During my time in the business world, as well as while owning a small business, I have conducted hundreds of interviews — or at least it feels like it was in the hundreds. The interviews have ranged from Baristas at Starbucks to Engineers at Microsoft. For my photography studio, I interviewed interns who were studying to be photographers and people who were photographers seeking work at the studio, and those random people who have a camera and think they are photographers. I’ve interviewed for contracted and full-time roles in the tech industry, and have sat in the interview loop for others who were hiring and would like a second or third opinion. And of course, I have been on the other side of the table trying to get hired myself. I have answered the question, “Why do you want to work here?” more times than I can count, and explained how I would handle specific situations even more often.
When starting out in life, seeking work at restaurants and any other place that would accept me, most of the questions were pretty simple — such as confirming that I can do basic math when totaling a bill, or checking my ability to be nice to customers. Yet, as my career progressed, and I switched to the corporate world, working as a project manager and engineer, the inquiries into my experience became more involved and the answers more detailed.
