I had a phone interview for a huge corporation for a contract analyst position. It was a standard short phone screening with behavioral interview questions.
Behavioral interviewing is the latest HR fad that business paraprofessionals are forced to use. A decade or so ago it was the impossible question games; “How would you move Mount Fuji 10 feet to the left?” titularly to see how the interviewee responds to difficult situations under pressure. Behavioral interviewing instead poses questions such as “Tell me about a time when you used logic to solve a problem.” Most intelligent people would probably respond with the statement “As opposed to not using logic to solve a problem and instead solving it paradoxically by being irrational and unreasonable?” But interviews are not the place to show that you are a thinking, rational person. Behavioral based interviews are supposed to make you come up with a story about some time in your life that can relay to the interviewer that you are a good prospect for an employee. For those unaware, there is a correct way to answer these questions. Here is an incredibly boring synopsis. Generally the method requires you to come up with half a dozen or so stories (real or semi-fabricated around a past job experience) and have those stories ready to apply to any of these questions.
I seemingly did quite well with the interview. The interviewer even mentioned how it was obvious I had done a fair amount of research on the company and position. Which made it that much more depressing when two days later I got the rejection email. I was trying to figure out where I misstepped, and I could only come up with one possible answer. The experience. But its not quite so simple as just saying I didn’t have enough experience. The job posting was not for an attorney, it was for an analyst. The position requirements wanted a BA, and 3 years experience. The question was posed to me how much contract experience did I have, and I answered about 1 year. Now most places would consider law school to be acceptable in lieu of legal experience gathered with only a BA. But I later asked if there were any licenses or qualifications they were looking for the position, and I was told by the interviewer the only licenses they were looking for was a JD.
So, job posting says BA, but they minimally want a JD. So apparently the answer is that they want an attorney with minimally 3 years experience, that they can pay as if they only have a college degree. Fantastic. The value of being an attorney just keeps falling.
I suppose on the plus side, I have had 3 job interviews this week, so if nothing else I have more to write about on the blog.