Interview Bias.

I should note that I'm not talking here about bias in interviews. I'm talking about the inherent bias of interviews themselves. Let me explain.

In every interview that I've been in, whether it's a solo interview or a group interview, you don't get told the questions beforehand. You might get a vague idea of some topics that might be covered, but for the most part, you're going in blind. There are plenty of sites on the internet that spurt out lists of questions that prospective employers ask; but really, there are always going to be things that you won't expect. And of course, that's part of the idea. They want to get your honest response in the moment, rather than something that's pre-conceived and built up. They want to get to know you, not a façade.

Part of me totally gets that. But part of me also finds it rather annoying.

Because the thing is that I'm at my worst when I have to think on my feet. You give me a question and say that you need an answer right now - my brain pretty much shuts down. It hates having to work fast; it moves along at its own pace, jumping here and there, mulling over things, reflecting on them, all that sort of thing. It doesn't really do fast. And so, in most of the interviews that I'll go to, there will be at least one question that I can't answer. That I think over and think over, but I can't come up with anything. Because I'm terrible when you put me on the spot, in the heat of the moment.

But what I'm fantastic at is planning. Where I'm best, is planning. Analysing. Breaking something down, and understanding it at every level. Thinking about things in ways that other people don't, coming at it from a different angle. You give me a project ahead of time, chances are, I'm going to smash it. But you give it to me and say you need it done right now - I'm going to be terrible.

It rather annoys me that interviews are specifically geared against people like me. I've gotten better at this over time than I used to be, but it's something I definitely still struggle with. I'm just not good at thinking on my feet. And I don't really know how you'd be able to change that for an interview, without compromising what you're trying to achieve. Maybe you can't. But yeah. It makes things rather difficult, sometimes.