{"id":84647,"date":"2015-11-17T12:18:38","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T18:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=84647"},"modified":"2015-11-17T12:17:22","modified_gmt":"2015-11-17T18:17:22","slug":"get-practice-doing-the-other-type-of-interviewing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=84647","title":{"rendered":"Get Practice Doing the Other Type of Interviewing"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Daniel Geary,\u00a0Graduate Assistant at Princeton Theological Seminary, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, and Rutgers Alexander Library
\npreviously published 11\/19\/2014
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Get Practice Doing the Other Type of Interviewing<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"DannyGeary\"<\/a>Practicing interviewing is a no-brainer. You spent so much effort crafting a stand-out resume\u00a0and cover letter being ready for an interview is important. Rehearsing answers and ironing out\u00a0the kinks with supervisors, co-workers, and fellow job seekers is a great way to prepare. And\u00a0of course, you always want to make sure you look your best. But, there is another to practice\u00a0interviewing and that is from the interviewer\u2019s rather than the interviewee\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n

Evaluating your ideas from the interviewer\u2019s perspective is a wonderful thought experiment.\u00a0What would you look for in a worker? How would they dress? What quarks would they have?\u00a0Would they be energetic or calm? Would they use complex sentences and vocabulary like\u00a0Faulkner or simple and straightforward remarks like Hemingway? How would your ideal\u00a0candidate articulate the answers to your questions?<\/p>\n

Contemplating these types of questions can be useful for two reasons. First, it informs how you\u00a0should try to act. After imagining your perfect candidate, you have something to aspire to in your\u00a0interview or maybe even something to do before an interview. You might not be there now, but if\u00a0you put in the effort you can become your dream candidate.<\/p>\n

Second, thinking about the other type of interviewing prepares you for the \u201cdo you have any\u00a0questions for us?\u201d part of the interview. Remember, the interview is not just about the library\u00a0choosing if you are a good fit, but about whether or not you feel you are a good fit for the library.\u00a0Your perfect candidate will also reflect the ideals you hold most dear in your job search. If you\u00a0want to project confidence and self-motivate, then you are probably looking for co-workers that\u00a0do the same. Holding a mirror up to your ideal candidate could unveil your ideal employer.<\/p>\n

However, while thoroughly meditating on the scenario is undoubtedly revealing, the best option\u00a0is real-life experience. Try acting as a library search committee interview your friends or family.\u00a0They may provide great answers you had never thought of or make a statement that sounded\u00a0good in your head, but sounds unpolished when you hear it aloud. If you are currently working\u00a0at an internship or low-level position, but looking to move forward, then ask your supervisors if\u00a0you can sit in on an interview or two and maybe even ask some questions. I had an opportunity\u00a0to do just that and being on the other side of the desk is illuminating.<\/p>\n

We asked a prospective candidate, \u201cwhy should we hire you?\u201d A typical interview question. A\u00a0typical response would be them launching into a recitation of their resume or discussing how\u00a0they would like to work somewhere like this. But, this candidate gave neither of these answers.\u00a0Instead they said, \u201cBecause I want to work here.\u201d Not because they were a great candidate or\u00a0because they wanted experience or because they wanted to work in an academic library as\u00a0opposed to a public library, but because they wanted to work there and not anywhere else. It\u00a0was a powerful answer that never occurred to be before.<\/p>\n

This experience shows how being the interviewer can shed new light on the way you practice\u00a0interviews. You might hear a great answer to a question you never considered, see how body\u00a0language plays a pivotal part in the process, or start to feel the power of authenticity versus\u00a0somewhere fleetingly interested in the job. So, as with most skills, experience can help a great\u00a0deal. But, while practicing interviewing, as a potential candidate, is informative do not forget to\u00a0practice interviewing, as a potential employer. In other words, get practice doing the other type\u00a0of interviewing.<\/p>\n

Danny Geary is a last semester MLIS student at Rutgers University. He is currently a reference\u00a0assistant at Rutgers University – Alexander Library, library assistant at Rutgers University –\u00a0Center of Alcohol Studies Library, and special collections assistant at Princeton Theological\u00a0Seminary. He has also had an internship at the Rutgers University – Digital Curation and\u00a0Research Center. In 2012, he graduated with a Masters in World History from the University of\u00a0Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In 2011, he graduated with a BA in History Education from the\u00a0College of New Jersey. He hopes his career will offer a variety of challenges and looks forward\u00a0to finding new career opportunities in 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Daniel Geary,\u00a0Graduate Assistant at Princeton Theological Seminary, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies, and Rutgers Alexander Library previously published 11\/19\/2014 Get Practice Doing the Other Type of Interviewing Practicing interviewing is a no-brainer. You spent so much effort crafting a stand-out resume\u00a0and cover letter being ready for an interview is important. Rehearsing answers and ironing…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":84648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[146,6682,69,5965,6684,6681,4514,6307,3975,4590,6683,276,111,2160],"class_list":["post-84647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-advice","tag-alexander-library-rutgers","tag-article","tag-being-interviewed","tag-college-of-new-jersey","tag-daniel-geary","tag-interview-tips","tag-interviewers","tag-interviewing","tag-preparing-for-interviews","tag-princeton-theological-seminary","tag-rutgers","tag-tips","tag-university-of-pennsylvania"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/DannyGeary.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-m1h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}