A Twitter acquaintance recently tweeted that she was going for a job interview. The company I work for had an opening on the service desk so I wondered what sort of work she was looking for. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it will be awesome,” she replied. Her answer was wrong, very wrong.
Of course, she had no idea that I was asking because I might have something that would suit her. But I’m not the only person reading her tweets. As everything you ‘tweet’ is public, there’s any number of potential recruiters listening. And this doesn’t just apply to Twitter or Facebook or any other social website. Always be aware that when you answer this question, it may lead to something exciting. So answer the question, and make it count.
Here’s the best answer I can come up with: “I’m interested in IT and customer service, but I’ll always consider the right offer”.
Immediately you’ve said that you’re interested in technology of some sort, and that you’re interested in people. There’s any number of jobs that you could get, including the service desk job I had available.
Of course, she thought she was being as available as possible by not pigeon-holing herself. But my answer covers that: you’ll always consider the right offer.
Even if you’re happy where you’re currently working, take a minute right now to construct your own answer to the question: What job do you want? Make sure you’re general as to the type of job you want (be broad enough that you’re not writing the job description). But make sure you also include the caveat that you’re always open to the right offer.
As the maxim says: An application is not an interview, an interview is not an offer, an offer is not an acceptance and an acceptance is not a job. Until the day you walk through that door, the job hasn’t started.
