Taking notes into an interview - would/should you?

InsideInsurance

silentkiller wrote: »

What irks me the most is when you ask people 'What do you know about us?' and they are like ...ermm.... well .. you do this and that.

And I'm like - first off, the name is a huge clue, secondly, EVERYTHING about us is on our website.

I tend to hire contractors rather than perms and so dont tend to care what they know about the company. They are coming in for 3 months to 2 years to perform a specific task and then will be gone. More interested in their skills and ability to do that job.

Evidently things are different when you are considering someone who's looking for a potential career in an organisation.

scaredofdebt

CV and questions is fine, as is the job spec.

I've interviewed people who bring in questions written down and I consider that to show initiative and organisational skills. Some may think it shows they lack memory however, depends on your point of view.

Stephb1986_2

Just got back from my interview I think it went well fingers crossed. When I get asked if I have any questions I can never think of any is that a bad thing?

Prothet_of_Doom

DKLS wrote: »

I tend not to take anything in for interview, unless its an agency arranged interview where I take a copy of my cv in.

I have had a few interviewees turn up with notes, I didn't hire them. If you can't remember half a dozen questions your not right for the job.

Strange, I forget things when I'm stressed, and I treat an interview as a sales meeting, where I try and find out what they actually think they need doing, so my questions are really important, and so I refer to them. The Feedback I've had, good or bad, never mentioned my notes.

silentkiller

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I tend to hire contractors rather than perms and so dont tend to care what they know about the company. They are coming in for 3 months to 2 years to perform a specific task and then will be gone. More interested in their skills and ability to do that job.

Evidently things are different when you are considering someone who's looking for a potential career in an organisation.

We don't use temps or contractors and we are a small family business so applicants really need to be invested in us (as much as we are with them) and we need to know that we are not going to have to train a new person every year so are ideally looking for someone who may not have the skills to start with but really want to build on that over say 5 years.

If that makes sense.

The best way to demonstrate how much you want a job, for me is to do a lot of research.

silentkiller

Stephb1986 wrote: »

Just got back from my interview I think it went well fingers crossed. When I get asked if I have any questions I can never think of any is that a bad thing?

Not necessarily - although you could perhaps email them or contact them via phone if you do have any questions?

I usually get asked the usual; how much is pay, how many hours, what is the clothing code etc, when I interview.

Very rarely do I get someone who asks something about the business - and if someone did that would really stand out for me and impress me.

noelphobic

silentkiller wrote: »

The best way to demonstrate how much you want a job, for me is to do a lot of research.

I do the research but the minute I walk in the door it all goes out of my head and I turn into a babbling wreck!

I also have to do a presentation on a subject that won't be disclosed until I get there. The last time I did this I thought I had made a total mess of it and the interview went downhill from then on! I later found out that the interviewers didn't think the presentation was as bad as I thought it was!

noelphobic

Stephb1986 wrote: »

Just got back from my interview I think it went well fingers crossed. When I get asked if I have any questions I can never think of any is that a bad thing?

I think it is best to ask one or two and think it is OK to write them down in case you forget them. If you can't think of anything then say there were a couple of things you had been meaning to ask but they have already been covered in the interview.

I hope you get the job. Make sure you let us know when you hear.

silentkiller

noelphobic wrote: »

I do the research but the minute I walk in the door it all goes out of my head and I turn into a babbling wreck!

I also have to do a presentation on a subject that won't be disclosed until I get there. The last time I did this I thought I had made a total mess of it and the interview went downhill from then on! I later found out that the interviewers didn't think the presentation was as bad as I thought it was!

With presentations it's slightly different, (we never ask candidates to do one) but I would agree that having some kind of cue card could be helpful - I know what I would be like with a presentation.

With our company name (EmptyCartridge Recycling Ltd) it's pretty hard not to guess what we do - some don't even bother trying.
I had one girl ask me what company we were when she got there.

DKLS

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

Strange, I forget things when I'm stressed, and I treat an interview as a sales meeting, where I try and find out what they actually think they need doing, so my questions are really important, and so I refer to them. The Feedback I've had, good or bad, never mentioned my notes.

Hey if it works for you stick with it.