Taking control of the interview

After a couple interviews, and an untold number of conversations with recruiters I’ve come to a new conclusion. I need to take over the skills assessment and I need to be far more prepared about the character/work ethic questions.

I can short-circuit the skills questions from less prepared/skilled interviewers by presenting samples of my work and explaining how it works. Although for the most part I’ve found that skills have not been the stumbling block.

The harder questions for me have been “What kind of company do you want to work for?”, “Why did you leave your last company?” For the latter I didn’t want to go, they just left me with no alternative. For the former, I don’t know. I tend to view companies as antagonistic towards their employees. They have the ability to fire me at any time, and are only going to keep me around as long as they need me. I don’t really have a problem with that as it seems the most efficient way of doing things. So when I look at a new job I look at it solely from the standpoint of what I am going to get out of it. I want to develop my skills and portfolio, and I want financial remuneration. I’ve already assessed that your company can do that or I wouldn’t be interviewing, so I tend to feel the question is redundant.

However, in the great dance that is the interview I have a feeling this is not what a company wants to hear. I don’t even know that it’s the right way to look at the situation. That’s what makes those questions so hard to answer.

Re-reading what I wrote I’m stunned by how cold and selfish it is.