There are many professions where drawing a picture or diagram in the job interview is very common, if not expected. Software Architecture, Business Process Engineering, and Enterprise Architecture are only a few examples where it is quite natural for the interviewee to pull out a piece of paper and supplement their responses with visual communications.
It is becoming even more common place for the interview to consist of time spent at the whiteboard solving a problem or doing a quick “chalk talk.” “Giving good whiteboard” is one of the top ten skills an Enterprise Architect candidate should possess according to Larry DeBoever, renowned technologist and managing director at EAdirections.
Jeffrey Kay, in his article entitled “Greet your next job candidate with a whiteboard and marker,” advocates the use of the whiteboard as a means to more effective job interviews. Niniane Wang includes this same theme in her advice on how to prepare for a software engineer job interview in a brief but excellent paper entitled “Preparing for a Software Engineering Interview.”
So we can see that becoming skilled at drawing simple and effective diagrams or pictures can help you in your job interview and it may even be a matter of survival depending on the job and the industry in which you are interviewing.
In light of this, why not consider honing your skills in this ever-increasing area?
Recent posts on this topic:
Standing Out In Job Interviews Using Visual Communications
Job Interview Success: Draw A Picture!
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