personality interview?? what is that all about?

droolmonkey

Anyone ever have to go through a personality interview? ...After 4 seperate interviews, yesterday I had an interview with 5 high level employees including the cio that turned out to just be lunch. I got a call today saying that I was a great fit but they were going to have to say no to me. I have never heard of a personality interview.

Thoughts??

NetworkVeteran

It's common to ask employees both whether a candidate seems qualified and whether they'd enjoy working alongside them. It sounds like your A+ made you acceptable from the first perspective, but for some reason you didn't mesh with their team as well as others. If it's a one-off, I wouldn't worry too much as long as you weren't acting timid or negative.

I remember an interviewer who wanted me to defend Apple vs. Linux vs. PC and implied the choice was important! His idea was to see that I wasn't afraid to respectfully express my opinion as opposed to acting like a politician. Not that there's anything wrong with someone who is very reserved/cautious. They'd have just been a poor choice for that place's culture!

Best of luck on your next interview.

prtech

We do it at work before the technical interview. It's easier to learn technical skills than make personality adjustments.

droolmonkey

the 4 interviews were all with the same company if that matters. ...I guess I was just teetering so they kept calling me back. It was a phone interview, a technical interview, a talking interview with 1 manager, then another, then the lunch.

Plantwiz

Lunch with a team is not unusual and it is a nice 'causal' way to see if a candidate is someone who will 'fit'. Nothing personal, but losing out at that stage is good for both parties...nothing worse then taking a 'dream' job but the people one works with are horrible to be around all day. Likewise, I've worked to a few places where I and others vetoed the candidate and the person was still hired in only to leave after a short while...then that WHOLE process starts over.

When the team fit isn't right, it is best to know this from the get-go. It stinks when that person is yourself, but long-term it is likely for the best!

Consider this all practice and you are ready for the next round of interviews!

(it may be possible to ask what swayed them from picking you so if there is a flaw or trait you might improve upon that you were not aware of you can work on that (something like chewing with your mouth open, maybe the occasional swearing or something...no idea, but if there was a small etiquette piece you could improve...it may be good to know....AND they may not tell you).
Sometimes we carry habits from college or another stage of life forward, and what was funny/appropriate in college is no longer acceptable, i.e. it may be nothing too bad, just something that they won't ask you to change for them.

About7Narwhal

I haven't ever had an "interview" in the sense that I came in specifically to meet with the team and see how we get on. I have had a few interviews where I met the team and have had interviewees come and talk with me if they were going to be on my shift as I was the lead tech. But again, those were situations where the primary reason was an interview and meeting the team was done immediately after. To have someone come in for lunch seems kinda strange to me though.