Bob Gatti and the (almost) Lost Art of Listening in an Interview

I heard from a couple of people recently who shared a sense of disappointment with their recent interviewing experiences. What bothered them was that while they were answering questions, the recruiters and/or hiring managers were typing away the whole time on their laptops - presumably capturing their responses word for word. If there is a good reason for an interviewer to behave this way, I would welcome the chance to hear about it.

This is my take: The real power of an in-person interview comes from the fact that amazing things often happen when a person is present with and for another person. In my opinion it would be very difficult to be really present to a person while your head is down and you are typing. It is also hard to imagine feeling heard or valued when the person you hoped to meet is acting this way.

I spent over twenty years working for Bob Gatti as a search consultant. I absolutely loved what I did and by most accounts, I was pretty good at it. The foundation for our long run together came from the fact that when we first met, he was so present to me and I so enjoyed our give and take, that in the middle of our meeting I had this thought: “I want to work for this guy.”

I understand that along with making a good connection, you want to learn certain things about a person that you can perhaps share with others. To this end, jot down a few notes and fill in the blanks after the person leaves. But whatever you do, please don’t spend an hour hammering away on your laptop so diligently that you don’t make the connection with the other person as an actual person.

If I had a meeting in which the person I had expected to meet for a conversation or an interview was hammering away on their keyboard, I would like to think that I would have the self-respect to first ask them to stop doing this; and if they would or could not stop, that I would get up and end the meeting. I am interested to know what others think of this.