Job interview - control?

[drwhofan]

I've had a couple of interviews recently - they're mostly for internships and entry-level positions as I've just finished uni. I've noticed though that interviews for these kinds of things tend to just involve the interviewer reeling off a list of what the candidate would have to do in the job and then saying "do you think you could do that?". When they ask me I can give them all the reasons and examples etc that make me a good candidate but there's a lot of time beforehand where they're just listing duties (which I'm already aware of becase I've read the job description) and I'm just agreeing with what they say. I don't think I manage to get across everything I'd like to because so much time is spent being told the role, but I'm not sure how to influence what's being said in that time. Especially without being rude. Any tips?

[buildersmate]

OK - so you've now experienced the variability in quality of interviewers in commerce/industry, since the purpose of an interview should be to allow the interviewee a good amount of time to explain themselves and give examples that support their knowledge and competences. A good ratio of total time taken is probably about 3:1 but I don't suggest that you start timing!
If there are two things in life that everyone seems to think they are good at, it is sex and making people judgements. IMHO the latter is generally false (ever come across Johari Window? - try Googling it) - not sure about the former.
The general format of the interview often starts with a short intro to the job from the interviewer, but this also acts to steady the nerves of the candidate. It is bad news if one doesn't let the interviewee start their piece soon - maybe 5 minutes max. The front end should be used to expand on what the 'list of duties' may have said - not repeat it.
Maybe just nod encouragingly to try and get the interviewer to be quiet.
Maybe, if you can get a word in edgeways "I think I've the general gist of the job, thanks, would it help if I outlined a couple of examples of experiences where I have done a similar sort of thing".
Questions such as "do you think you could do that?" are clearly bad news since they invite the answer yes or no. As I'm sure you appreciate, interviewer should be saying "how do you think you could measure up to that" - or similar.
Good luck.

[cassa333]

Just because they are interviewing you doesn't mean they know how to interview.

If you are going for entry level positions then the person interviewing you is probably only a couple of levels up. The real knowitalls wouldn't bother with the lower staff members.

[joko]

i would suggest you dont get ahead of yourself before you have got the job...seeming cocky or even a knowitall in an interview iwll not serve you well

the inetrviewers will have a plan or even been told how to do the intereview and they ar just running through a standard format...if you start cuttiing them off or jumping it could disjoint their concentration and irritate them...ensuring you dont get the job.

also how are they supposed to know you know it all already? they dont, so they have to ensure its is fully explained equally...

they need to ensure you are totally aware of what is expected to save you turning up on your first say unprepared and claiming 'no-one told you'...