Interview

Experiences in real life teach us all things. My acquaintance, a senior former coworker, recently had an unexpected interview experience. I'll post one here, of course, with her consent. She recently relocated to a new place and has been searching for possibilities. A really self-assured teacher, knowledgeable in her field, and excellent with students.

Unfortunately, she had a severe ankle injury that made it difficult for her to simply stand or walk. A week or two later, she got a call from a college regarding a vacancy for a faculty member. Despite her happiness, she felt bad about not being able to attend the interview. She checked with them if they prefer to meet the candidate face-to-face, thus they turned down her request for a video chat.

She texted the person in question to check if she could come a few days later for the interview. They refused that as well. Since college was closing for winter break the following day, she was asked if she could make it to the interview the following day.

She took a pain reliever, collected herself, and went to the college for an interview. Her discomfort was clearly causing her to limp. She waited for about thirty minutes before a senior official—whom she assumed to be a professor—called her inside. The interview began.

He had a paper and pen ready, and she assumed it was writing quite smoothly because he didn't miss a word she said. Indeed, he was making notes on everything she said. He must have been an excellent note-taker when he was a student, she realized. Excellent speed and a good listener! The questions were coming one after the other like bullets.

She was confronted with these questions after over two decades of expertise. The notes went on and on about her Xth and XIIth years of schooling, her percentage score, the subjects she studied, her first and second employers, her freelancing work, her graduation and post-graduation details, her marriage year, the age of her son, his current education, her husband's qualifications, occupation and position, where she belonged to, why was she in that city now.....the notes taking continued.

She spent about twenty minutes answering the questions before the pen stopped. The person working on the data sheet didn't have time to nod his head or even make eye contact. She had the impression that she was up against a programmed robot.

She was unable to determine where it would end and whether it was an interview or data collecting. She realized that the interviewer was missing crucial data from her four-page CV. Despite the discomfort in her leg, she managed to respond effectively. However, there was nothing about her effectiveness as a faculty member, her experience with students, her topic knowledge, her expertise, or even her teaching approach discussed or even interviewed.

She was asked to wait for another fifteen to twenty minutes after his pen stopped. Soon she was informed that the senior authority did not have time for any more interviews for the day, so she was requested to leave. She was informed that a virtual interview would take place the next day, but it never did.

She is unable to comprehend what they were going to do with her fact sheet, which he took with much effort, squandering both time and ink.

After hearing this disappointing experience, I realised that the employees thoroughly require training in communication and interviewing techniques. Some people still think that merely stating the facts and data is more important than getting to know a candidate's character, abilities, qualifications, experience, expertise, and knowledge. Even now, these individuals evaluate others based on their grades and degrees. What prospects do their students have?