The Job Interview

Page 374

In the film The Devil Wears Prada, young Andy (Anne Hathaway) goes to an interview at Runway, a fictional fashion magazine. She is dressed in a plain and simple, yet respectable, outfit suitable for an aspiring young journalist. But when she arrives at Runway, she encounters an office full of sleek, stylish people dressed in expensive designer clothes, and when she finally has the opportunity to interview with editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), Priestly insults her for not reading Runway, for not being familiar with the editor’s reputation, and for having no interest in fashion.

While such scenes make for great entertainment, in truth, most job interviews are polite and diplomatic affairs. In the remaining pages of this chapter, we describe how job interviews usually occur and offer solid advice on how to prepare for, engage in, and follow up on the process (Muir, 2008).