Got a procurement job interview? Here’s what NOT to do
Tips from procurement execs and recruiters on how to avoid blowing a job interview
By Dave Hannon -- Purchasing, 2/14/2008
Job interviews are never easy for either the interviewer or the interviewee. But here’s a few tips from procurement and recruiting professionals on what not to do during a job interview.Joanna Martinez, CPO at Alliance Bernstein says she was interviewing someone for a procurement job several years ago and as he sat down he took his cell phone out of his pocket and prominently placed it on the table. “I couldn't figure out why,” Martinez recalls. “Was he expecting an important call? Was he trying to impress me? That was at least four years ago but I remember that interview to this day. The cell phone so rattled me that I didn't listen very well to his answers.”
Sometimes the interview disasters just can’t be avoided. Martinez says another interview “disaster” took place during a breakfast interview. “We met at 7 a.m. in a diner I've eaten in before,” she recalls. “As we began to eat I became aware of a tingling feeling in my mouth and I realized that something was seriously wrong with the food! I quietly took small bites of different items on the plate and realized that the problem was the potatoes. I then started watching the interviewee. He was still eating and answering questions but it was obvious that he was uncomfortable. He kept sipping water and he was sweating profusely. He was trying to act calm and cool but it was obvious by the ringlets of water dripping off his head that he was not.”
Martinez decided that she should put and end to his misery so she called the waitress over. After an investigation they determined that they had liberally coated the breakfast potatoes with cayenne pepper instead of the regular seasoning. “I gave the guy credit for remaining cool under difficult circumstances and brought him back for a second interview, this time in the office.”
Safia Ahsan, a recruiter with FPC, provides a few tips on what not to do during a procurement job interview. “While rare, I have seen candidates bring a folder of work they’ve done or are currently doing at their current employer,” she says. “That can be awkward, though. First, it can easily make a candidate look disorganized in rummaging through papers, but more importantly it can be construed as showing confidential proprietary material and being disloyal to your current employer.”
Ahsan says another candidate did well in his interview, had a very suitable background that fit the job, but used a swear word during his interview. “Just doing this once can potentially result in receiving no offer because it shows a lack of self-control,” Ahsan says. And lastly, go easy on the latest supply chain buzz words during an interview. Ahsan points out that a veteran supply chain executive knows a flash in the pan buzzword from a meaningful explanation.
Kevin Rohan of recruiter JP Canon and Associates says some of the worst interviews happen when a candidate comes in that is not really looking for a job, but has been recruited. “So the interviewer asks why they you looking and the response is ‘I'm not’ which really sets things off on the wrong foot,” Rohan says. “The candidate obviously had some interest because he did take the time to prepare a resume and took time off for the interview. He thought he was developing a negotiating position, but instead alienated the hiring manager.”
Rohan also tells Purchasing that one candidate bragged about knowing a specific certification test inside and out because he had to take it three times. “The hiring manager asked whether he had passed to which the candidate responded ‘no’,” Rohan says. “The candidate left the interview thinking things went very well and was surprised to hear that an offer would not be forthcoming.”
And lastly, Rohan says while attire typically won’t win you a job, it certainly can lose you a job. “One candidate showed up to an interview wearing a Planter's Peanut Man tie,” he says, adding that the interview was NOT with Planter’s. “The company did not hire him and later, they could not recall his name, referring to him instead as the ‘Planter's Peanut’ guy.”
Procurement interview tips
- Turn the cell phone off and leave it in your briefcase
- Try to avoid meal interviews
- Don’t swear
- Don’t overuse buzzwords
- Don’t provide confidential details on your current job
- If asked for examples of your work, try to use real ones, not hypothetical answers
- Don’t go to an interview unless you’re actively looking for a job.
- Be wary of using too much “negotiation” during a first-round interview
- Dress conservatively—be remembered for what you said, not what you wore.
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