The Out-of-Control Interview

Maria Fernandez is a bright, popular, and well-informed mechanical engineer who graduated with an
engineering degree from State University in June 1!" #uring the spring preceding her graduation she
went out on many $ob interviews, most of which she thought were courteous and reasonably useful in
giving both her and the prospective employer a good impression of where each of them stood on
matters of importance to both of them" %t was, therefore, with great anticipation that she loo&ed forward
to an interview with the one firm in which she most wanted to wor&, 'pe( )nvironmental" She had
always had a strong interest in cleaning up the environment and firmly believed that the best use of her
training and s&ills lay in wor&ing for a firm li&e 'pe(, where she thought she could have a successful
career while ma&ing the world a better place"
*he interview, however, was a disaster" Maria wal&ed into a room in which five men, including the
president of the company, two vice presidents, the mar&eting director, and another engineer, began
throwing +uestions at her that she felt were aimed primarily at tripping her up rather than finding out
what she could offer through her engineering s&ills" *he +uestions ranged from unnecessarily
discourteous ,-.hy would you ta&e a $ob as a waitress in college if you/re such an intelligent person01
to irrelevant and se(ist ,-'re you planning on settling down and starting a family any lime soon01"
*hen, after the interview, she met with two of the gentlemen individually ,including the president1 and
the discussions focused almost e(clusively on her technical e(pertise" She thought that these later
discussions went fairly well" 2owever, given the apparent aimlessness and even mean-spiritedness of
the panel interview, she was astonished when several days later she got a $ob offer from the firm"
*he offer forced her to consider several matters" From her point of view, the $ob itself was perfect-she
li&ed what she would be doing, the industry, and the firm/s location" 'nd, in fact, the president had been
+uite courteous in subse+uent discussions, as had been the other members of the management team"
She was left wondering whether the panel interview had been intentionally tense to see how she/d stand
up under pressure, and, if so, why they would do such a thing"
Question 1: 2ow would you e(plain the nature of the panel interview Maria had to endure0
Specifically do you thin& it reflected a well thought out interviewing strategy on the part of the firm or
carelessness on the part of the firm3s management0 %f it was carelessness, what would you do to
improve the interview process at 'pe( )nvironmental0
*he panel interview that Maria Fernandez, a bright popular and well-informed mechanical engineer
who graduated with an engineering degree form State University in June 455, faced was really
traumatic for her" *he overall e(pression of the interview, where the interviewer tried to ma&e applicant
uncomfortable with occasionally rude +uestion, was so stressful" because Maria as a resourceful and
intelligent engineer had always e(pected a $ob which would evaluate her technical s&ill and where she
could show her talent" So, 'pe( )nvironmental was the firm Maria wanted to wor& for as it could
provide a platform for her to show her talent and is &nown to be a structured firm" as a result, Maria
could e(pect highly about this firm" 6ut the interview was a disaster for her because it was an stress
interview" 's the passage says, the +uestion ranged from being unnecessarily discourteous to being
irrelevant and se(ist"
.ell, when it comes to the firm, it seems that the interviews strategy was a well thought interviewing
strategy because it helps to identify a critical s&ill of an applicant- hypersensitivity or certain behavioral
aspect of the interviewee and whether the applicant can tolerate stress" *his is how Maria was selected
since maria could show her endurance throughout the interviewing by doing well in the later section of
the interview with her responsible and mature behavior" but when it comes to whether the interview
was well thought or not, it is a debatable one" *he interview was definitely effective to select the right
candidate but to some e(tent, it might not be well structured" *he reason for which the interview is not
considered a well-structured could be the pattern of +uestion that is completely irrelevant li&e 7why
would you ta&e a $ob on a waitress in a college if you are such an intelligent person80 'lso 7're you
planning on settling down and starting a family anytime soon08 So these sorts of +uestions were too
irrelevant" then again, this was the tric& to see the particular +uality of an applicant by creating a
situation" So the grounds on which the interviews as&ed that &ind of +uestion could be identifying or to
