First interview in 15 years

[howlen]

Thank you for all of your advice on this thread.
Here's the latest--I had the my first planning interview, after being out of the field for 15 years. The format was not quite what I expected, and not surprisingly--I did not make the first cut.

The details: panel interview of 3 planners, armed with a list of generic questions. Each planner asked three questions, and scored my answers. It never developed into a "conversation," nor did the questions take into an account my many years of non-planning experience. I tried to turn into a conversation about what I studied/observed in their community--and these questions were answered quite quickly, with a strong desire to return to their list of questions.

Many of the questions did not pertain to me, and I found it odd that they were asking it, as I was quite clear on my application/resume on what I had done while in the planning field, and my accomplishements/skill set, outside of the field.

I guess this was an attempt to screen people out of the process. I think they had 8 interviews scheduled on the same day as me.
Any feedback would help.

[donk]

In many instances employers have set questions they ask and don't stray from them in order to keep things "fair" for all. Once you recognize that the questions they are asking don't relate to you or your expereinces, you should recognize that you either have to change how you are answering the questions (give them what they want) or accept that regardless of how much you want the job, you are not going to get it.

The opportunity to take control of the interview and create a conversation comes when they ask you for your questions.