Interview Questions

I hate interviews. There's something about being scrutinized like a bug specimen that makes me a little nervous. Go figure. I find myself giggling unnaturally, saying stupid things that don't make sense and - oh, God - stuttering. My worst flaw in an interview is my horrible tendency to answer questions on a delay. If it is a telephone interview, the interviewer will inevitably say something like, "Is this a good time?" and I'll just sit there for, like, an entire ten seconds and then say something ridiculous as a failed attempt at humor: "Yeah, this is a great time. I'm just driving." Marvelous. Irresponsibility makes for a great first impression.

Interviewers, at some time or another during the interview, will ask if you have any questions. On my first job interview, I confidently lifted my chin and said, "No, I think I have all the information I need. Thanks!" Crash and burn. This response is the absolute worst to this question. The interviewer wants to know that you are interested enough in the position to ask questions. Any question will do. And, really, did I know everything about the position? Anyone who thinks they know so much about a position that they haven't a single question to ask, is either way overqualified for the position or way too cocky to be given the job.

So this time around, when my interviewer asked very sweetly (she was really nice), "Do you have any questions?" I knew I had to come up with something. But I had forgotten to prepare a question and all my safeties had already been answered! So, pacing in front of my bookshelves during this phone interview, I hastily asked," Can you recommend any reading I can do for background material before I start the internship?" I shut my eyes tightly and waited for the proof in the interviewer's tone of voice that I had asked a stupid question. It came. She stiffly said, "No, I don't think there's anything that--" and then she paused. I opened one eye - was there hope that this question wasn't so stupid after all? Yes! As she rattled off different blogs, websites, books and magazines I could consult, I opened the other eye and ran to my desk for a pen and paper. She kept going! There is so much information out there about publishing and this girl seemed to have all of it catalogued in her head! When she finally took a breath, she said, "Wow, that was a really great question. I've never heard that one before." Grin from ear to ear on this end.

Note: some of the sources she mentioned were Publisher's Weekly, Publisher's Marketplace, Twitter, her company's website and blog and Romantic Times Book Reviews, which have all turned out to be beyond informative.