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Interviews, retina scans and the failings of telepathy. What I have learned on both sides of the table Hugh Murphy, NUI Maynooth. Me. Librarian since 1997 First interview panel 1999 Sat on approximately 50 panels since ...in 8 institutions ....in boom and bust.
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Interviews, retina scans and the failings of telepathy... What I have learned on both sides of the table Hugh Murphy, NUI Maynooth
Me... • Librarian since 1997 • First interview panel 1999 • Sat on approximately 50 panels since • ...in 8 institutions • ....in boom and bust • Have been successfully appointed • Have been rejected • Have made some cataclysmic howlers
Textbook stuff • Yes, do dress appropriately • Be polite • Be punctual • No handwritten documentation (unless it’s expected) • Be positive • Ask a question • Be prepared to be asked for examples • Feedback
In practice...? • Very few people like interviews • They are (arguably) a necessary evil • Every one, in every place will be different • As such there is a random element
Interviews are Random (?) • How much can you prepare? • Can you reduce the random? • They are random for the interviewer too! “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”
Appearance v reality • Honesty? • Artifice? • The real you? • Lie?
Be confident • Better to ask a question than regret it later • Speak confidently (even if it doesn't come easy) • If you’re at the interview stage, they think you might have a shot
Contextualise the INTERVIEWContextualise the CV • Every CV moulded to the job in question • Helps the interviewer ask the right questions • Every answer shows consideration of the job in question • Helps the interviewer defend selecting you
Quick fire issues... • Should I seek feedback • Will I get detailed feedback • Does it matter if I didn't go to UCD? • Does it matter if I am not from X/Y/Z college? • Age / gender / background an issue • Why not? • That depends* • No • No • Absolutely not
Interviews are unfair (?) • There is no perfect solution to determine the best candidate for the job • The ‘best’ candidate may not get the job - you have to perform on the day • Do everything you can to ensure that the random element is as reduced as possible for your interview • Random is never totally eliminated so...
Never beat yourself up after the interview “Believe that a further shore Is reachable from here” Heaney, Doubletake, 1990