As I have spent more time interacting with job application processes,[1] I lean more and more toward the opinion that broad/vague questions (such as ‘why are you interested in this job?’ and ‘why would you be a good fit?’) shouldn’t be used. I’ll ramble a bit about reasons, but I think the TLDR would be “poor applicant experience, and not very predictive of job performance.”
On the organizational side, my observations are that there often isn’t clear criteria for assessing / evaluating these questions[2], which means that the unofficial criteria often ends up being “do I like this answer.” I’d prefer something ever-so-slightly more rigorous, such as reject unless both A) there aren’t grammar/spelling mistakes, and B) the answer demonstrates that this person has at least a basic understanding of what our organization does.[3]
On the applicant side, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding what a good answer looks like, which makes the application feel like very arbitrary guess what the right answer is game. We might label it as low procedural justice. For a question such as “How did you hear about ORGANIZATION, and what makes you interested in working here?” an honest answer will probably be penalized, and thus I suspect that most applicants who care about getting the job will spend a good deal of effort on impression management, shying away from saying/describing how the appeal is a combination of prestige, good salary, company culture, the professional network, and the feeling of making a positive impact.
These broad/vague questions are probably useful for eliminating particularly bad fit applications.[4] But I do not have confidence in the ability of these question to do any more than to eliminate the bottom ~15% of applications.
While also informing the applicant up front that “we don’t expect you to write an essay about how you’ve have a lifelong desire to work in an entry-level research positions. We are just looking to make sure you have at least a surface level understanding of our industry and our mission. We’d like for you to demonstrate that you have some knowledge or experience related to our field/industry.”
“Bad fit” is a pretty fuzzy concept, but I’m thinking roughly about people who give answers that don’t demonstrate a modicum of knowledge or experience in the relevant field. If I am applying to Open Philanthropy, these would probably be answers such as “Overall I want to give pursue goodness for people, present and future,” or “I can succeed in this role because of my experience as a JOB_TITLE. My organization and attention to detail enabled me to exceed expectations in that role.” If I am the hiring manager, I want to see that the applicant has read the job description and is able to demonstrate some familiarity with the area of work.
As I have spent more time interacting with job application processes,[1] I lean more and more toward the opinion that broad/vague questions (such as ‘why are you interested in this job?’ and ‘why would you be a good fit?’) shouldn’t be used. I’ll ramble a bit about reasons, but I think the TLDR would be “poor applicant experience, and not very predictive of job performance.”
On the organizational side, my observations are that there often isn’t clear criteria for assessing / evaluating these questions[2], which means that the unofficial criteria often ends up being “do I like this answer.” I’d prefer something ever-so-slightly more rigorous, such as reject unless both A) there aren’t grammar/spelling mistakes, and B) the answer demonstrates that this person has at least a basic understanding of what our organization does.[3]
On the applicant side, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding what a good answer looks like, which makes the application feel like very arbitrary guess what the right answer is game. We might label it as low procedural justice. For a question such as “How did you hear about ORGANIZATION, and what makes you interested in working here?” an honest answer will probably be penalized, and thus I suspect that most applicants who care about getting the job will spend a good deal of effort on impression management, shying away from saying/describing how the appeal is a combination of prestige, good salary, company culture, the professional network, and the feeling of making a positive impact.
These broad/vague questions are probably useful for eliminating particularly bad fit applications.[4] But I do not have confidence in the ability of these question to do any more than to eliminate the bottom ~15% of applications.
Both from the company side of filtering/selecting applications, and from the applicant side of submitting applications.
But I have seen a minority of organizations that actually use a rubric and have clear and job-relevant criteria. Good for you guys!
While also informing the applicant up front that “we don’t expect you to write an essay about how you’ve have a lifelong desire to work in an entry-level research positions. We are just looking to make sure you have at least a surface level understanding of our industry and our mission. We’d like for you to demonstrate that you have some knowledge or experience related to our field/industry.”
“Bad fit” is a pretty fuzzy concept, but I’m thinking roughly about people who give answers that don’t demonstrate a modicum of knowledge or experience in the relevant field. If I am applying to Open Philanthropy, these would probably be answers such as “Overall I want to give pursue goodness for people, present and future,” or “I can succeed in this role because of my experience as a JOB_TITLE. My organization and attention to detail enabled me to exceed expectations in that role.” If I am the hiring manager, I want to see that the applicant has read the job description and is able to demonstrate some familiarity with the area of work.
I found this reflection interesting and in general really like hearing your thoughts on hiring, Joseph :)
Aww, thanks. That makes me smile and tear up a bit.