Myth no. 1: The best person for the job gets it
Sometimes this is true—especially in a situation where everyone
knows everyone else, such as when a company is recruiting internally.
However, this is often not the case. In order for the best person for
the job to win it, a number of very important things need to be in
place (and even then, there’s no guarantee). These include:
• The interviewer knows what questions to ask and how to search
for the truthfulness in answers. These two things may sound
simple enough, but I can assure you that a large proportion of
people conducting interviews have received no training, lack
interview experience and often do not even go to the trouble of
preparing for the interview.
• The interviewer is not taken in by the charm, good looks, great
humour or any other aspect of the interviewee. This can be a
difficult obstacle, even for experienced interviewers.
• The interviewee has learned how to clearly articulate their skills,
key achievements and how they can add value to the organisation.
• There is no personality clash between interviewer and interviewee.
• Neither party is having a bad day.
Some employers—usually the ones who have been badly burnt
by hiring the wrong people in the past—go to great lengths to set
up professional hiring procedures designed to minimise hiring
mistakes. Whilst some of these procedures are effective in improving
candidate selection, they do not guarantee that the best person for
the job will actually win it. In the final analysis, choosing someone
for a job involves at least one human being making a decision about
another, and no matter what we do to eliminate subjectivity, as
human beings it is impossible to put aside our predispositions,
predilections and personal preferences—no matter how much we
may try to.
In an ideal world, the best person for the job would always win it;
however, the reality is that it is often the person who performs best
at the interview who wins the prize. The important lessons here are:
• Don’t automatically pull out of applying for a job if you know
someone better suited for the job is also applying for it. If you
go to the trouble of preparing properly for the interview, there’s
a good chance that you may be seen as the preferred candidate—
especially if the other person takes the interview for granted and
fails to prepare.
• If you happen to know that you’re the best person for the job,
avoid taking the interview for granted. Behave as though you’re
2 interview skills that win the job
competing against formidable rivals. Take the time to prepare
properly. Just because you’ve got a lot of experience does not
mean you know how to convey this message at an interview
Sometimes this is true—especially in a situation where everyone
knows everyone else, such as when a company is recruiting internally.
However, this is often not the case. In order for the best person for
the job to win it, a number of very important things need to be in
place (and even then, there’s no guarantee). These include:
• The interviewer knows what questions to ask and how to search
for the truthfulness in answers. These two things may sound
simple enough, but I can assure you that a large proportion of
people conducting interviews have received no training, lack
interview experience and often do not even go to the trouble of
preparing for the interview.
• The interviewer is not taken in by the charm, good looks, great
humour or any other aspect of the interviewee. This can be a
difficult obstacle, even for experienced interviewers.
• The interviewee has learned how to clearly articulate their skills,
key achievements and how they can add value to the organisation.
• There is no personality clash between interviewer and interviewee.
• Neither party is having a bad day.
Some employers—usually the ones who have been badly burnt
by hiring the wrong people in the past—go to great lengths to set
up professional hiring procedures designed to minimise hiring
mistakes. Whilst some of these procedures are effective in improving
candidate selection, they do not guarantee that the best person for
the job will actually win it. In the final analysis, choosing someone
for a job involves at least one human being making a decision about
another, and no matter what we do to eliminate subjectivity, as
human beings it is impossible to put aside our predispositions,
predilections and personal preferences—no matter how much we
may try to.
In an ideal world, the best person for the job would always win it;
however, the reality is that it is often the person who performs best
at the interview who wins the prize. The important lessons here are:
• Don’t automatically pull out of applying for a job if you know
someone better suited for the job is also applying for it. If you
go to the trouble of preparing properly for the interview, there’s
a good chance that you may be seen as the preferred candidate—
especially if the other person takes the interview for granted and
fails to prepare.
• If you happen to know that you’re the best person for the job,
avoid taking the interview for granted. Behave as though you’re
2 interview skills that win the job
competing against formidable rivals. Take the time to prepare
properly. Just because you’ve got a lot of experience does not
mean you know how to convey this message at an interview
No comments:
Post a Comment