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Absolutely not. It is seen as unprofessional. You are creating a barrier between yourself and the interviewer, and you could be doing anything you want. It is unprofessional to bring a laptop to ANY meeting where you are an attendee instead of the presenter.
Bringing a laptop to a meeting is the social equivalent as checking your email on a smartphone during a meeting.
I thought it would be a barrier as well, in an interview.
I must say, though, that in my field it is very common for us to bring our laptops to meetings. Almost everyone does it now.
Which is funny to me, because I remember at a job I had about 10 years ago we had a weekly department meeting that our boss started bringing his laptop to. He took notes during the entire meeting which he'd then distribute as meeting minutes. Everyone hated it because it literally doubled the length of the meeting, which had been interminable to begin with. He stopped anyone from speaking while he typed. It was truly awful.
Ok thanks, no laptop. I take good notes because I am interviewing at a lot of places and would get lost if not. Ok I will transcrible to evernote later, thanks all.
I thought it would be a barrier as well, in an interview.
I must say, though, that in my field it is very common for us to bring our laptops to meetings. Almost everyone does it now.
Which is funny to me, because I remember at a job I had about 10 years ago we had a weekly department meeting that our boss started bringing his laptop to. He took notes during the entire meeting which he'd then distribute as meeting minutes. Everyone hated it because it literally doubled the length of the meeting, which had been interminable to begin with. He stopped anyone from speaking while he typed. It was truly awful.
Today...it happens all the time.
It might just be my field. I am in a very old-school work environment (everyone wears full suits, assistants check the email for their boss instead of him/her checking it themselves, etc.), so culturally my industry might just be behind the times...
Depends on the job, I think. It's very common in technical and management interviews. I've had recruiters advise me to bring a notepad and pen to interviews for years (I'm in IT management), and I'd estimate more than half of the people I interview do it. It's completely acceptable to us.
yeah, i don't see an issue with a laptop or tablet at a regular meeting. but an interview is so much about connection that i don't think that taking extensive notes in any format is a good idea. and you do run the risk of the hiring manager misinterpreting what you're doing if you use a laptop.
It might just be my field. I am in a very old-school work environment (everyone wears full suits, assistants check the email for their boss instead of him/her checking it themselves, etc.), so culturally my industry might just be behind the times...
Industry, and probably a matter of corporate culture too. I can see both sides of it. Personally I don't bring mine unless I think I'll need it to present something or look something up. If not, I bring my iPad instead, but it doesn't have access to the corporate network.
Oops, I just did a skills interview today and used a laptop to record the person's answers. I got the feeling that it might be distracting for the interviewee but my handwriting is so terrible, I didn't feel that I had a viable choice. It may have been more distracting for me to write the stuff down and constantly ask him to repeat himself.
This will likely be the last interview I do for a long while, so I'm not too worried about it.
Going to have to go with the majority here. Interviews are really not the proper setting for trying out new ways of doing things or bucking tradition. As you have already agreed (I read the whole thread), lose the laptop and go old school pen/paper.
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