A Quick Look at Speed Interviewing
by Peter Harris, Monster.ca
On your mark! Get set! “Tell me your biggest workplace flaw!”
Okay, there might not be a starting gun, but with the growing trend of ‘speed interviewing,’ a conversational sprint may be in your near future.
These express interviews are based on the popular singles events called ‘speed dating.’ On an evening of speed dating, potential suitors have many short encounters with a variety of prospects, and at the end of the evening they rate their favourites for possible full-length dates.
Similarly, speed interviewing allows large groups of employers and candidates to meet briefly and form the all important first impression. Job interviews always had much in common with first dates, so perhaps this tendency for rapidity was inevitable. Because of the time required for the more traditional formal interview, only a fraction of the applicants for any given position have the opportunity to actually meet with a representative from the company. Usually held in settings such as career fairs and on campus recruitment drives, speed interviewing changes all that.
Candidates and employers who make the right connection during the rapid fire 5-15 minute sitting have the option of moving on to a more traditional full-length interview.
This method, while indeed allowing for many candidates and employers to interact, tends to favour a certain personality type. With such a brief encounter, candidates with polished ‘elevator pitches’ (30-60 second spoken resumes), and the right body language will do better than the more introverted sorts who may take longer to get comfortable speaking about themselves with a stranger. This is because in the speed interview setting, the impression you make on the spot can be more important than the skills you have on paper. For this reason, speed interviewing is particularly taking off as a method of recruiting recent graduates and entry-level candidates where there may be a large pool of potential employees with similar education and work experience. For example, Quebec-based cable and Internet company, Videotron Ltée has been known to hold these events at their recruitment drives when they need to fill a large number of customer service and technical support positions quickly.
Some tips on making it to the finals
- Hone your ‘elevator pitch’. Have a few short sentences ready about why you are looking for the job and what makes you the best person to fill it.
- Be friendly and conversational, not pushy or in a rush to cover your entire work or educational history in the allotted time. Remember the person on the other side of the table is having a high-caffeine day too. You want them to like you the best.
- Have crisp copies of your up-to-date resume ready to hand over.
- Dress professionally, but comfortably. While normally for an interview you might dress a notch or two more formally than you would for the job in question, at the speed interview, dress as though you were going to work. Save your best outfit for the more formal second interview when you get it.
They say that the best job search is a short one. This trend in lightening quick interviewing might just be turning the career hunt marathon into the hiring dash!