To take notes in to an interview

[Just2peasinapod]

I’m very out of practice with interviews and I’m feeling absolutely panicked and nervous. I’ve made some notes and prepared the best I can. Is it ok to take notes into an interview to refer to or is this an absolute no no?

I don't think it would do you any favours having notes there to refer to. I think you would be less likely to get the job. If you had a list of questions that you wanted to ask them and then at the end of the interview when they asked if you had any questions, you said that you had some written down and would they mind if you referred to them in case you forgot any, then that would be ok. But for the bulk of the interview, it is a no from me.

OP, I would be fine with an annotated copy of your cv and a couple of questions, but reams of paper that you will flick through, not so much.

What's the job? What kind of level?

I wouldn't mind and my organisation supports bribing in notes, certainly up to area manager level (I've never interviewed beyond this!).

It's an interview, not a memory test.
Notes should be memory prompts, not dense text to read out verbatim. You don't want to bore your interviewers to death!

Limited notes are fine, if you have some relevant figures for example to demonstrate your performance that you know will come up. Or as PP above mentions, if you have some questions you want to ask of them. But yes, don't write out whole answers and take with you!

I would say brief notes is fine- probably only to refer to for the ‘have you any questions for us, anything else you want to tell us’ bit - loads do this and say something like ‘I just wanted to make sure I remembered ‘ I interview a lot for pretty senior roles. Shuffling papers etc is a no though and if you are using tech for a presentation make sure it works, have a back up ( including possibly a couple of print outs if relevant )and don’t rely on having to connect to wifi! Also you will be fine and good luck!

I’m an HR manager and I’m absolutely fine if a candidate has notes. It’s not a memory test! It shows you’ve prepared which is what you should do for any important meeting! Just make some bullet points on 1 sheet so you’re not flicking through pages and pages.
Good luck op!

Is it a in person interview?

I often interview people for jobs (nhs). I don't have anything against people having notes, and wouldn't mind (in fact it's often a reasonable adjustment for neuro diversity)

However it does tend to fluster people. They tend to look at their notes and lose all train of their thought, and find it hard to remember the question. so it's not something I would particularly recommend

I've taken notes to interviews and it's been fine- I just keep it to some brief points on 1 sheet of A4. When they ask "can you give an example of a time you did X" and you're mind goes blank, it's fine to have jotted one or two bullets down first.

I did 5 interviews last year (!) and have a bit of experience. What helped me was taking in a pen and paper and writing down their questions. This really helped me to slow down and think about my answer instead of waffling.

The issue with interviews is they usually ask multi-layered questions and it's hard to recall all of the different elements at the same time as thinking of examples with which to answer them.

Though I also think taking notes is fine too. A friend of mine did this and got the job. As the others say, it's not a memory test!

I did 5 interviews last year (!) and have a bit of experience. What helped me was taking in a pen and paper and writing down their questions. This really helped me to slow down and think about my answer instead of waffling.

As an interviewer, I would find that really strange! There's going to be twenty questions asked and you're making them wait while you write down each one.

No problem brining notes in, as long as you're not constantly referring to them. Try to keep them to the end, and refer to them when they ask if you have any questions. Have a quick look through, and if necessary say "Oh, one thing I meant to say was . . ." That's absolutely fine.

I'd much rather you turned up with notes and appeared prepared, than to turn up with nothing, get flustered, and not present your best self.

I've had people come in with all sorts!

I always take notes to an interview. A few facts I have taken from the website re the company along with notes on scenarios I have faced if it's a competency based interview, along with questions. It shows that you have done some research on the company. I've also done a lot of interviewing and am amazed by the number of people that don't come in with a notebook and pen. But then I'm a PA so my job is to be organised!

I've been on interview panels myself and wouldn't find this strange at all.

I didn't sit and scribe each question word by word, I simply jotted down the key words as an aide memoire to ensure I'd covered each element of the question

I took notes to my last interview, asked them at the start if they minded. They were fine, and I got the job.

I had a note card size for each question I thought they might ask (based on job description, using the STAR format) and didn't actually need to use them much, just a brief refresher/prompt. Even the act of writing them helps.

