Job Interview Questions

More and more people are. In our increasingly wired society, paper notebooks and even Daytimer organizers are yielding to electronic devices, so it is natural that more of them are showing up at job interviews. And they are not all brought in by candidates. Many companies issue their HR people Palm Pilots or similar devices. “If you are thoughtful and appropriate, a PDA will not seem out of place in a job interview,” says Handspring’s Beau Harris. “The important thing is not to become so focused on the technology that it keeps the interviewer from getting to know you.”

Mountain View, California–based Handspring markets the popular Visor line of PDAs, so it is not surprising that Harris is impressed when a job candidate whips out a Visor during the course of the interview. Of course, candidates have a sheepish grin when they pull out a Palm Pilot or other competitor. “Don’t worry,” Harris tells them. “If you get the job, we’ll get you a Visor.” Harris uses his Visor throughout the interview. If time is an issue, the Visor will silently vibrate, alerting Harris that the interview should come to a close. If he wants to bring the candidate in for a second interview, Harris has his calendar right in front of him. If the candidate also has a PDA, it becomes very easy to set up the next meeting.

KnowledgePoint’s Rich Franklin is especially impressed when candidates pull out a PDA. “These folks definitely get a plus for organization,” he continues. “I really appreciate it when I want to set up a second interview. Candidates with PDAs can check their schedules on the spot, instead of having to get back to me.”

Handspring’s Harris has observed how powerfully candidates can use their PDAs to streamline the interview process. “Filling out job applications becomes much easier when they have their address book and calendar with them,” he says. Harris has often bonded with candidates around applications on their Visors. Occasionally, candidate and recruiter will even share cool applications by beaming them back and forth. “Every job these days involves creating something on computers,” says Liz Reiersen, a senior technical recruiter at Verizon Communications in Irving, Texas. “Notebook computers are great for people to demonstrate computer code, spreadsheets, or marketing materials they developed.”

But some companies may still be leery about electronic devices other than personal organizers being brought in and out of the office. Organizations that do secret work for the military and have intense security practices may have policies about bringing in electronics. In any case, it might delay you in getting in and out of the building. Check in advance if you want to bring anything more substantial than a notebook computer into one of these companies.

Finally, a note about using audiotape recorders: Don’t. A tape reorder will make interviewers nervous and cautious, the last thing you want them to be. With everyone so sensitive to litigation, don’t give them any excuse to wonder how you might use the tape against them. Tape recorders set up a vibe that either you don’t trust your memory or you don’t trust the interviewer. It’s bad news either way.

Do You Mind If I Take Notes? interviewer, interviewing room

Always be prepared with at least four questions created specifically for each interview. These questions should be carefully crafted to reflect the basic research you have done on the company combined with the strongest aspects of your experience and qualifications. Then, if the interviewer surprises you with “Do you have any questions at this point?” you will be ready to go without fumbling.

Finally, if you are still not sure whether going into an interview with a notebook is an advantage or not, consider this comment from John Hawke, CEO of Howe Barnes Investments, a Chicago brokerage company specializing in community and regional banks. Here he is discussing motivation: “When you want people to move to the next level of performance, go to them with a notebook in hand. Get them to step outside themselves.”

There’s that comment: “Go to them with a notebook in hand.” If you go with empty hands, it indicates that you don’t intend to hear anything worth saving, that you’ve gone into the meeting with your mind made up, rather than to work together to arrive at a decision. Maybe I’m making too much of it, but I believe that going into any group process with a notebook in hand signals that you respect the contributions of the other members in the process and are ready to attend to what they say with your whole being. “Empty hands, closed minds,” visualizes Dale Dauten, a syndicated business columnist based in Phoenix, Arizona, who writes under the title “Corporate Curmudgeon.”

Do You Mind If I Take Notes? take notes in interview

At the same time, keep your note taking discreet. You don’t want to give the impression that you’re a detective and your note taking might be used against the interviewer. You know you have crossed the line when the interviewer asks if you’re going to read him his Miranda rights before questioning.

Learn to take notes without losing eye contact. Interviewers will be insulted if all they have to talk to is the top of your head. Taking notes while keeping your head up is a skill that must be practiced. Here’s one way to practice this important skill: Turn on the TV to one of the Sunday interview programs. As you take notes on the interviewer’s questions, practice keeping your eyes on the screen, glancing down only occasionally. You’ll know you’re ready for prime time when you can record the questions in shorthand and are able to repeat the questions.

Do You Mind If I Take Notes? body language, telephone interview

In the category “Why you Have to Question”, I suggested ordering questions by writing them on index cards. That’s a useful practice as you determine which questions to ask and in which order to ask them. But after you have established the questions and their order, transfer the list to a handsome leather-bound notebook. Whipping out a set of index cards sends the wrong message. Plus there’s always the risk of the index cards slipping out of your hand and flying all over the place.

