DEAR JOYCE: I bet you haven't heard this one before: At a recent interview with three managers, two paid attention to our conversation but one of them kept looking down and fiddling with his mobile phone. I didn't say anything because I wanted the job (which I didn't get). If that happens again, what are my options? -- V.Q.
When an interviewer taps away at a Web-enabled smart phone, the seeming act of discourtesy may actually be the interviewer taking notes about you for later discussion with other panel interviewers. Or not.
Phones and interviews have always been an oil-and-water combination. Before smart phones were common, a job seeker interviewing with an employer who rudely took a land-line telephone call in the midst of the meeting was wise to tactfully leave the room -- "Would you like me to wait outside until you're ready for me?" That's showing good manners.
Fast-forward to 2009: In a one-on-one interview, if the employer whips out a trusty iPhone -- whether listening to you passively or Mumbling one-word answers, or he/she starts touching screens -- you can still ask permission to step outside as a show of sensitivity to the interviewer's privacy. Alternatively, you can do as you did: pretend not to notice that you don't have the interviewer's full attention and hope for the best. Or, if the employer isn't speaking or listening, you can ask a questioning tease of your own, such as: "Would you like to hear more about how I saved my last employer $100 a month with a simple suggestion?"
A panel interview is trickier. You have no way of knowing whether the multitasking member of the interviewing team is checking e-mail, twittering, playing a video game, watching the news, checking a reference on you or saving the environment by taking notes about you on a Blackberry instead of on paper. But at least you do have one attentive interviewer available for a back-and-forth dialogue.
If something happens during the interview that confirms a lack of respect for your time, take a deep breath before walking out in disgust. But do factor that behavior into your decision if by some chance you are offered the job. It will get worse, not better.
You're right about being the first to contact me about this distracting interviewing behavior. But you probably won't be the last.
DEAR JOYCE: A new graduate, I was hired for an account manager's job at a fairly formal office. I want to make a good start, hang onto my job and move ahead. One of my professors suggested I take care in how I present myself and always be well groomed and well dressed. I would think that results matter more. -- T.K.
Results are critical but there's more to strategize.
While you won't be raised to greater heights merely on the basis of your correct wardrobe or mellifluous voice, these certainly help. So too does the style of the container in which you carry papers or lunch.
And people notice how your office is arranged, how you treat people in administrative pools, how you answer your phone (whether it's smart or dumb technology), how you come across at staff meetings, how you take praise and how you handle days when everything goes off the rails. Never underestimate the psychology of image. It's huge.
Tip: Decide what image you want to market. Presumably you want others to see you as clear-thinking, reliable, trustworthy, cheerful and good supervisor material, or some variation of a non-singing American Idol.
While you can't fabricate characteristics you don't possess, if you take the time to write an image description you can live with, doing so will reinforce your awareness of how others perceive you. As in marketing products, repetition is a basic rule of image building.