Thomas Hughes is the service manager at Criswell Honda in Germantown, MD, and he's also my boss Tommy. As the service manager, he is responsible for running the entire service department at this dealership; his responsibilities span many different categories, including human resources, customer service, planning customer draw events, and on occasion, even repairs. I chose to interview him because by observing him at work daily, I saw that he was the kind of man that knows every detail about the business he is managing, and he is also a friendly, approachable guy within easy reach. In the world of automotive service, there tends to be a high turnover rate as well, and he's worked at the same location for 8 years, setting him apart from other managers.
His overall message when I conducted the interview split into two directions: first, you have to keep your head down and please your customers and supervisors in order to develop a good reputation as a hard worker, which will carry you up the ladder, and second, you have to develop a good team, as no one person can perform all aspects of a large-scale business, and you need to be able to rely on your co workers to work hard and get the job done right. We talked a lot about implementing creative ideas and dealing with difficult supervisors, and he liked to say that the whole dealership was a font of ideas and information, and the skills that he brings to the table are to synthesize those ideas into a workable plan that can generate business. As long as the numbers are squared away, the supervisors will not hamper your creativity and vision, and you'll have job security.
Our interview was very informal; we've been working together since July, and the automotive industry is not known for its well-mannered workers. So we had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun, and as long as I kept asking questions and my mouth shut during his answers, I got loads of information about him. The fact that we were well-acquainted meant that I did not need to quickly break the ice to make him comfortable sharing with me. He has great eye contact, always has a smile on his face, and is the main reason I feel very comfortable to work with him in the first place.
If I could take my own personal behaviors during this interview into other interviews, I'd imagine that I would be well-received too. I kept good eye contact, and didn't take extensive notes during the interview to distract either of us from the task at hand. We were seated across a desk, and I had one leg resting on the other to show my comfort and pleasant attitude.
This interview went well, and I hope that I will be able to carry these interviewing skills into the rest of the world in order to sell myself well, in addition to learning the comprehensive truth and finding out a lot about other people when talking to them.
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