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> I got the job. It was the only interview I've had where I really felt they were asking me something relevant to the work and the kind of work I would be required to do.

This is the interview method espoused in Reinventing the Interview:

https://www.amazon.com/Ask-Headhunter-Reinventing-Interview-...

I was lucky to stumble on this when I was young and it has been very useful in thinking about both being interviewed and interviewing.

As someone hiring right now, I feel your pain and, while I hope I compare favorably to the interviews your describe, I wish I was better.

My one piece of advice: read Nick Corcodilos's Reinventing the Interview:

http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Headhunter-Reinventing-Interview-W...

The basic idea is demonstrate you can provide value to the company, and you have the skills to do the job. If you're stuck with a disinterested interviewer asking irrelevant questions, make it about the job you'll do and your ability to succeed in the job. He has concrete suggestions. I say, if they're not open to that and it is clearly not working, tell them you it is not going to work out and stop the interview rather than enduring another miserable experience.

The best advice I've seen on how to structure an interview came from Nick Corcodilos of Ask the Headhunter [1] fame, from his book Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job [2]. If you want to show someone you can do the job (or see if they can do the job), do the job, or as close as you can get to it in an interview setting. Anything will be selecting for indicators that will be more or less correlated with job performance.

[1] http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/articles.htm

[2] http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452278015/ref=as_li_tl?ie=...

⬐ cottonseed

Coincidentally, the most recent Ask the Headhunter article [1] is "The Single Best Interview Question... And The Best Answer". Hint: It isn't about your hobby project.

[1] http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/habestinterviewquestion.htm

⬐ lifeisstillgood

Absolutely love that ! Weirdly it reminds me of ramit sethi briefcase "technique" which is roughly research the prospect, come up with some proposal that shows you can as value and pull it out of your briefcase at the opportune time.

⬐ djur

This is specifically about technical interviews as one of several steps, though. "What is your plan for being effective in this job" is the kind of question that, in the OP's three-step interview, should be asked by the manager.

My current employer has candidates do a brief presentation about a project they are proud of. It's useful but imperfect (some people just aren't good at speaking to a group, which is okay for this job; some people aren't legally permitted to go into a lot of detail about their earlier projects).

Yeah. Learn how to get a satisfying job instead of taking bad advice from an incompetent career counselor.

Maybe doing 3hrs worth of data entry this the most economic value this guy can provide. In that case, he better learn to settle.

The answer is right there in the article. “I learned all I needed to know in high school, ya know,” he argued. “I wanted to make money." The way to get a job is to convince your boss you can make him money. This is why businesses hire. Instead of trying to impress potential employers with yours smarts, or relate to them like a frat boy, impress them with your understanding of the value you provide and how you add to their bottom line. Then you'll get hired.

Nick A. Corcodilos talks about this in Reinventing the Interview:

http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Headhunter-Reinventing-Interview-W...

(Great book, but probably not worth buying. If memory serves, it is a little repetitive, but it is short and you can read it in a bookstore in one sitting.) Or go read back articles from Ask the Headhunter.

⬐ starkfist

I've had a lot of success relating to the employer like a frat boy. It's way easier to get hired this way than actually knowing how to do something.

Have them do the job during the interview. What better way could there be to find out if they are competent to do the work? Have a look at Nick Corcodilos's Reinventing the Interview: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0452278015?ie=UTF8&tag=...