When counseling job seekers on their job search, it has been necessary to dispel myths about any one best approach to interviewing. They have been told intimate, personal, first hand advice that is from a limited perspective. I tell them that it is not a bowl of Cheerios where all pieces are the same. It is more like a bowl of Trail Mix where everything you touch is different. Likewise from the other side of the interviewing table there is a mix of experience and professionalism that may prefer one methodology of interviewing because that is all that they have seen from their limited perspective. Every new idea in recruiting technology is packaged and sold off the shelf to solve those problems. As discussed this week, almost any system is preferable to no system. That â€œbestâ€ system is relative to the time and place it is applied. No wonder job seekers are confused. They get mediocre advice and have a high likelihood of meeting mediocre interviewers at every turn.

Is it possible to uncover all the problems and fix them in five articles? No, but it is possible to discuss these perspective five times in a week to stir the pot to stimulate discussion. The key to success is not finding that one best methodology, but to view the process as a dynamic system that is in constant need of thought lubrication to keep it running. Awareness and attention on both sides of the interview dialog keeps it fresh. Caring interviewers that focus on people rather than process can work to keep company regeneration through recruiting an exciting process and not boring. Â

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September 30 -Â Talent Selection â€“ Part 1: Interviewing CrosscheckÂ – â€œFlight attendants, prepare for arrival and crosscheck.â€ I have heard that over the aircraft cabin PA systems for years and thought that it had something to do with counting people. I remember eons ago on school outings teachers would walk down the aisle of the school bus and count heads to make sure the number of heads that got back on the bus was the same number of heads that got off.Â Â – more –

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October 1 –Â Talent Selection â€“ Part 2: Interviewing RealityÂ â€“ Everyone has a theory about interviewing candidates for hire. This applies to everyone involved in conducting interviews and not just people in positions of leadership in HR or recruiting. The two primary ignorance factors that keep us from doing it right are the line managers who dismiss interviewing as something that anybody off the street can do and…Â – more –

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October 2 -Â Talent Selection â€“ Part 3: Interviewing AdaptabilityÂ â€“ When confronted with issues of flaws in the candidate experience, I have actually heard interviewers speak the words, â€œI am just following policy.â€ That is possibly someone looking for a scapegoat to blame for their actions. The psychological term is called â€œThe Nuremberg Defenseâ€ which came from the trials of Nazi war criminals for atrocities following WWII, â€œI was only following orders.â€Â – more –

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October 3 -Â Talent Selection â€“ Part 4: Interviewing TradeoffsÂ – Anyone with more than a few minutes of experience working in a corporate staffing office knows that certain things are not negotiable. I once worked at a start-up that was a spinoff from a large corporation with a lot of inherited baggage in the form of policies and procedures from the parent company. We had to change everything that didnâ€™t fit.Â – more –

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