CAREERS NOW 07-25-10

Survival Guide To Stress Interviews

DEAR JOYCE: Yesterday I experienced a very nasty interview with a well-known business organization. The interviewers, both in their 30s, constantly put me in a defensive posture and poked fun at my background. If I lack the qualifications they wanted, why did they ask me to interview?

I traveled some distance to interview and am willing tor relocate. I thought this old- style stress interview was passé, maybe illegal. What is the best way to handle this blast-from-the-past debacle? Why did they do it? - J.H.

The best I can guess from 30,000 miles up is that the interviewers disrespected you because they thought they could. They perceived the probable rewards of their action as greater than the risk of potential punishment.

Stress-interviewing apologists usually claim that their purpose is to test your mettle to see if you can perform "under fire." Critics, including me, deem stress interviewing as pointless and silly, believing that it reveals more about interviewers than interviewees.

Here's how I see the shape of a good future response if it happens to you again:

When stress interviewing is done by a screener (outside or internal recruiter or HR representative), grit your teeth and respond in a positive, strong manner. Pretend you are being treated with dignity and courtesy. Screeners don't make hiring decisions. Your goal is to survive and be passed on to a decision-making selector, usually the department manager to whom you would report.

But, horrors, if the hiring manager also belts you with stress interviewing, cut the interview short, within the bounds of civility. On your way out, make sure you know the name of, and contact information for, the company's chief executive officer.

Write the stress interviewer a polite but firm letter mentioning the treatment you received; in advance, reject any job offer that may be forthcoming, mentioning how disappointed you are in the company's policies and how those policies hurt the company's brand. Copy the CEO. Continue your job search.

In this persistently craggy job market, I think we're seeing the Ghost of Offenses Past. Yesterday alone, I noted eight counterfeit job offer spams in my mailbox, ranging from "Home workers needed" to "Apply today for high pay job; no training needed."

Don't risk becoming a financial sucker - or even a victim of identity theft - by responding to these phony- baloney ads. Refresh your memory of what's at stake by Web browsing for terms such as "scam job ads." The Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov) is a good place to start.

DEAR JOYCE: I recently received a six-figure inheritance from my aunt. I would like to use it to own my own business. But what? How can I decide which business to pursue? - U.T.T.

Small-business operation is not my field. I suggest you read relevant books, attend small-business workshops and search online for expert sources on how to start or buy a business. Here's a tip: Once you target a goal, interview out-of-town entrepreneurs in the same business you're targeting; you'll more likely be given straight answers when you aren't perceived as local competition.

Similar to choosing a career field, the classic approach to entrepreneurship choice begins with analyzing your own interests and abilities to see where they can be applied. A reverse approach is shopping what's out there, arming yourself with a great deal of information about businesses that others have operated successfully, and deciding whether you like anything you see.

When you're still stuck up in the stagnant air of indecision, consider opening new vistas of thought by combining a moderate amount of career counseling with entrepreneurial orientation courses at a community college.

DEAR JOYCE: I've received a rejection letter from a company saying it will keep my resume in its database and consider me for future positions. How long will my resume be held? - S.V.

Perhaps a year - it's hard to say. Because of automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) commonly used by companies today, it's much easier to retrieve candidates in digital storage than it ever was in file-cabinet cold storage. In earlier times, a letter such as you received was sometimes considered by employers to be a means of politely rejecting people. No longer. If there's an opening that your qualifications meet, you'll hear from the company.

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