Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Interview Answers Too Vaque?

Question
I just gave an interview with a large bank in New York. It was for a temp. position for about $30-$35.00 per hour. I am in the finance field and most of my experience is in mortgage real estate finance.

The person at the placement agency saw my resume, and called me up. I interviewed with her and in a couple of hours she told me that she already had an interview for me with the bank the next day -- it all happened in 1-2 days.

I went to the interview and it was all good, in fact, perfect. The person who interviewed me also made me speak to the head of the divison, with whom I had a conversation.

The next day the lady at the agency said that the bank managers said I was a little vague in answering questions, at least that's what she claims they told her. I actually think that I knew exactly what I was talking about. If anything I was probably over-qualified for the position or maybe a little too ambitious.

What is this "vague" comment about? Do you think the bank doesn't want to tell the real reason or is this something the recruiter made up? In your opinion, what is going on?
--Perplexed

Job Loungers, from your experiences with job placement agencies and interviewers, what do you think is behind the recruiter's "vague" statement? What can Perplexed learn from this so he wins a job from his next interview?

1 comment:

Susan Ireland said...

Ask the recruiter for more feedback about the interview. Explain that you had quite a different take on how the meeting went and you'd appreciate more insight so you can do better next time.

If the recruiter doesn't know specifics or doesn't want to reveal them, then you might assume that perhaps there was at least some truth to the "vague" comment.

Practice answering the questions you were asked, this time injecting very specific details such as quantities and names of projects. Do this with a friend or job counselor who can give you feedback and suggestions for improvement.

There's also the possibility that the "vague" comment wasn't exactly the truth, in which case you may never know why you weren't selected for the position. If that's the case, there's nothing you can do except keep your chin up and move on to the next interview. Hopefully you'll land a job very soon.