&nowing what Maria could do if she faced any uncertain situation and record her response" 9r whether
Maria could wor& under pressure being a brilliant student and cope up with any technical situation" 6ut
then comes the important part of the interview where she met with the two gentlemen including the
president of the company" where, as she e(pected, the interview focused e(clusively on her technical
e(pertise" *hat discussion was totally constructed and which can evaluate her ability" %n essence it was
good, but only the president and the other gentlemen were able to &now about her technical ability" *he
other member of the panel interview group was remaining un&nown about that ability"
6eing carelessness on the part of the firms management by stress interviews isn/t the issue here as long
as the firm is loo&ing for a candidate who can endure stress" 6ut this type of interview is really tough
unless the interviewer is professional to &eep the interview under control" as in the passage it is already
written that the interview was apparently aimless and mean-spirited" *hen again, the firm can improve
in a number of sections to ma&e the interview more structured" So that the candidate can face all the
interview se+uentially to identify the true ability of the candidate" For an e(ample, they could as&
+uestion on intellectual factors, motivational factor, personality factors, and &nowledge and e(perience
factors" 'lso there was problem with standardization" %nstead of as&ing irrelevant +uestion that could
vary applicant to applicant and could give different response level of the applicant, the firm needs to
have capable person who have $ob related &nowledge and can conduct an effective interview with base
+uestion- more standardized to avoid halo effect: irrelevant and potentially discriminatory +uestion"
Question 2: .ould you ta&e the $ob offer if you were Maria0 %f you3re not sure, is there any additional
information that would help you ma&e your decisions, and if so, what is it0
Answer: ' firm li&e 'pe( )nvironment where i can wor& and show my s&ills and if i were Maria
Fernandez % would have ta&en this $ob offer" Since the interview went really frustrating although i
e(pected a lot from this firm i would be really upset" then gain, there was silver lining since the
;resident &nows about my ability and s&ills as i have done better or reflected my abilities in the later
section in the interview" 'nd after getting the $ob offer, i would definitely ta&e the $ob" 6ut if i/m not
sure whether to ta&e this $ob or not, the to ma&e sure i need some additional information" *he prime
information would be the location of the firm and the $ob descriptions which i already &now" )ven the
president had been +uite courteous in subse+uent discussion as had been the other members of the
management teams" 6ut apart from that i need to &now the following +uestions:
.hether the people of the firm behaves in a friendly way or they are hostile0
*he $ob descriptions0
.hether the wor&ing environment is suitable0
the firms ethical issues0
the future of the employment0
the firm/s renumeration policy and pension benefits, if there is any0
Such additional information can help me to be sure whether % would li&e ta&e the $ob or not" 6ase on
the above +uestions answer % can ma&e a specific and clear decision in case of ta&ing the $ob"
Question 3: *he $ob application engineer for which Maria was applying re+uires< ,a1 e(cellent
technical s&ills with respect to mechanical engineering: ,b1 a commitment to wor&ing in the area of
polluting control: ,c1 the ability to deal well confidently with customers who have engineering
problems: ,d1 a willingness to travel worldwide: and ,e1 a very intelligent a well balanced personality"
=ist 15 +uestions you would as& when interviewing applicants for the $ob"
Answer: %n case of interviewing applicants the +uestions that can be as&ed are as follows<
1" #o you have e(perience or training that would help you to wor& in this particular $ob0
4" .hat education do you have that would help you in the $ob0
>" ?ive an e(ample where you had to deal with a upset customer"
@" 2ow would you react if your co-wor&er is slow and incapable0
A" .hat e(perience have you had to deliver client-focused solutions in =and #evelopment B
)ngineering0
C" *ell me about a situation in the past year in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-
wor&er having Sediment and erosion problem"
D" ?ive an e(ample of a time when you had to be relatively +uic& in coming to a decision0
!" .hat are the factors that contribute to a innovative solution to engineering problems0
" 2ow would you adapt with potentially dangerous environments outside of your country0
15" .hat do you thin& are the factors that contribute in the recent sediment problem in Jamuna bridge0