Page 80 - John Kador - 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview-McGraw-Hill (2002)

DO YOU MIND IF I TAKE NOTES?

WHAT ABOUT ELECTRONIC DEVICES?
What about electronic devices such as Palm Pilots, other personal digi-
tal assistants (PDAs), and notebook computers? Should you bring them
with you into the interviewing room?
More and more people are. In our increasingly wired society, paper
notebooks and even Daytimer organizers are yielding to electronic de-
vices, so it is natural that more of them are showing up at job interviews.
And they are not all brought in by candidates. Many companies issue
their HR people Palm Pilots or similar devices. “If you are thoughtful
and appropriate, a PDA will not seem out of place in a job interview,”
says Handspring’s Beau Harris. “The important thing is not to become
so focused on the technology that it keeps the interviewer from getting
to know you.”
Mountain View, California–based Handspring markets the popular
Visor line of PDAs, so it is not surprising that Harris is impressed when
a job candidate whips out a Visor during the course of the interview. Of
course, candidates have a sheepish grin when they pull out a Palm Pilot
or other competitor. “Don’t worry,” Harris tells them. “If you get the
job, we’ll get you a Visor.” Harris uses his Visor throughout the inter-
view. If time is an issue, the Visor will silently vibrate, alerting Harris
that the interview should come to a close. If he wants to bring the can-
didate in for a second interview, Harris has his calendar right in front of
him. If the candidate also has a PDA, it becomes very easy to set up the
next meeting.
KnowledgePoint’s Rich Franklin is especially impressed when candi-
dates pull out a PDA. “These folks definitely get a plus for organiza-
tion,” he continues. “I really appreciate it when I want to set up a second
interview. Candidates with PDAs can check their schedules on the spot,
instead of having to get back to me.”
Handspring’s Harris has observed how powerfully candidates can
use their PDAs to streamline the interview process. “Filling out job
applications becomes much easier when they have their address book
and calendar with them,” he says. Harris has often bonded with can-
didates around applications on their Visors. Occasionally, candidate
and recruiter will even share cool applications by beaming them back
and forth.

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