Retooling The Job Interview

The war for talent is raging, to attract the most competent knowledge workers you have to retool your job interview process.

I had an interesting experience with the Brockport Auxillary Service (BASC) a little while ago, and it struck me as related to a post Seth Godin wrote some years ago about the end of the job interview.

To add some background filler, BASC provides support services to The College at Brockport, and the company had created a new opening for a marketing assistant. The description sounded like an unique blend of graphic design and event marketing with a dash of strategic planning thrown in, I immediately whipped up a personalised resume and cover letter.

After following up, a week later I received a response from BASC’s Marketing Director. However, it was atypical in that to get a face-to-face interview I needed to pass two requirements:

First, the Director outlined a goal, increasing commuter meal plan sign-ups. My task to achieve that objective, design a print ad to appear in the campus newspaper, The Stylus. Taking this a step further, I designed an interactive flash ad that can be embeded in the online edition of the student newspaper. The flash and print ad complement each other since they both have the same theme. Not to mention the traffic clicking from the flash ad to the meal plan section of the website can be measured – gotta sweeten the pot from an accountability standpoint

This being my first foray into flash I’d appreciate any constructive feedback about the following ad. RSS readers can view the flash ad here.

The second part involved answering two questions:

Given what I know about college students, what techniques would I use to communicate with millennials?

A habitual channel surfer, and an avid fan of the Firefox web browser Adblock Plus extension, I have never been happy to be bombarded by advertisements. A Gen-Y’er myself, I think it safe to say the majority of us are turned off by marketing that is all hype, and not truthful. Meaning the messages that will get through have to be highly relevant. For instance, college students would be more likely to read an email newsletter from BASC if they know it contains a list of the top growing career fields over the next five years, or practical techniques to use in landing a internship. These are areas many colleges students are eager to know more about.

Two effective ways to reach the college set is using a combination of the online environment, and event marketing. As an example, you’re trying to increase enrollment in the commuter meal plans. Have BASC sponsor an event for commuters in one of the dining halls, whoever makes the wackiest dish out of the set ingredients wins a prize. You have a BASC rep there to tell people about the meal plans, and sign them up. Beforehand you would set up a Facebook page or group for the event, and invite a list of registered commuters to join.

My experiences with the Internet and technology.

While at the Public Market, I ran into an old high school friend, who to my surprise now lives in Rochester. During our brief chat we texted each other to update our phone numbers. Afterwards, I logged into Facebook at home to view George’s profile, and catch up on the lesser happenings in his life that he didn’t mention in our conversation. Then I left a comment on his comment wall, and he did the same later on. Now we carry on some lively conversations via IM – I use Digsby, a slick application made by the bright minds at RIT.

In addition, I frequently use the Facebook status updates to let friends know what I’m doing, thinking, wearing, etc. Likewise, I like to follow what’s going on in the lives of my friends, Digsby makes this easier because it pops up a little AJAX window on my desktop whenever a friend makes a status update, posts a picture, etc. So when my friend Mike, who’s an actor in NYC posts a picture of his crazy haircut for a role, I know about it right then and there, and can IM my other friend, Simon, and we both can laugh about how silly Mike looks.

Not to mention the group function on Facebook makes it a snap to coordinate a friendly game of floor hockey. What is the underlying value of this technology in my life? It is a social conduit, allowing me to bolster the relationships I’ve made, making my offline life all the more richer.
Finally, there is blogging. This is a great way to express, and develop your opinions which I do at my own site. But the best part of the whole endeavor is being able to have an interaction between the writer and readers, which for the most part improves upon the original idea. You’ll find that I’m an active commentator at the Daily Fix on the Marketing Prof’s website.

These efforts brought me to the interview table twice, where I had the chance to brainstorm solutions to reverse the bad publicity that campus parking faces. For instance, I suggested there be in an event during the winter where professors who volunteer park in the student lots for a day, and they make a mad dash to a class room. A funny reversal of situations, this brought a few chuckles from everyone in the room.

How does this relate to Seths post? What’s my point? Seth talked about two types of careers, the cog job versus the position which requires insight and creativity. The job interview as we know it is not suited for finding proper candidates for either position. You should hire a creative on the basis of how apt they are at solving your business problems, and whether they mesh with your team, not by how well they perform during a rote Q&A (unless they’re going to be a public speaker). Smooth talkers do not always translate into problem solvers. Out of all the companies I’ve interviewed with so far, BASC is one of the few that best understands that reality.

Update: another candidate edged me out for this position, so I’m still looking for gainful employment. On a related note, you should always follow up a rejection with a letter asking for feedback. How else are you supposed to improve for next time? Here’s my simple, follow-up rejection letter.

Tags: interview