[Closed] Interview etiquette

Better to seek forgiveness than permission.

I'd do it and take my chances.

Personally if I was presenting a roadmap/strategy, I would take a hand out just to help them visualise it.

On the other side of the table I would also see it as a positive, and something that could make the difference between two close contestants.

I can't see it being a negative thing, being prepared.

I did that once. I got the job.

That's settled then!  Ta

I was conducting interviews last week for a workshop technician.

1 guy arrived with 2 detailed test reports complete with procedures of how to operate and maintain the test rigs.

He got the job.

1 guy, within 5 minutes of sitting down, asked me 'You're not one of those Mamils are you?'. Lowe and behold, he did not get the job. Not because of that alone but it gives you a sense of the attitude he arrived with.

EDIT : for the record. I always wear baggies. Yes, even on the road.

Do it but don’t give them too much

enough to hire you. Not enough to allow them to hire someone cheaper

Answer all questions through the medium of interpretative dance

an't see anything wrong with it at all, shows forward planning.

Has anyone taken hand outs to an interview where delivering a presentation has not been specified?

I will let you know after Thursday morning.

Do it but don’t give them too much

enough to hire you. Not enough to allow them to hire someone cheaper

There's a fair bit of truth in this. Do it, but make sure there's enough to keep them guessing.

Good point!

Handouts are good, but better IMHO is to take pens, post its etc and draw it out in front of them.

That magic paper that sticks to any wall by static leccy is great to have in case they don't have a white board.

Just remember to practice it so that you can get the main points across quickly.

Do it but don’t give them too much

I'd say this but for a completely different reason. Too much detail is probably going to make you look like a presumptive dick. You are hoping to be employed for your skillset but you don't yet have an in depth knowledge of the organisation you are being interviewed for. Despite the homework you'll do before the interview you always find out information about both the firm and the exact nature of what they want the role holder to do during the interview that so often is not clear in the job spec. That hand out could look very out of date very fast once you are sat down. Whilst you can be flexible in the interview in what you say and respond to new intel, you handouts won't. They could just be a nice little reminder of how you got the angle wrong when you walked in the door no matter how much you save it later on.

I would draw it - keep it simple - but it's far more interesting if you can "tell the story" as it also demonstrates your presentation skills.

Do you know if they are a paperless office or not?

djglover, I've had someone turn up with a handout for a "general Q&A chat" type interview like you are suggesting.  I have to say it was a bit odd.  We were trying to have a relatively informal discussion about the topics we wanted to discuss and the candidate kept trying to steer it on to their handout and control the discussion.  They didn't get the job.  If memory serves me right there were three factors involved in that (i) this pushiness was too intense for the role / organisation we were hiring for; (ii) the candidate kept failing to actually answer the questions we put to them and (iii) the content of the handout wasn't actually that compelling.  I dare say with the right job, h/out, and listening to the Q's it could be a totally different story.  I've certainly had people draw out ideas on a white board or pad of paper quite successfully in the past (it seems more dynamic, less presumptuous and you can adapt to the topic).  A bit like slides - it can be easy to fall into the trap of only talking about the content that is there rather than the wider picture.

I would take them ready done. Drawing it out in front of them would seem a bit weird to me.

Part of the role is defining a technology roadmap/strategy, and I am wondering if I visualise this on a hand out it would have more impact.

I had this in a role, I took a spreadsheet on an iPad where I’d planned and costed out how I’d deliver my strategy. Was prepared to leave it in my bag, but it came up in interview so I was able to talk through my reasoning etc - got the job.

djglover. I've taken examples of material to illustrate the quality of the work I can produce and it always surprises them, and allows you to take the lead on the conversation. It's more about what they look and feel like though, I wouldn't go into any detail.

I was careful in my most recent interview to take anything out that could have been construed as sensitive. As an interviewer if you rock up with sensitive information from your current employer I'd worry about you doing the same with our information.

Drawing it there is risky and you may run the risk of detracting from what you are saying as you draw. I know, I have done that and it's not at all like doing a sketch for your workmates.

Taking pre-prepared material is good though.

Some interesting thoughts, thanks.

I think I will take something to have in my back pocket and use if appropriate

Possibly on tablet as said above so its easy to take back

if you take something pre prepared how do they know you created it? I draw it there and then to prove you haven't just copied or asked someone else to do it for you

Yeah interviewed one bloke a few years ago who wanted to demonstrate the quality of his work with examples of sensitive documentation from organisations he'd previously worked for.

3 of us looked at each other suprised, that wasn't a good thing.

I too don't understand how you can prepare for a question you don't know yet. Of course there is always some preparation you can do before an interview, but scripting anticipated questions isn't really a good tactic...I don't think so at least. If your anticipated questions don't come up, or if they do but are slightly different to what you anticipated such that your scripts no longer work it can leave you sat in the interview completely flummoxed and struggling to think of an alternative answer...but you won't be able to because all you'll be able to think of is your scripted answers, then you get into that downward spiral of trying to make them fit.

Also what do you know your interviewers are actually looking for? Don't fall into the trap that they're actually interested in the actual answer to the question. Often they don't care and are more interested in your thinking and the way you approach a problem or question, so you spend some time crafting a nice strategy beforehand, but ultimately they don't give a stuff...they want to see you work something out and see how you do it on the fly.

Also they may be looking for people who can explain complex concepts simply without the need for diagrams or presentations.

Its a difficult one to call, but generally interviewers are not there to catch you out - they want to give you all the opportunity for you to show off your abilities, so if they were expecting visual aids they would have specifically said in the interview prep advice that you can use visual aids. If they've not specifically said it is OK or requested it, then it is fair to assume they're not expecting it or think it's necessary. I'm sure if you rock up with visual aids they'd let you use them, but you might not get any credit for it and might be missing the point of the exercise somewhat. I guess it depends on the job, and what they're looking for. They might not be testing your technical knowledge...that can be learned. they might be more interested in how you go about things, your thought process, logic etc. That stuff can't really be learned.

Good luck either way.

In case anyone is interested. I created the handouts, practiced drawing them out for the interview, then used neither. But I did get the job!

Well done.

Nice one - congratulations

Congratulations

Yay!

nice one. where do we send the consultation fee invoice?

Excellent work.
Sadly, I didn't get the job I went for. It was given to someone with more experience in an area that wasn't mentioned on the person specification. 🙄