Crazy Good Interviewing: How Acting A Little Crazy Can Get You The Job

Chapter 8

Bridge the Generational Gap with Crazy Good Behavior

Does age matter? Yes, it really does in an interview. It pays to be aware of your interviewer's generational age. Smart interviewees use their knowledge about each generation to speak the same language and make a favorable impression. This is the first chapter in the Communicate phase of the ACT Out interview strategy, and it explains how members of different generations can communicate effectively with one another.

Defining “Generation”

What is a generation anyway? There are several definitions. The first is the offspring in the same stage of descent from a common ancestor; for example, a father and son represent two different generations. Another definition is the average interval between the parents' birth and birth of their offspring. Still another holds that a generation is a group of individuals born and living at the same time who experience the same events.

“A generation is a group of people who share a common location in history and, as a consequence, have a collective persona that not all members share, but they can all relate to,” according to historian William Strauss, co-author of The Fourth Turning, a landmark book on generational change.

According to this definition, people who were kids when poodle skirts and Elvis Presley became popular belong to one generation. People who were kids when the movie Grease debuted and who wore platform shoes and listened to disco music are part of another generation. ...