Problem point for the psychologically aware in job interviews: "Describe yourself".

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Problem point for the psychologically aware in job interviews: "Describe yourself".

I feel I got too much knowledge of myself to answer the question like a regular guy.

What are your ideas?

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Edit: Clarification. As I have English as my second language, but I still attempt to form as complex of a sentence structures as those who have it as a native language, I sometimes get misunderstood. The premise of my idea this time, is this:

1) In a setting of job interview,
2) people regularly get the task of "describing themselves"
3) and as someone psychologically aware,
4) my responses are likely to differ from the norm.
5) I'm seeking insight to this general phenomena.
6) In these types of threads, I usually get more personal responses than I want, even though I wanted to keep the conversation interesting to everyone, as opposed to something that pertained to me only.
7) I'm not starting to make these clarifications to every thread I start.

 

[Lark]

I so agree with that too, one of the down sides of psychological awareness I guess.

 

[Night]

Three words: hard working, alpha male, jackhammer…merciless…insatiable…

 

[Lark]

Three words: hard working, alpha male, jackhammer…merciless…insatiable…

 

[Seymour]

I would limit my answers to things directly pertinent to a job interview. The things people really want to know are:

1) Can this person do the job?
2) Can this person get along with peers, subordinates (if any) and bosses?
3) Is this person a good fit with the work environment?
4) Does this person have enough independence to do things on his or her own, but still enough sense to ask for help/additional input when needed?

Remember that it's a little like dating, where each side is trying to figure out if a longer term relationship is worth pursuing. You don't dump all your negatives on someone on a first date, but you shouldn't mislead them about who are you, either.

So, I would recommend being honest, but allowing yourself to describe your strengths and not dwell mostly on your weaknesses. You don't want to sound like you think you walk on water, but you don't want to sound pathetic and self-hating either.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

On the last one, I told that's a tough one, because I have a hobby in analytical personality. I'm supposed to know something of myself.

She encouraged me to tell, so I laughingly told about the MBTI and ENTJ, in about 25 seconds. She listened, and we talked briedly. She looked like she accepted and understood my thing.

I laughingly dismissed the idea of myself as a "leader", telling there's a strategy and a feeling element to me, and I've mellowed down, I want to live life, and you know, understand and be cool (Edit: the last one, coolness thing I didn't express directly, just with my attitude), and that I want to experience things. Then there's this element of being dutiful, which is always with me. I am very sure I gave a relaxed, balanced feeling of myself, even though I spoke of duty and strategy. I think it seemed like something in balance.

I do think that even mentioning something like "leader personality", only if in jest, put me in the pool of the discarded applicants.

I *had* to try it, to see if leadership traits are really being discriminated that badly. I had to try it.

 

[Halla74]

I feel I got too much knowledge of myself to answer the question like a regular guy.

My from the hip response to such a question would be:

"If I were to describe myself, I'd have to state that I am a motivated, dedicated, and resourceful person. I am mission oriented and ensure that tasks I am responsible for will meet agreed upon expectations of quality, schedule, and cost. I am direct yet polite. I believe that work products should be accurate, clear, concise, and complete. I believe in effectiveness and efficiency. Make things work first, then make them pretty. I like to have a plan and to see my plan executing successfully. If it does not I am glad to always have "Plan B" in my back pocket. I am persistent, I am loyal, and I am always looking for opportunities to apply the knowledge and experience that I have wielded in past endeavors to new and challenging initiatives.

I am comfortable working in groups or alone, and function well under general supervision. Tell me what you want done, when you need it, and what I have to work with. I'll pitch you my plans to complete the task, and check in with you along the way to make sure everything is to your satisfaction. I like projects to run smoothly and for them to be successful. That's the way I work and live."

How's that?

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Thanks Seymoyr, I think I cleared all the 4 points there. Very good input there. Thank you

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

That seems like good stuff Halla! I have had more like american style of introducing myself, thinking much like that, but I'd have to adapt it to Finnish conditions before expressing it.

People in here are so toned down, I sometimes wonder if there's any situation to promote oneself at all.

This subtlety thing is strong with the Finn.

Other than that, what you told could almost fit as my description for my work persona, with a slight adjustment for N/S.

 

[Halla74]

That seems like good stuff Halla! I have had more like american style of introducing myself, thinking much like that, but I'd have to adapt it to Finnish conditions before expressing it.

People in here are so toned down, I sometimes wonder if there's any situation to promote oneself at all.

This subtlety thing is strong with the Finn.

Other than that, what you told could almost fit as my description for my work persona, with a slight adjustment for N/S.

Glad you liked my intro pitch!

Toned down?

Finland?

Hmmm...looks like I'll need to steer clear of there, they'll HATE me.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

Ahh, they would love/hate you in here.

 

[proteanmix]

I've had two job interviews over the last three months (that I didn't get ...what a blow to my ego!) and I too have found it a struggle when I get to that part of the interview. I can answer just about any question but when they want me to describe myself I've found that my mind has gone to more "psychological" aspects of myself rather than work-related aspects.

I've basically tried to get some word clouds about me like purpose-driven, collaborative, blah blah blah.

