Intelligence Gathering

When you think about it, interviews are kind of a sham.

Okay, so maybe that's a bit dramatic, but it's true: When you go to an interview everyone - you, the HR folks, the hiring managers - are on their best behavior. (Unless you're talking with one of those managers who likes to test people by arguing or somehow intimidating. I hear about these people from time to time, though I've never actually run into one.) Dale Dauten of Hartford Business puts it this way:

Let’s face it, most interviews are really outer-views. You see the person’s person, and not much else. That’s not his or her real personality, of course, much less real attitudes about work. Oh, I know some of you are thinking, “But, Dale, I have a sense for people — I can spot BS a mile away.” That won’t help. If job candidates tell you that they get along with everyone and put in more hours than anyone else, odds are, they are telling the truth ... as they see it.

Dauten's approaches things from the employer's point of view, but his point's a good one, and you can easily flip it around. Often times, whether they mean to or not, employers are trying to sell their firms as a top-notch professional outfit. Even if they're trying to weed out most candidates, they're still trying to impress them.

Dauten goes on:

Studying how great bosses avoid bad hires led me to this little principle of hiring: See the work. If you can see the work, you might be better off not even seeing the person; it will only confuse you. And if you can’t see the work, at least talk to someone who has.

This is another great point, and it's another one that's somewhat flippable. An employer should really get to know your work product. You should really get to know the employer's methodologies, culture and general approach to business. Unfortunately, it's harder for you to get at the truth than it is for the employer. Sure, you can talk to people who currently work at the firm, but unless you have a relationship with them outside the office, you'll probably only get some version of the truth - as opposed to the whole truth - from them. Calling a potential employer's clients is kind of pushy unless, again, you have your own relationship with some of them. And, you can always ask around to see what kind of word is on the street about the firm, but how good that information is again depends on who you know and how well-connected they are.

So, what to do? The answer this isn't one of those short-term tactical things. It's long-term relationship-building. Whether you concentrate your work on an industry sector or a specific metropolitan area, getting to know people within your community increases the opportunities for you to have those relationships with a potential employer's staff, clients and others. I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's another reason to be out there networking.

Interviews Offer Only Small Views [Hartford Business]