Have you ever been invited for a job interview in a coffee shop? I did. Once.
I was skeptical at first. I thought, could it be that the prospective employer might be trying to hide something? Or to give them the benefit of the doubt, there's no available room in their office at that time (which, in my opinion, is really weird). In the end, I ask myself, how does their office look like?
Job interviews are not spontaneous. Hiring managers schedule interviews at a mutually agreed schedule. In so doing, the hiring manager has ample time to look for a venue inside or outside their office premises, as the case maybe.
I stumbled upon this article in workopolis.com. A coffee shop interview doesn't mean we are at the liberty of acting less formal or dressing up slovenly just because the venue is a coffee shop. We have to observe certain protocols similar to job interviews conducted inside the office premises of the prospective employer or the headhunter.
"... What this means is that all the standard guidelines of interviewing apply. Dress appropriately. Show up five minutes early. Don't be fooled into a false sense of informality just because you aren't in an office setting..."
In my case, I didn't order any coffee nor pastry when I was asked if I wanted anything from the menu. I politely declined. I made sure that I had a quick bite before I meet up with the hiring manager. The reason: I didn't want to be distracted by the aroma of the coffee nor would want to lose focus on my thoughts in the course of the interview.
My take on the whole idea of coffee interviews: I don't like it.
First, it's noisy. The hissing sound of the cappuccino maker. The grinding sound of the blender when the barrista makes a frapuccino. Etcetera, etcetera. Albeit the noise is not like that of Jollibee or McDonalds, I'm still not comfortable with the whole set-up. Second, there's too much distraction. The people, the barrista, the chatter. And lastly, I have to speak louder than the usual because I have to fight the noise. Obviously, people get to hear what I am talking about.
To survive a coffee interview, I suggest that you play blind and deaf to the "maddening" world and keep focus on the interview proper. It's tough but achievable. You need the job, right?
4 comments:
same with me. I hate the crowded/noisy coffee shop environment. It is not conducive to serious talk such as a job interview. I had an interview over lunch once but a quiet restaurant and it was great.
dapat mabasa ito ng mga nag-aapply ngayon na coffeeshop supervisor sa HIRED sa QTV-11 :)
I'm not too crazy about this interview approach. The interview process should be given the dignity and seriousness it deserves. Conducting it in a coffee shop makes the process prone to unnecessary distractions and gives the impression that other priorities were in play other than identifying the right candidate for a job.
bw - on top of the inconvenience, the interviewer has to pick an isolated spot (as if there exists) in the coffee shop to have some "privacy".
joshmarie - hahaha! siguro nga. thanks for the visit!
panaderos - the distractions will definitely affect one's focus on the interview. unless you have a great ability to shut off the noise and keep focus on the things that matter at that point in time, then the location of the interview is irrelevant.
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