Jananas

In yesterday’s awkward interview I also got grilled on why I chose to do my MBA full time instead of part time. The implication was that because I chose to go full time instead of going to school part time and working full time, I wouldn’t be able to handle the ‘demanding’ environment of this job (which really, isn’t a consulting or investment banking job where you’re working 80+ hours a week and getting compensated accordingly for your time). The other implication was that I made a bad decision by taking a salary hit, which I admittedly did do as I wasn’t working for those two years.

Here’s the problem – each person weighs the costs and benefits of any decision (e.g. an MBA) as they see them at that point in time. And they make the best decision for themselves at that point in time. Money, work load, salary loss, tuition costs, life outside of school, etc. All that my decision to do my MBA full time can tell my interviewer is that when I applied, I had made the strategic/economic decision which was the best decision for me at that point in time in my particular situation. It tells him nothing about my ability to balance a heavy workload. It may tell you about what factors I value more than others, but even then it would only do so if you know the criteria I used to weigh the decision.

In fact there are a whole host of other factors that can influence the decision that are none of an interviewer’s business that might have altered the decision, the big ones for me being having saved enough money to live off of (how shocking!) and having parents who are exceedingly nice (and helped cover the remaining cost of my tuition after my scholarship was applied). So I happened to be in a position where I financially didn’t need to work while doing my MBA. It seemed silly to make my life more difficult by balancing work and school when I was in a position where I didn’t have to. So I didn’t.

That’s the problem with making assumptions about what something might tell you. There are very likely a whole host of other reasons that influenced the decision that are none of your business and, in fact, can’t be brought up in the interview because they aren’t relevant.

Be careful about the assumptions that you make and your own biases, as the questions you ask and how you phrase them will impact the candidate you end up hiring – who may not be the best candidate for the job itself but rather is the best candidate for the questions you asked. Note, this is not to say that I would have been the best candidate for this job. Rather that it is something that people hiring need to be aware of.

Lesson for me is to not be afraid to be more vocal. Its okay to interrupt to ask for clarification about an assumption or to correct a statement that they are making. Its okay to stand up for myself!

More from jananas

• The Dilemmas of Working
• An Update on Lila
• How to Explain DRM