CM Access

Ever wonder what it’s like to be the person conducting an interview, instead of just the person showing up on time? Surprisingly, even those who’ve been employed for a while might not have had the opportunity to interview potential new employees for their team. But, companies are increasingly realizing the need for the right people to be hired, not just anyone, and that involves having a more thorough interview process.

A good friend of mine recently went through this process, and provided me an interesting story about his first experience on the other side of the table.

“I never realized when I was looking for a job myself how important it is to evaluate the fit for the position from anything other than just ‘please hire me and give me a chance’. It’s really the best time to ensure that the position for which you are applying is really a good fit.”

I’ve said time and time again that you have to really have your ears and eyes open at the interview to assess if it’s really a viable opportunity. Don’t just take the first thing that comes along because if you leave 5 months later, you’ll have some ’splaining to do!

“This candidate interviewed first with the head of our unit, who explained the big picture of what the group does and what his role would be. After this, a project manager took over, perhaps explaining in more detail. When I entered the room, the PM said ‘This is my coworker, he actually does the job you’re interviewing for, so he can explain better than I can.’ I thought it was really valuable to be able to walk this candidate through a typical day for me, rather than just selling him on the company. I went out of my way to highlight the worst parts of the job on the assumption that it was better for him to learn about them now rather than after he had accepted. Too often a candidate would accept a position only to quit three weeks later.”

My friend was also able to more accurately assess the right personality and background, since the management may not understand that a particular educational skillset might be insufficient for the effective accomplishment of the project. ie. a technical background for a proprietary software application position might be detrimental because the person would come with expectations apart from the product’s functionality.

Just a final note of my own: this process is not unique-many large companies are more likely to have multiple rounds of an interview, involving multiple team members, in order to more thoroughly assess a match. It’s important to consider how you conduct yourself in each case, and trust your own instinct: if you’re not getting a positive vibe from one of your interviewers, maybe you should take a step back and assess if it’s the kind of opportunity you really want.
And if you’ve never sat on the other side of the interviewing table, and know how important it is to get the RIGHT person in your office, look into doing some mock interviews. It will help!

Technorati Tags: interviewing process, interview

I’ve mentioned before that the job search should not be a periodic stress in your life, but instead, a lifelong process of career management. That goes hand-in-hand with what you as a brand represents, what you stand for, and how you’re marketing yourself to the outside world.

[sidenote: I also just found out, and am embarrassed to admit that I didn’t realize it before, who the originial “marketing me” idea came from. I knew it was too right to be my own original thought. But at least now I know who the genius is!]

Tom Peters calls it BrandYou. I call it “MarketingMe.” Either way, the idea is that without a conscious effort to know who you are and what you offer, not only will you have some trouble finding happiness, but you’ll have trouble finding a job you really like/want too!

Someone I was just speaking with today put it very well: People seem to be more concerned with where they’re going than where they are.

Sounds like a contradiction to what I just said, I know. But it’s not, because if you’re not sure where you are, you can’t quite figure out HOW to get where you are trying to go, right?

Here’s my little story to illustrate:
If you don’t realize you’re on an island (maybe in your organization, maybe in your perspective…) then you could keep driving cars right into the ocean, trying to get somewhere that no roads go to. But if you realize you’re on an island, you’ll build a boat to get off it it, or you’ll learn to embrace it make it the best possible island that exists in the ocean, until people build bridges to you. It relates back to Seth Godin’s The Dip, a little book with a lot of oomph. He says that the BEST is a spot only able to be occupied by one, but that anyone can get that designation if you are able to really identify what you are capable of being the best at…and work hard to get there.

the point? figure out where you are, who you are, and why you’re there, in order to make it worthwhile or move onto something that is.

Technorati Tags: Seth Godin, Tom Peters, The Dip, Brand YOU, MarketingMe, islands, self awareness