“Remember, first impressions are critical,” says CareerSite.com’s Grabczynski. “If you’re going to take notes, don’t use a pencil or loose scraps of paper or the back of your parking ticket. Use a fine pen and a clean, professional notebook, preferably bound in leather.” The pen you select makes a statement about you. Make sure it reflects the professional you. A fountain pen is good if you know how you use it. A little silver one might be fine, but not gold. And for pity’s sake, make sure it works. Nothing will defeat your purpose more than you fumbling with a pen that runs out of ink. Asking the job interviewer for a pen is something you definitely want to avoid. And as long as we’re on writing utensils, now’s not the time to pull a chewed pencil out from behind your ear. If you’re applying to be an art director, you can maybe get away with using a colored marker, but otherwise the interviewer will wonder if you can be trusted with sharp objects.

Do You Mind If I Take Notes?

Here are some suggested wordings for getting permission:

Do you mind if I take notes? I want to keep the details of this discussion very clear in my mind because the more I learn about this opportunity, the more confident I am that I can make an important contribution.

Notice how the applicant embeds a selling message in her request.

Also ask permission before you look at your notes when you ask your questions:

While we were talking, I jotted down a few points I wanted to ask about. May I have a minute to consult my notes?

Or: Thanks for the detailed description of the opportunity and the company.

I know you answered most of my questions in the course of our conversation. Before I came here, I jotted down a few questions I didn’t want to forget. May I consult my notes?

Do You Mind If I Take Notes? questions

“I’m hugely okay with note takers as long as it doesn’t delay our process,” says Seattlejobs.org’s president Janice Brookshier. “After all, I’m going to be taking notes.” A job interview is not a social occasion. It is a business meeting. And in American business culture, taking notes in support of a business meeting is considered not only appropriate, but often a sign of professionalism.

Far from a sign of disorganization or weakness, taking notes is a mark of a well-organized professional. The cultures of companies such as IBM, Cisco Systems, and Computer Associates International actually encourage note taking at all meetings. Employees are issued notebooks, and they are expected to use them as part of a culture that insists that people stay accountable for the goals and objectives they take on.

Melanie Mays, a recruiter with Empyrean Consulting, Inc., in Dallas, Texas, supports note taking because it encourages candidates to listen rather than talk. “I coach candidates to apply the 80-20 rule in job interviews: You should be listening 80 percent of the time and talking only 20 percent of the time. If taking notes helps, I’m all for it.”

These recruiters believe that taking notes actually keeps the attention on the speaker by minimizing interruptions as the applicant makes a list of insights and responses that can be referred to when it’s the listener’s turn to speak. Note taking does not have to be distracting. The point of notes is not to take down a conversation verbatim, which would be intrusive. The purpose is to remind yourself of important points that are being made and questions or comments you don’t want to forget when it’s your turn to talk.

The most important thing is to ask permission. “I never have a problem with people who ask permission to take notes during an interview,” says Sandra Grabczynski, director of employer development at CareerSite.com, an online recruiting service in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “It generally impresses me that the applicant is taking the opportunity seriously.” Whipping out a notebook without asking permission may strike some interviewers as presumptuous.

Candidates are not the only ones taking notes. Rich Franklin, HR director at KnowledgePoint, a software maker in Petaluma, California, prefaces most interviews by saying that he will be making a few notes during the course of the interview. “At that point, I invite them to take notes as well, if they want,” Franklin says, adding that he’s gratified when they do. “Benefits and insurance plans can be pretty complicated, so I appreciate candidates taking notes. It shows me they are serious.”

Do You Mind If I Take Notes? questions, recruiters

First, when you are in conversation with someone, it is polite to pay attention to that person. Taking notes, to these coaches, is impolite.

Second, some job coaches trot out the argument that taking notes makes interviewers defensive, as if you are collecting evidence for a potential lawsuit. The last thing a job candidate wants to do is make the interviewer nervous.

Third, these critics suggest that if a candidate whips out a set of notes during an interview, the recruiter might conclude that the candidate has a problem with short-term memory or with thinking on his or her feet.

“I coach my candidates not to take notes during the interview because if you are taking notes you can’t listen with complete attention,” says Robin Upton, a career coach with Bernard Haldane Associates in Dallas, Texas. One downside, she adds, is that note taking exacerbates the natural human condition of self-deception. “We often hear a question the way we want to hear it instead of the way the interviewer actually asked it,” Upton says. Candidates risk appearing evasive if they don’t respond to the question that’s on the table.

When he is considering applicants for senior management positions, Tom Thrower, general manager of Management Recruiters, a recruiting firm in Oakland, California, prefers candidates who display total professional selfassurance. To Thrower, note taking detracts from an expression of overwhelming organizational confidence. “I’m interested in people with good memories,” he says. “I find it distracting watching applicants take notes.”

The situation, Thrower concedes, is different for people applying for technical positions, such as systems analysts, or financial types such as controllers or budget officers. He expects people applying for these positions to be very detail-oriented-thus it is appropriate and encouraging to see technicians taking notes during the job interview.

Do You Mind If I Take Notes? arguments, questions interview, taking notes

This controversial question is far from settled, but the majority of career coaches and recruiters I talked to give you a green light to take notes during job interviews. Yes, some interviewers get nervous when a job candidate whips out a notebook and starts taking notes. But others are impressed by the professionalism and interest demonstrated by a candidate taking notes. So what should you do?

Let’s look at both sides of this important question and then consider the arguments of a cross section of human resources professionals. Let’s start with the naysayers.

Do You Mind If I Take Notes?