I found the next section of this chapter really helpful to read because the authors provided a lot of information about interviews that I hadn’t known before. I thought the section about directive versus nondirective interviews was curious because it made me think about the employment interviews that I’ve had and whether I’ve experienced only one type or some of both. In this section the authors mention that both types of interviews are beneficial for different reasons depending on the goal, but it made me wonder how it applies to employment interviews specifically. I was curious whether certain jobs gravitate toward one type of interview questions over the other or whether it depends more on the person doing the interviewing and their goals.
The very beginning of this section notes that interviewees should remember to gather information about themselves in preparation for the interview. I thought this was a helpful inclusion because as silly as it sounds to remind yourself to consider your positive traits, it would feel very embarrassing to walk into an interview and forget all your experience or the reasons that you are fit for the position. The pre interview section also provided some examples of questions that you can ask at the end of an interview which I always find helpful. Asking good questions at the end of an interview is one of the most important parts for an interviewee, and having a strong bank of them is crucial.
When discussing all of the materials that one should bring to an interview, the authors noted the value of a pen and paper. Something that I thought was interesting was how they addressed the idea of bringing a computer, or some other form of technology, as a different means with which to take notes during an interview. I found it funny that I had never considered doing so or thought that others really would. But after thinking about it some more I definitely feel like this will come to be more accepted by interviewers as the years go on, especially for more techy jobs like the book says.
