[jsfg_cinti] The Perfect Interview

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On the Job The Perfect Interview

There's an old story about the Friar's Club, where entertainers in New York
gather for camaraderie. It seems the veteran comedians sharing jokes were so
familiar with each other's repertoire they assigned a number to each story
or gag. A comedian would start by saying "number six," for example, and the
others would say, "Funny." Another would say "25," and someone else would
say, "that's okay, but your delivery wasn't great." That kind of
codification of the spontaneous reminds me of the job interview process.
However formulaic and ceremonial it was in the past, today's interviews have
become so ritualized and studied they probably have lost most of their
functional value, especially when conducted by human resources people, whose
chief job is to eliminate candidates. The truth is, as primates, we
formulate an opinion about another person within five seconds of meeting
them. Psychologists have studied this subconscious behavior and learned that
humans determine whether they like or dislike someone - from the body
language we use and chemicals our bodies emit - almost immediately. In a job
interview, the true role of the 20-or-so minutes the interviewer spends with
you is to figure out rational reasons to support the subconscious emotional
decision he or she made in the initial five seconds. Like most of us, human
resources people probably aren't aware they've already made up their minds
about a candidate before the candidate even opens his mouth. In light of
that, don't ignore all that seemingly basic advice about good grooming, a
firm handshake and making eye contact. If you come off as confident,
friendly and "nice" in the few seconds it takes to shake the interviewer's
hand, you may be three-quarters of the way to a new job - assuming your
credentials and background are suitable. Since the first five seconds of
your interview probably have decided its direction, why not take a tip from
the Friar's and make it easy for yourself. When talking with human resources
people, who rarely understand what you'd be doing if you got the job anyway,
the best approach is to go on a kind of Stepford Wives' auto-pilot. As in
the movie where the perpetually upbeat wives turned out to be robots, become
a positive, cheery, never-say-a-negative-word interviewee. Be able to match
the interviewer's rote questions with equally rote, but positive, answers.
Why did you leave your last job? Not because your boss was an abusive
tyrant, even if that were 100 percent true. You left because you
accomplished what you had set out to do and wanted to go in a new direction.
Why did you job hop? Oh, maybe it looks that way, but two of the companies I
worked for were having business reversals and I wanted to take control of my
career. Do you prefer working alone or in teams? I do both well and really
enjoy making a contribution no matter what form it takes. You get the point.
Questions or comments? Write to Evan Cooper, On the Job, Paradigm News,
Inc., P.O. Box 111372, Stamford, CT 06911-1372 or e-mail
paradigm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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