The arguments for taking notes
Most job coaches and recruiters favor note taking. They believe the very real upsides outweigh the potential downsides. The fact is, most interviewers take notes themselves.
“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.”
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