Imagine a two-year long job interview

I'm a bit of a political junkie, so I've been following the Presidential race for months now - even though the actual election is still almost a year away.

I'm from the UK and things are very different there - election cycles last for weeks, not years. So this two-year campaign seems a tad excessive to me, and it made me wonder if the length of the cycle is part of the reason why Americans have such a low opinion of politicians (don't flame me! I said 'part of the reason'!)

I mean, how well any of us would fare if our job interviews lasted for two years? What secrets, mistakes and prior failures would interviewers be able to learn about if you had to spend 24 months making your case for a new position? Imagine how it would feel to finally admit "Yes, I under-estimated the cost of that new computer system back in 1993" or 'You got me - I really thought I had time to finish that project before the deadline and I was wrong," only to have it written up into an article in the company newsletter and distributed around for everyone to read and opine on.

I have to think that by the time you finally got the job, everyone would be a little tired of you, and any mystique you started out with would pretty much be gone!

Comments

[Jake Greene]

Great post. Pretty funny to consider how painful it would be to have the worst elements of the interview process drawn out for two years.

I'll take it a step further - We all know that the competition for great positions is intense, but (luckily) we aren't forced to confront our competition. Throw in combative personalities and all of a sudden the interview process becomes a bad episode of "The Apprentice".

Also, think about how annoying it would be to travel to and from interviews with a bus full of press ("Ms. Smith, why did you stutter when asked where you see yourself in five years? Was it nervousness?")

yikes

Jake

[Louise]

Good point about the press! I know I would not get the job because I'd lose my taste for the process very quickly!