On behalf of job seekers, here’s some kind advice for the people doing the interviewing…
Dear Hiring Manager,
I know you have a lot of work to do and you want to make good hires, so let me coach you and help you make a great decision.
Start listening with your mind, heart and intuition! Stop being so being darn fake!
Panel interviews and interviews with prepared questions. Performances and presentations and lesson plans (and lots of free work without even a thank you). Phone interviews. Skype interviews. Interviews that last an average of 40 minutes.
And behavioral questions (can’t we just say “critical thinking” and hypotheticals?)
Those are the trends in job interviews today.
Are they working for you? Because they’re not working for a lot of job applicants.
Which is why I’m writing this letter to you.
Let’s be honest with each other. Interviews are contrived. They’re artificial. They can be staged, maybe even a power trip for the interviewer.
They don’t bring out what’s genuine and good in someone. They make people nervous. And, the more hoops you make people jump through, the more likely they are to get nervous not to mention anxious maybe even angry.
Everyone says the best way to prepare for an interview is to do the power pose. Do you know why? Because it’s awfully intimidating to sit across from a group of people expecting to be judged and knowing you’ve got a good chance of rejection.
The deck is stacked against people who are introverted and people who don’t think fast on their feet. It’s hard for people who think too much and people that don’t communicate in sound bites or headlines. The devil is the details and the details bog down a lot of really smart, capable people.
In addition to the power pose, do you know what else is considered smart interview advice? Pay very close attention – to what’s asked, what’s not asked, and to the subtle stuff – like body language and energy and tone of voice.
Now, here’s my best advice for you: Pay Attention. Communicate with Kindness, Have Empathy.
Take care of yourself and your nerves, calm down, get in your body, tune up your attention and intuition, and breathe. You’ve got to connect to people and build rapport. You’ve got to set the tone for trust and open communication, authenticity and genuine enthusiasm.
Rapport. Rapport. Rapport. Because you want to bring out the best in someone and know if you speak the same language and can work together.
Start the interview with a friendly welcome. Tell the applicant that you’re looking for a person who’s a good fit with your culture, a person who works well with others and who has thought about what it takes to be successful in the job.
And then ask the questions that you have prepared- questions that get at skills and strengths, that probe for critical thinking, that show whether the applicant understands the industry and its values, that show whether the applicant is truly interested and invested and eager to work to a standard of excellence.
You know what’s important. You’ll know authenticity when you feel it. Trust your gut.
And relax. We’re human too!