Interviews Are Never a Waste, But You *Can* Waste an Interview

I always tell my State jobs clients that interviews are never a waste.

Not even when you don't want the job or are overqualified for the job.

Why? So many reasons.

1. Think of interviews as an athlete thinks of her sport. Athletes are practicing, conditioning, or competing. Interviews for jobs you don't want or are overqualified for are practice. Interviews for jobs you want are competition. If you don't want the job, the interview serves as a mock interview, allowing you to practice your interviewing skills. If you do want the job, it's competition. Either way, it's not wasted.

2. Interviews are networking. I have met people in interviews for jobs I ultimately did not get who remembered me and helped me later in my career. One even did an informational interview with one of my interns.

3. Interviews are education. Interviews are an opportunity to learn about an organization from people in the organization by how they respond to the questions you ask. One question I always tell my State jobs clients to ask in interviews is, "What brought you here and what keeps you here?" The answer doesn't matter as much as the body language of the person answering.

That said, you CAN waste an interview. How?

1. Not preparing. I don't care if you don't want the job, prepare for the interview. I do recorded mock interviews with my State jobs clients over Zoom, during which I give feedback, and then I send the video of the interview to them to see how they can improve BEFORE the real interview. Unless they choose otherwise, I never send my State jobs clients into interview season (because if you use the method I teach, you will start to get interviews around the same time, hence an interview season) without at least one mock interview. That would be like sending them into competition without a warm up. Interviewing is a skill that is separate from your job qualifications. Like any skill, it can be improved.

2. Not writing down the interview questions you were asked and how you answered them once you have finished the interview. I tell my State jobs clients to write down everything they were asked in an interview and how they answered immediately after the interview is over. Writing down the questions creates an interview question bank they can use for mock interviews later. Reviewing how they answered helps them see how they could have done better.

So yes, no interview is ever a waste, but you CAN waste an interview.