Acing an interview- Part 4

Disclaimer: It is a ‘Fun’ post- an excerpt from my fiction book 'Fried & Fired'- a humorous and gripping tale of a 3 month short bumpy joy ride of a young HR Manager, his whimsical boss, and the twists and turns that come along the way. Get your copy now at Amazon- https://lnkd.in/gD3QnfK. OR at Notionpress- https://lnkd.in/gKRumPE Apply coupon code ‘Special’ for a 10% discount (Only on NotionPress)

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‘Could you tell me more about your current role and achievements please?’ My would-be Boss asked. I could see that the interview was going in the right direction.

‘I joined Zing Life at its Pitampura regional Office in North Delhi. I was titled Regional HR Manager for North-1 region, comprising Delhi- NCR, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. The region had close to 400 employees, primarily in sales, working out of 20 offices spread across these states. I was responsible for managing the entire gamut of HR activities and processes across employee life cycle, end to end.’ I stressed on the word ‘end to end’ by virtue of a habit, gesticulating the ‘aerial quotes’ and quickly realized while reaching the end of sentence. I smiled.

‘Did your remit include recruitments too?’ My would-be Boss demanded to know.

‘Oh yes, of course, recruitment was an essential and quite a big part of my portfolio, actually! In any given month, we would hire 40 to 50 sales managers.’ I replied.

‘Hmmm….That’s quite a bit.’ My would-be Boss was obviously impressed.

What he did not know however (as I had deliberately not disclosed) was the fact that the zone also saw 40 to 50 employees leaving on a monthly basis. This piece of information had the potential of changing the direction of the interview, I had learnt from an earlier interview.

‘OK. Go on.’ My would-be Boss was nodding his head.

‘Ya, so I played the role of regional HR manager for over 2 years. I built and implemented robust HR processes; brought down the attrition by 10% and improved the employee engagement score by 4% year-on-year. And then about 2 years ago, I was promoted to Zonal HR Head position and asked to relocate to Bangalore. South zone is the biggest zone for Zing Life, with over 1000 employees and I gladly took up this challenge.’

I had again deliberately masked a couple of facts here, to my advantage. For example, the 10% reduction in attrition from 140% to 130% had more to do with how attrition was calculated than anything else. 

I had successfully convinced my boss on excluding early stage attrition, i.e., those who left within a week of joining, for the purpose of calculating attrition. And there was a good number of 3-5 new joiners every month, who left within a week or sometimes on the same day. Thus, with this smart move, my annual attrition figure had come down from 140% to 130%. Similarly, the increase in the engagement score by 4% was also more of a fluke.

‘Very well!’. My would-be Boss seemed to be very pleased with my quantitative substantiation of achievements. ‘I like that you are speaking data and measure the results. I am very data oriented myself,’ he voluntarily disclosed.

I could sense that my would-be Boss had begun to make mental notes like ‘Not many HR business partners are able to verbalize their achievements the way this guy can! He will surely be able to face off with my CFO and impress him!’ The tell-tale signs of ‘selected’ were emerging.

‘So, why would you want to change jobs now? You seem to be doing well.’ stuttered my would-be Boss.

‘Oh, I am not looking out actually. I am very happy in my current role and also due for a promotion with a big salary correction in the next 3 months. It is Natasha, from NextBest search firm, who really persuaded me to have an exploratory chat with you this morning. In fact, I just gave in, to avoid her incessant calls. She has been hounding me, since the time, she met me at an HR seminar, a fortnight ago. Natasha was talking very highly of you. She said that she has been partnering with you, on the recruitment side, for over 2 years and has not seen a more employee centric organization. I found the job description interesting and the values of the Company consistent with my own values, and that is the reason I thought that I could explore this position, further.’ I said.

‘I know that it was a pure white lie. But that is what people want to hear in the interviews,’ was a strict advice from Roy, my friend, philosopher and guide.

‘Excellent. I can understand,’ my would-be Boss gently nodded, while making notes.

...To be continued.