WHO GETS HIRED, ROBOTS OR HUMANS?

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You aren’t being interviewed by
robots but humans; humans with emotions, they breathe, they laugh, they fear -
much the same what you do occasionally - and handling interviews from this viewpoint
not only keeps you composed but also gives you the confidence and comfort to be
yourself while you patiently earn your interviewers’ friendship.

 Many job candidates are
quick to think the job interview is a tedious process involving a number of
meetings with impassive interviewers who, perhaps in a deliberate attempt to
make them flunk the interview, ask tough, sometimes silly or intimidating
questions to put them off balance; but recruiters also have their tales to tell
about job interviews. The truth about any job interview is that the closer
recruiters get to picking out the best qualified candidate for a particular
job, the harder it is for them to make decisions; which makes them figure out
more creative ways – not necessarily rigorous- to achieve this.

So what makes the difference? What
gets interviewers thinking “we would really love to have him on board”? How do
they decide who best fits a role when all outstanding candidates have closely
related qualities- which all fit the role perfectly?

Here are some of my thoughts
together with facts and opinions from respected people in the world of
recruitment.

“Getting or giving anything is
about social skills. The world is about being comfortable where you are and
making people comfortable, and that’s what social skills are”… Penelope
Trunk

Have you ever wondered how
successful sales men and women convince people to buy their products? Like me,
you’ve probably once been convinced to buy a product you didn’t need; clearly,
it wasn’t really about the product. There must be something more to the kind
words, statement of facts, the audible attractive voice, proper use of words,
even the smile. It’s the psychology of selling. This very post is not about sales
men or women but you do a bit or more of selling every day. You just want to
share a story but you also want your listeners to believe you or take some
action, it’s a simple joke but you’d appreciate a sincere laugh, it’s just an
interview but you want to get the job. In the long run, we all are salesmen and
women.

 Successful sales people
hone in on their social skills for every meeting, they buy into the emotions of
their prospects and, for the most part, make the sale before presenting any
product.

Research shows that people would
rather work with incompetent people who are likable than with competent
stiff-necked arrogant people. By all means, companies and organisations would
love to reduce cost and hiring a very qualified candidate who barely needs any
training is a good way to do so, but many employers would rather hire
candidates they feel they can best work with, not necessarily the best
qualified ones; this clearly demystifies the myth that the best qualified
candidate always gets the job.

As with all other things to attend
interviews with, the right outlook and body language matter even more. What may
have started out as a cold, monotonous question and answer session could turn
out to be a friendly conversation with your potential employers if you have a
positive attitude.

 “There is no such thing as
boring knowledge, there is only boring presentation” – Dan Roam.

I’ve once attended a seminar where
it was so evident (at least to me) the speaker made so many grammatical errors
in his speech, yet he was able to command the attention and respect of his
audience. Two things- he knew what he was talking about and he had great social
skills; he completely understood his audience, he knew their pain-point and
proffered solutions, he livened up the audience with his fascinating stories
and witty jokes, we all listened keenly not minding his blunders. Having the
right qualifications for a job is important, equally important- perhaps more,
is the right composure. Your level of composure determines how you would
present your skills to potential employers, and ultimately, how they’d think of
you.

You can never go wrong with a great
story

We all love stories, hearing about
people’s experiences has a way of tickling one’s imagination; despite its
professional nature, the interview is not a place to hold back compelling
stories from your interviewers. With open arms and minds, interviewers would
welcome a story of how you overcame a problem, because it saves them any
further speculations about you being the right fit for the job; this- to
recruiters- is better than looking up a blueprint/theory for how a problem can
be solved.

Although Interviewers prefer
candidates who are good storytellers to those who just give vapid responses,
telling a captivating story doesn’t just happen by magic because if you tell a
wrong story, presto-you go in a black hole.

A few hints to help:

-      
Have your story ready before the interview: while you prepare for some
anticipated questions, draft out a story from your experience, a project you
led, a volunteer job you took, a challenge you faced in your former job position
etc.

-      
Keep it simple and short: if your grandmother won’t understand or
believe the story, scrap it! Avoid technical or industry jargons.

-      
Go straight to the point: telling interviewers you lost one of your cats
while you prepared a proposal for a big project is pointless.

-      
Results, results, results: what did you achieve? What were your
accomplishments? Did you reduce company cost? Did you increase sales? Did you
increase client base? As the case may be, fit any/all of these into your story.
Also make good use of figures to quantify data.

-      
If you can, bring along samples of your work to prove your point.

-      
Rehearse your story till it sticks; rehearse it till you believe it.

Humans, not robots…

You aren’t being interviewed by
robots but humans; humans with emotions, they breathe, they laugh, they fear-
much the same what you do occasionally- and handling interviews from this
viewpoint not only keeps you composed but also gives you the confidence and
comfort to be yourself while you patiently earn your interviewers’ friendship.

Recruiters talk about candidates who
leave an impression- beyond showing interviewers how much you know and have
what they want, care enough to make them smile (from their heart) and go home
waiting to receive their call.

I’m not saying it’s easy but it’s an
option you should explore, because it works.

*Penelope Trunk is a hiring expert
and founder of Bravencareerist.com