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Will Femia is a Weblog enthusiast who, through good fortune and dumb luck, was introduced to the form as his position as chat producer for MSNBC.com careered into obsolescence. On any given day, Will can be found having already spent an unhealthy amount of time squinting at a computer screen.

Send a message to Will at spotter@msnbc.com



Afternoon of interviews

Posted: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 2:37 PM by Will Femia

Losing a couple hours this afternoon to being part of the interview loop for new interns. I haven't done this in years. I know there's no better way but the whole situation feels so awkward. I'm generally averse to being "judgey" but that's essential what's required of the process. I've read that the best interview question to ask is, "What do you do in your spare time" to get a sense of whether the person has a genuine interest in the subject matter and will therefore go beyond the job's basic requirements. But what kind of answer should I really expect from someone with a class load, no money and no experience? Free time?

Anyway, Clicked post will be late today. Running into another interview now...

ADDING: What's funny and kind of maddening about doing a series of interviews is that I suddenly became very aware of my own reactions and inconsistencies in how I treated the interviewees. Was I being discouraging to the one I suspected of being over qualified? Was I acting paternal to the one who seemed so young and naive?

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Comments

If you haven't done it in years, it's nothing to be self-depreciating about.  Interviewing is one of those talents that really lose polish when you're not doing it all the time.  I'd honestly hate to have to interview someone right now as I also haven't done it in about 6 years, when I used to interview someone weekly, if not more frequently.

Dave (Sent Wednesday, April 29, 2009 12:54 AM)

Just hire the young lady with the best legs and be done with it.

If you must ask questions, ask the following:

What was the last book you read purely for enjoyment?
  Any hesitation at all and they're done - unless this is the legs.

Ira, Atlanta, GA (Sent Wednesday, April 29, 2009 8:05 AM)

Ira, strange thing about the legs: The women wore knee-length skirts and and had blue bruises on them. I don't mean that in any kind of dirty way. They were like the kind you get from low coffee tables or something. I tried to figure if there was some kind of Sherlock Holmesian conclusion I could draw about them from this fact but came up with nothing.

Re: Books for pure pleasure, they're in school, some of them grad school. Maybe they read for pleasure but I'd understand if everything on their reading list is by assignment.

Will Femia (Sent Wednesday, April 29, 2009 2:57 PM)

Ah, good to know someone else is doing it too. I haven't had to interview anyone for a position for well over 10 years and now need to hire an intern for our web team. I've really been deliberating about what to look for when hiring for an unpaid position.

Re: the book question. I remember being asked that question when I interviewed with a book publisher. I'd just started summer break and had been devouring every piece of non-academic pulp I laid eyes on, mostly mysteries. Got the job. And I'm still there. Then again, it may have been the legs.

Good to have you back, Will.

wayward, Bay Area, CA (Sent Thursday, April 30, 2009 4:22 AM)

That "last book you read" question seems rather personal.  Unless it relates to the job in question, what I read is none of my employer's damn business.  What if it's "Atlas Shrugged" and my employer is left-leaning?  What if it's some guilty pleasure like the occasional romance novel like my wife reads?  Too personal.

Having done a few interviews myself, I think you may be taking the process a bit too seriously.  If you've done a good job of reviewing the resumes for skills and your HR department has validated their credentials (hahahahaha, I kill myself) and you check some references, an interview should just be about a gut feeling.  I've found that a few people who interview well on technical details often are just talkers and can't produce very well.  Others fumble over words trying to be precise in their answers, coming across poorly but are the detail-oriented type you might be looking for.  
As for the best legs, while I like the idea of radnomly mixing things up but this is probably not wise, especially if you already have a wife.   Why double your trouble? ;)

KRW (Sent Thursday, April 30, 2009 11:54 AM)



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