This backfired for me once (I can see why in hindsight). I'd been researching the company online initially when first learning about the job, and then again the evening before the interview to pick up on any latest news, etc. However their website was down that evening. I mentioned this in the interview as I thought that being able to explain the error I was seeing might help to show my ability to interpret errors etc in a practical context (it was an IT job). Anyway suffice to say I didn't get the job and I subsequently heard back from the agent (a rare occurrence following a failed interview!) that the interviewers felt the fact I'd been looking at the website the night before showed that I hadn't prepared properly. This was nonsense because I'd looked at it long before then, but because I hadn't explicitly articulated it they assumed I'd left everything to the last minute.
Taking notes into an interview
- Thread starter dalehitchy1
- Start date
This backfired for me once (I can see why in hindsight). I'd been researching the company online initially when first learning about the job, and then again the evening before the interview to pick up on any latest news, etc. However their website was down that evening. I mentioned this in the interview as I thought that being able to explain the error I was seeing might help to show my ability to interpret errors etc in a practical context (it was an IT job). Anyway suffice to say I didn't get the job and I subsequently heard back from the agent (a rare occurrence following a failed interview!) that the interviewers felt the fact I'd been looking at the website the night before showed that I hadn't prepared properly. This was nonsense because I'd looked at it long before then, but because I hadn't explicitly articulated it they assumed I'd left everything to the last minute.
Solid advice.
The most concise post that completely covers all the aspects of what I bring and would suggest you do.
Your notes should just be points of reference that you might want to bring up to show you had researched the company, what they do, and anything else in retrospect (after handing it in) you feel you could expand on from your CV.
It shouldn't be the answers to predicted questions that you read verbatim, and it shouldn't be a cheatsheet for answers that you should know the answers too (like the relationship between a class and a function if you were applying for some kind of graduate programming degree)
However, for people to say that notes don't reflect confidence or it shows an inability to remember things is such a load of self righteous ****. These are the people that you ask to do stuff in meetings, don't write it down then, never get it done, then come up with all the excuses why their week was too busy to do it.
I sure hope these people don't bring their own notes to the interview - you know, like questions to ask and notes about how each candidate performed. They might be expressing weakness and a lack of confidence in themselves which (as Gayjin rightly suggests) might make you not want to work for them.
I, and two others, recently interviewed 5 candidates for 2 posts. One person got offered the job, they were the only person to bring essentially everything Gayjin listed above - all the others brought nothing.
Soldato
Every job interview I've done has been "competency based". For this we use a large portfolio of evidence to refer to. I think if you set this out well it can act like prompting notes and highlight your best areas and make sure you don't forget things. This requires forethought and practice.
Man of Honour
Last guy I interviewed was very up front about this. He said that he had made notes to bring in (actually, it was just a bullet point list of things he'd done and situations he'd been involved with)
He said that he'd received feedback on previous internal interviews that he chose poor or weak examples when the interviewer knew he had significantly better ones, so in order to avoid this again he had made a brief list to refer to. He answered well and got the job.
I both take and subsequently make notes in every work meeting I go to - and I'd approach an interview no differently.
He said that he'd received feedback on previous internal interviews that he chose poor or weak examples when the interviewer knew he had significantly better ones, so in order to avoid this again he had made a brief list to refer to. He answered well and got the job.
I both take and subsequently make notes in every work meeting I go to - and I'd approach an interview no differently.
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Mar 2010
- Posts
- 6,316
A discrete file won't hurt your chances. Indeed for careers asking for a portfolio, it has been a must for a while. Not only that, but you might be asked to demonstrate working X,Y and Zs on your laptop or tablet, depending on the job and competencies being assessed.
Still, hiding behind, shuffling and constantly referring to pages of text will look terrible. So it does require some thinking and preparation in advance to best balance what's in your head, what's in the file and what you can wing on the day if needed. At the end of the day, it's about you and not so much what your CV and documents say about you (they would know the latter already anyway, and would not be looking for regurgitation).
Still, hiding behind, shuffling and constantly referring to pages of text will look terrible. So it does require some thinking and preparation in advance to best balance what's in your head, what's in the file and what you can wing on the day if needed. At the end of the day, it's about you and not so much what your CV and documents say about you (they would know the latter already anyway, and would not be looking for regurgitation).