I actually started a similar thread http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/academics-careers/5734-decoding-job-descriptions.html a while back about this when I was trying to decode job descriptions to spit back what they wanted to hear from me in a job interview.

1. Self-motivated/self-starter You won't receive much supervision or guidance; also implies like of structure within the organization
2. Good communication skills Your coworkers are savage animals and the clients need to be potty trained
3. Attention to detail: Repetitive, unchallenging work
4. Fast-paced environment: High turnover, train yourself
5. Thinks outside the box: You'll give them your ideas and they'll sit on it because no money's in the budget for that and yet the director is having lunch at the most expensive restaurant in the city every week on the company's dime
6. Other duties as assigned: Demand that statement be taken out! It will be your death!

[/QUOTE]

I know there's a way around this BS. Halla has going in the right direction, but sometimes I wonder if that sounds so cliched (because it does to my ears) that an employer will pick up on it and disqualify me for being unoriginal. But when I think about my job interviews, the employers themselves seemed to have simply typed in "job interview questions" into google and asked me the exact thing I knew they were going to ask because I did the same thing. They're not very original either so it seems like it doesn't matter in the end.

What I've found to be the contention is giving the psychologically aware answer and hoping the employer will pick on that and appreciate it. I did that in the last two interviews I've gotten my perfect track record of getting every job I've ever interviewed for ruined (more this was very upsetting to me, lol). For example, one of the questions I was asked in my last interview is how comfortable I am with database management. I answered honestly that while I can and currently work in databases, I prefer not to be in an excel spreadsheet and the like for 4 out of 8 hours of my workday. Maybe that cost me the job? I've surmised it has. I don't know, I haven't found an answer for this either.

 

[Serendipity]

That seems like good stuff Halla! I have had more like american style of introducing myself, thinking much like that, but I'd have to adapt it to Finnish conditions before expressing it.

People in here are so toned down, I sometimes wonder if there's any situation to promote oneself at all.

This subtlety thing is strong with the Finn.

OOT:
And so's with the swedish.

OT: If you interview for a job you don't really want to have (aka. the money is the reward or the people as wokbuddy's) and then expect to be able to ace their interview with honest answers. . . That one's obvious.

If you do, however, find a job that will stimulate you (even for a shorter time), then you'll find yourself doing a good interview. As you have determined a goal of interest rather than something that may/may not be enough to stay there for a longer time than a few months.

Which is why I don't have a job. . . I should start lying.

 

[Halla74]

I know there's a way around this BS. Halla has going in the right direction, but sometimes I wonder if that sounds so cliched (because it does to my ears) that an employer will pick up on it and disqualify me for being unoriginal.

Ahhhhh, my sister you miss the point:

25% of the result is the content of the words.
75% is the DELIVERY.

I guarantee you, that if you quip something to the effect of what I wrote (when asked a similar question) and you (a) look professional, (b) believe what you are saying, and (3) maintain eye contact, speak clearly, and remain positive but not cocky, that you will win over 90% of hiring managers. The other 10% are douchebags you don't want to work for anyway.

But when I think about my job interviews, the employers themselves seemed to have simply typed in "job interview questions" into google and asked me the exact thing I knew they were going to ask because I did the same thing. They're not very original either so it seems like it doesn't matter in the end.

Exactly, the questions are simply a generic gatekeeper to test your ability to communicate and to give them an opportunity to observe you under general conditions. They mean very little in the big picture of things. Presentation, composure, and conviction are EVERYTHING.

My resume reads quite modest as it is 100% factual, but I've got the right case mix of stuff in it to get my foot in the door for a myriad of positions that might be of interest to me. Once I am there, that's when the big guns come out...me opening my mouth.

:yim_rolling_on_the_

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

^Protean, I remember one joke we had circulating here in Finland.
"The company has a youthful spirit" - the manager wears a ponytail
"We have an encouraging bonus system in here" - do profit or GTFO
"Our management styles are dynamic" - the workplace is in chaos and people don't know whom to direct
etc.

Halla: as a professional telephone interviewer, having also done more than a few good business deals in person, I understand the importance of delivery. I think I understand you here. I guess I'm on to experimentation now. I have to experiment - there's just no other clue to the whole thing, other than what can be discrovered by experimenting.

I think I'm just starting to cut through that BS. My work interview for today was to do some of it. I'll figure it out. But yeah, what a shame: it's partly about pretending to do work while the management is pretending to pay you. But still, I'll get it. Even though I'm slower than the average guy in these kinds of things.

I've just naively thought that I'll do good for the company, I'll be a good employee, so I will be hired.

My problem - partly- is that I'm too much of a self-starter, too much of a boss - I've lead some projects with not too much problems - some might think I'm some "climber" kind of guy who extinguishes others. OMG, that's not me at all. I'm not sure if "climber" resonates with american culture. That, or a "shark". But, I'm not that - too much, at least.

I've discussed the thing with a psychologist friend of mine. I've helped him out with his business website, he's helped me with other stuff. I've known I have to develop a better portayal as someone non-boss for the work market.

Edit: but putting that aside, I think there's a real demand for expression of one's work persona - and I think it's mostly what-you-see-is-what-you-get. I don't think the work persona thing is usually very deep. I have one idea in mind. The managers want to see their labor force as something as manageable as cattle.