I think it shows you've prepared. There's not many jobs where you wouldn't be able to refer to notes/guidance/a process over the course of your job. So for most roles I'd say notes are absolutely fine.

I also have also interviewed a number of people, and would have been happy with notes being used - as long as they're not just reading a script.

When I did zoom interviews during covid I started writing down the questions (just the key two or three words) and honestly it helped me so much. When you're nervous it's extremely easy to start gabbling off topic while you try and go down a route where you've answered a different question. It's also common that interviewers put two or more parts to a question to reduce the overall number of questions, like 'what is the importance of X, and give us an example of when you've put it into practice'. Again, due to nerves I've always found retaining the second part hard. I'd write down 'importance, X, practice' as my note for the question, and just glance to keep me on track.

Its something I haven't yet had the opportunity to do in face-to-face as no cause for interviews since, but I think I will be doing this going forward - it wouldn't interrupt the flow and is just note-taking like normal meetings.

Notes all the way. If you perform good with notes and shit without they’re more likely to hire you with. As long as it’s quick glances and not staring at them script like there is no issue.

yes, as others have said - a few notes to make sure you remember all the questions you want to ask or key points is fine. A binder file with potential answers you read out to every question is not!

A woman I interviewed brought in a stack of notes. She had a set of pre-prepared scenarios for each competency she'd be asked about - 24 pages with little post-it tabs so she could quickly find an answer to most of the questions we asked.

Her answers were impeccable until she was asked a question that she didn't have an answer written down. She stumbled through for a minute then I prompted her by saying - just think of the scenario you talked about for question 2 relating to xxx. That example could be used here.

She couldn't remember the answer she gave, nor the scenario she based her answer on.

Basically, her scenarios were made up, she did not have the experience required and had received loads of help in the interview prep stage to come up with 24(!!!) answers.

In that particular case, she was simply cheating.

With a bit of luck she'd have breezed through that interview and taken a job she wasn't qualified for, and someone who did deserve the job would lose out. Not only that, how she was planning to do the job once she was in role was beyond me!

Now I don't allow notes in interviews.

To the PP who said an interview is not a memory test, I agree. It's a conversation about things you've done. If you can't remember what you've done in the past, how can you apply them to a new role?

I wouldn’t take notes no. We interviewed a guy online during covid and he so obviously had notes and he just ended up reading them and essentially telling us about all the awards our company had won… literally a long long list and it was awful. When I interview someone I want to get an idea of what they’re like as a person if they end up just reading notes out then I won’t feel I’ve met the actual person.

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads
I wouldn't mind and my organisation supports bribing in notes, certainly up to area manager level (I've never interviewed beyond this!).

Probably the best typo I have seen today

Notes are fine. I use the star technique And have prompt cards with 4 words to remind me e,g redundancy inform 121 redeployment. Beware I have been asked to leave them before so have backups and don't write too much

I think notes are fine - more like prompts aren’t they really.
My old manager said if someone turned up to an interview with nothing, that it would put him off, it showed a lack of preparation to him.

"Notes" as in "prompts" - fine, particularly if they help the candidate to relax knowing that if they suddenly go blank, they have a back-up to refer to. If the job involves making presentations then having notes gives the interviewer the chance to see how you go about preparing and presenting.

Short notes about the company also fine (and essential if you're attending more than one interview in a short space of time, as I once did by managing to arrange three interviews in two days for posts in London, so I needed a quick overview of each company so I wasn't talking about XCo when being interviewed by YCo).

"Notes" as in questions to the interviewer that you want to have covered - excellent idea.

"Notes" as in 24 pages of prepared answers as pp ^^ - not acceptable.

"Beware I have been asked to leave them [my notes] before" - there is absolutely no chance that I would ever agree to leave my notes with an interviewer

I appreciate it when a candidate brings in notes. They're being realistic and prepared and they're taking the interview seriously. It would be noticeable if they relied on them too much though. It's frustrating to watch someone struggle through an interview without any notes, as they could have really helped themselves!

The successful people who bought notes to the interview also continued to take notes throughout their training which is exactly what we need.

I would never go to an interview without a copy of my CV any my note book. I move jobs every 2/2.5 years and always get a job that i accept a second/third interview for so it's never a put off.

It shows you're prepared and i've always been complimented on it