Ncep: phone interview question. Informal?

[cous0226]

What does this mean? I got this from a recruiter today for a job I applied too.   I will be fully prepared but what does informal mean to him? Does it mean no tough interview kind of questions?  Any insight would be appreciated.  It's been a while since I've interviewed so am foggy on how the process normally goes nowadays.  thank you.

"This will be a pretty informal chat with the goal of telling you a little more about the product team and getting to know your background a little more. I look forward to chatting with you!!!"

[pitta12]

Sounds like a screening call to determine if you make the cut for a formal interview.

[cous0226]

Jun 4, 2018 15:20:48 GMT -5 pitta12 said:

Sounds like a screening call to determine if you make the cut for a formal interview.

do you mean formal interview in person or a formal interview with the next person for another call? thank you.

[cville]

I think it means no set rubric of questions.

Also, that's a lot of exclamation points. They're jazzed for you.

[bugandbibs]

This sounds like a sales pitch into a MLM, lol.

Usually it means they want to see if you would actually be interested after hearing salary potential and if they think you would be a good fit personality wise.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 4, 2018 15:20:48 GMT -5 pitta12 said:

Sounds like a screening call to determine if you make the cut for a formal interview.

I totally agree with this. 

[pitta12]

Jun 4, 2018 15:23:03 GMT -5 cous0226 said:

Jun 4, 2018 15:20:48 GMT -5 pitta12 said:

Sounds like a screening call to determine if you make the cut for a formal interview.

do you mean formal interview in person or a formal interview with the next person for another call? thank you.

Could be either one, depending on the company and the role. My company has recruiters do an up-front phone screening with people whose resumes look interesting to get a feel for whether or not they could be a good fit for the position.  Then we will either set up in-person or phone/web interviews as a next step, depending on where people are located (both the candidate and their interviewers, because some people may be working with folks in more than one office). So, it depends. 

[cous0226]

Jun 4, 2018 15:24:53 GMT -5 cville said:

I think it means no set rubric of questions.

Also, that's a lot of exclamation points. They're jazzed for you.

god I wish they were jazzed for me.

[amberlyrose]

Jun 4, 2018 15:29:59 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

This sounds like a sales pitch into a MLM, lol.

Usually it means they want to see if you would actually be interested after hearing salary potential and if they think you would be a good fit personality wise.

Basically this. 
More of a conversation than a set of questions. 

[StrawberryBlondie]

At my company that means you're asked about whether the salary is ok for you, whether you actually meet the requirements I'd the job, etc.

[isabel]

I did one of these recently. She asked me about my current role and what I liked about it, told me about the job, the culture, etc. We discussed salary. We discussed why I might be interested in the position. It was pretty casual and conversational. No real "interview" questions. I decided not to pursue it, but it was clear that she was interested in setting up what I would have expected to be a first round interview, probably over the phone.

[msmerymac]

I'd have some questions about the company itself - culture, various roles/departments you'd be involved with, team structure, why they're looking for someone, plans for expansion, that sort of thing. I agree that they'll want to know more about your background and what you're looking for, but probably not, "what is your greatest weakness?" type of questions.

[wawa]

Jun 5, 2018 8:33:30 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

I'd have some questions about the company itself - culture, various roles/departments you'd be involved with, team structure, why they're looking for someone, plans for expansion, that sort of thing. I agree that they'll want to know more about your background and what you're looking for, but probably not, "what is your greatest weakness?" type of questions.

we just did a round of initial screening phone interviews where my co-interviewer asked exactly that sort of question and I felt bad because it clearly took the people TOTALLY by surprise.

Also - every single person save one answered with some variation on "I care too much" so WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING THAT??

[msmerymac]

Jun 5, 2018 10:15:11 GMT -5 wawa said:

Jun 5, 2018 8:33:30 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

I'd have some questions about the company itself - culture, various roles/departments you'd be involved with, team structure, why they're looking for someone, plans for expansion, that sort of thing. I agree that they'll want to know more about your background and what you're looking for, but probably not, "what is your greatest weakness?" type of questions.

we just did a round of initial screening phone interviews where my co-interviewer asked exactly that sort of question and I felt bad because it clearly took the people TOTALLY by surprise.

Also - every single person save one answered with some variation on "I care too much" so WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING THAT??

Its the dumbest question, because no one ever answers it well. People either stumble through it or give some rote answer like, "I'm a perfectionist!" 

[vanillacourage]

Jun 4, 2018 18:47:24 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

At my company that means you're asked about whether the salary is ok for you, whether you actually meet the requirements I'd the job, etc.

Same for me. And also a general weed-out for people who come across unprofessionally or just seem sort of meh. We have to have some way of ranking who comes in for in-person interviews. So it may be ‘casual’ but I’d still be on your game. Good luck!

[wawa]

Jun 5, 2018 10:23:35 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

Jun 5, 2018 10:15:11 GMT -5 wawa said:

we just did a round of initial screening phone interviews where my co-interviewer asked exactly that sort of question and I felt bad because it clearly took the people TOTALLY by surprise.

Also - every single person save one answered with some variation on "I care too much" so WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING THAT??

Its the dumbest question, because no one ever answers it well. People either stumble through it or give some rote answer like, "I'm a perfectionist!" 

I had one really good answer in our current round of interviews.  She's currently my favorite to hire.   The question they were actually asked was "what was the most useful criticism you've ever recieved?" and for the most part the answers were things like, "it's ok to make mistakes, because I really am a perfectionist, and I had to learn that sometimes it takes more than one try to get things perfect" (which is a good enough answer when the question comes out of left field) But i had one woman who said that her freshman year her professor told her she needed to work on her public speaking, so she took a class and joined toastmasters and sought out groups that would force her into more public speaking and now she counts it as one of her strengths.  Considering that we are in a uniquely public facing facet of engineering that answer was PERFECT.  I also really liked that she gave us an example of criticism on which she actually took action.

So...I mean, I guess I shouldn't poo-poo the question since it gave me an actual insight into somebody even if it was neutral on the other people.  

[carmenere]

Every recruiter I've worked with has insisted on talking salary in their initial screening call. Ideally they should only use this to gauge whether you're a good fit for what the employer is offering (so they're not wasting time on someone who wants more than they can pay) and not tell the employer your specific expectations. So do your research and be prepared to answer about your salary history, desired salary, and related questions.

[wawa]

so cous0226, when is the phone call?

[cous0226]

Jun 5, 2018 11:02:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

so cous0226, when is the phone call?

It’s for this Thursday afternoon.

[wawa]

Jun 5, 2018 12:53:06 GMT -5 cous0226 said:

Jun 5, 2018 11:02:18 GMT -5 wawa said:

so cous0226 , when is the phone call?

It’s for this Thursday afternoon.

good luck!

[cous0226]

Jun 5, 2018 12:53:22 GMT -5 wawa said:

Jun 5, 2018 12:53:06 GMT -5 cous0226 said:

It’s for this Thursday afternoon.

good luck!

Thanks very much!