to ask if this is common in interviews - help please!!

[ToomuchtimeonNetflix]

I have been shortlisted for an interview next week and have been asked to take along an object or picture so I can describe myself to the panel.

Has anyone else experienced this? I really want to run for the hills and not attend and I would too if I didn't need the job.

Does anyone have any ideas what they would bring to start me thinking?

I would walk out of an interview if I was asked to be a coloured triangle. I’m an intelligent person not a performing monkey. In fact, that technique is out of order for monkeys. If people refused to engage in this sort of bullshit, then it wouldn’t happen any more.

I’ve had one job where I was interviewed by a panel of students and if I Ever see that on another Invitation to interview I won’t be attending

Take a face mask. Tell them it's because it covers your mouth. Your experience has taught you that the most important skill is listening. You don't learn about people or empathise with them by talking. You listen, you learn, you mask your reactions and try to understand what is behind their words.

(35 years recruiting and all these kinds of "games" do is deter good candidates from applying. But guess these days you have to play the game.)

Good luck, @ToomuchtimeonNetflix

Ugh I hate this bullshit!

I would probably bring tea bags and say you understand the power of tea and sympathy / that you're pleased people in your life often come to you when they are down as they know you can help them feel better not just with words of sympathy but also practical support. How something that seems small can make a big difference to someone etc.

I would be cringing inside but means to and end and all that - and at least the above is probably true of you if you're applying for that role.

So what are you going to take?

I'd take a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc....
And a very big glass!

I love the mask idea.

I'd know to withdraw from the process. If they think this is a good interview idea, we are highly unlikely to be a good match.

Yep. This is my response too.

Life's too short to work at somewhere that buys in to all this bullshit.

I guess they want creative symbolism, like an old stone of the street - “I am solid as a rock,” or some paperclips joined in a chain - “These are to show how I connect with others.” Or take some matches and strike them to indicate how you help others see the light? Shine a torch in their faces.

Snort! 🤣

I agree with the comments about this being BS, and interviews being a two-way street...

But then we're in a covid-world and jobs may be scarce - and also, the people running the interview process may not have that big an impact on your working life.

So...

I'd reframe the task for myself if I were interested in the job: what is my proudest achievement/most relevant personal skill/attribute?

Then decide what object best represents that.

(For me it would be my family plans diary - every new life venture we take on my husband and I sit down and spec out the dimensions, build some criteria, set targets and move forward with a common understanding - which would come across well for operations interviews!)

I woukd take a picture of my sewing machine. Explain to interviewer it represents my skills. Eg able to learn a new skill, able to teach others a new skill, hobby outside of work, good attention to detail on a project. Hope this helps
Good Luck

I would take a light/lamp guiding the way, providing comfort, enabling people to see the way or calm fears.

Very silly interview technique far worse than the "you have 30 seconds to tell me why you should have the job" that my interviewer used!

Interviews are so competitive at the moment and sometimes I think these employers are taking the mick a bit to see how far people will go for a job.

yes and no.
It's becoming increasingly difficult to have any kind of "personal" question or have any discussion with anyone without someone being offended or feeling discriminated against. You can easily check the technical skills but to get a feel of the person and how well they would fit in the role and/or within the team, some people find these "tests" useful.

If you look at the attitude of people on here, you can immediately decide who you would consider for a job and who you wouldn't. No one really cares about the answers, it's about attitude and personality.

There are much better ways to do it, but you need to put the interview in context. It will be very obvious who the right candidates are.

It is so much easier to interview people as an independent recruiter than a business, as your questions are not seen as discriminatory!

Very silly interview technique far worse than the "you have 30 seconds to tell me why you should have the job" that my interviewer used!

surely that's one of the most basic ones, you just list the skills and experience that match the job - pretty much a summary of the actual interview.

No one really cares about the answers, it's about attitude and personality.
I'd find it impossible to adopt the "correct" attitude whilst prancing about like an imbecile pretending to be a yellow circle, so maybe you're right.

That's not something I have ever heard of, but I imagine if you were applying for a job on CBeebies I could see where they are coming from.

If you are an accountant applying for something in the finance department, not so much...

You do have to remember that an interview is always a 2 way street.

I am always amused when a recruiter tries to persuade that going along with the silliness is a good thing. It shows a certain lack of awareness... has forgot that the interviewee also gains impressions of attitudes etc.

I would have actually assumed it was some sort of initiative test, with the preferred candidate being the one who refused to debase themselves on command...

I did this twice as part of a counselling course.
First time I took my childhood bear. Second time I took my diary and talked about how I felt more in control of my life with this book and I wrote all my important things in it. (Okay. I forgot and was improvising with what I had in my handbag).

I am always amused when a recruiter tries to persuade that going along with the silliness is a good thing.

that's not what I said at all - but the way you handle it says a lot.
There's a happy medium between nodding meekly and having a strop - plus it really depends on what the actual job is.

If you are client-facing (and important and unreasonable client facing), giving you ridiculous requests at some point and seeing how you turn them around can actually be a good thing.

I have had at least 1 job offer after I actually laughed at a "question" and made clear that was absolutely out of the question. The panel loved me
They might have thought differently if I had told them to fuck off and left the room. I have never been asked to become any kind of shape I give you that!

It's becoming increasingly difficult to have any kind of "personal" question or have any discussion with anyone without someone being offended or feeling discriminated against.

I wouldn't say that - a couple of interviews I went to ended with the question "Tell us about you other than work - what makes you, you?" That was my cue to talk about my interests etc.

I've also been on the other side of the table and I didn't need anyone to jingle about pretending to be a purple octagon to work out whether a) they might be good at the job and b) I could work with them without committing murder!

I wouldn't say that - a couple of interviews I went to ended with the question "Tell us about you other than work - what makes you, you?" That was my cue to talk about my interests etc.

but most people will only tell you things they think you want to hear... same as everyone "weakness" is being too hardworking, too work-motivated... yeah right!

I am not defending the actual shape nonsense, never used it and hadn't even heard from it before this thread, but I can see why some apparently nonsensical questions actually make sense and have a point.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

I once did a similar job in France, in French including very very detailed inventory forms. I learnt the vocabulary for things I didn't even know Existed/had a name 🙄

Good Luck if you decide to put the sewing machine into hard labour!

@IncrediblySadToo knowing how many new terms I am still learning I cam veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery impressed that you could keep up in a second language!

Paint that gapes
Muntins and mullions
Transoms
Balusters, newels and handrails never just bannisters

All sorts of joys

but most people will only tell you things they think you want to hear...

I didn't see the question as being couched like that, it was more "What do you do outside of work, tell us about your interests". It wouldn't matter if you were into rock climbing or stamp collecting, it's just a way of people talking about who they are and their passions, and an 'in' to a bit of a less impersonal chat ("Oh, you've been to [place] too, lovely isn't it?"). I always took this sort of question as a good sign; I look for the type of employer who is interested in employing a person - one with a life outside work - rather than an employee bot.

I’d take my dog with me!