practice interview to build an interview strategy.

Power of suggestion ~ As this interviewer may not be asking the right questions to prompt you, come prepared with notes to spark conversation, highlight your strengths, or consider creating a summary indicating your skills and career highlights to leave behind.

Balanced Dialogue ~ Open the floor by asking questions of your interviewer. This may allow you to seek out vital information you might otherwise miss out on, and avoid creating the impression that you are taking over the interview, which might be offensive.

Stay on target ~ Be sure to keep both you and the interviewer on track. Consider using your portfolio as a means of guiding the interviewer through your skills. This will also add extra emphasis and dimension to a potentially lackluster interview.

Stand guard ~ Many mistake this interview as a lesser interview, but be forewarned: your actions, comments, dress and personality are being scrutinized, even if the questions are more lighthearted.

Follow up ~ If you haven’t had the opportunity to fully cover all of your skills and attributes in the interview, follow up with your summary and an expression of interest.