Mastering Creative Interviews To Get The Job

By Sharon Thomas DeLay
Demonstrating your actual skill set in live time is nothing new. It’s the natural progression from toting your portfolio to an interview so a potential employer can see work samples. A coaching client once told me about an interview where the employer provided a desk for a day and asked him to solve a programming problem. At the end of the day, the programming team “interviewed” him about his final product and why he made the decisions he made. Talk about real world!

Employers are getting more creative in measuring a candidate’s fit for a company, not only in terms of skill set, but also in terms of how the candidate interacts with other team members, demonstrates critical thinking skills, communicates, and problem solves.

• Lunch/meal interviews:
In today’s marketplace of declining communication and social skills, and increasing expectations that relationship building is a critical component of most jobs, this type of assessment is growing in popularity.

• Creative/critical thinking questions:
These questions go beyond the standard questions and force candidates to really think. Microsoft is known for asking these types of questions.

• Solve problems/case studies:
The employer may actually present the candidate with an actual problem or event that happened to or within the company (and has been resolved). The candidate will need to provide a resolution to the issue. This type of interview also demonstrates how much the candidate knows about the company through his or her research.

• Turn the tables:
If the position is management related or includes a specific requirement for interacting with others, the employer may ask the employee to “interview” the employer representative to gauge critical thinking and interpersonal communication skills.
The best approach then is to consider the type of job you are interviewing for and prepare for a few creative interview scenarios.

Sharon DeLay is a certified career coach with the goal of helping people find jobs they love and love the jobs they have. Visit www.permanent-ink.com or e-mail Sharon@permanent-ink.com for more information or to subscribe to her twice weekly blog or twice monthly ezine. (c) 2008 Permanent Ink Professional Development Services