Evolution of the Hiring Process

Decades ago, we could hand in a resume, sit down face to face with a hiring manager for an interview. You could see the office, the people, ask about the position, and if all goes well, start work as early as Monday morning! But somehow over the last few decades the concept of the “job interview” has apparently morphed into the “job interview?process” for a large portion of employers.

There is also little reason to think these staffing trends will change, it's only going to get tougher with AI involvement. One recent report tells us that the time it takes to hire an employee reached an all-time high this year, with average recruitment processes across industries lasting roughly 44 days, that's over a month! Today the hiring process is far more complex or convoluted than how it was, sometimes even for the person interviewing us. It’s now the new normal for people to have as many as five to 10 separate interviews for the same position, in addition to a “test assignment” or two. Then only to hear that a more qualified candidate got the job. To call such experiences discouraging for the average job seeker would be a wildly massive understatement.

So, what can you do to set yourself apart from the other applicants? It all comes down to how you react to, and answer, questions posed by the recruiter/HR and then hiring managers.

Let’s take a look at a few universal strategies you can employ to help navigate and respond to some of the trickiest questions commonly asked on job interviews.

Your Failures are really Learning Opportunities.

One of the most common and dreaded questions among candidates is “tell me about yourself”. It's often the first deflector question used by hiring managers at the beginning of interviews. Like a well-dressed deer in headlights, too many of my candidates have absolutely frozen in response to this question or worse, they just start rambling. The broadness of this question can certainly be intimidating, as it's rough to describe oneself in any social setting, let alone one where paychecks and livelihoods are on the line.?A common saying is "a lawyer who represents themselves has a fool for a client", it's nearly impossible for an attorney to do this, yet we have to learn to do it at a moment’s notice.

The truth is that the hiring manager and decision makers just want to get to know the person behind the carefully crafted resume and?LinkedIn?page. It’s natural for candidates to want to describe themselves in the best possible terms, only highlighting their biggest achievements and proudest moments, but this is actually where a lot of candidates go wrong. or miss an opportunity.

Successes are all well and good, but we want to hear about YOUR PROCESS, your effort, all struggles, and adversity you endured to rise above to reach these accomplishments. Don’t be afraid to mention on your mistakes and failures when asked to describe yourself, that's the good stuff. Plenty of people make the mistake of hyping themselves up like a pro athlete on draft day, but you’re not a prospect hoping to be picked in the first round, you’re a real person looking for a real job, and real people have problems. How do we react to a stranger we meet who constantly hypes themselves up and says how great they are? Managers want to hear about how you’ve overcame adversity and difficult situations in the past, that way they’ll know you’ll rise to the challenge if selected for the new opportunity. What’s a success situation without some adversity, after all?

Don't be afraid to talk about that missed deadline, a mistake you made with a colleague that you wish you handled differently, a bad decision on technology that was used. Whatever it is you then can walk through the mistake cradle to grave without having to take ownership for part of the mistake that wasn't yours, and you won't have to bad mouth anybody either. It gives you the opportunity to talk about new processes or technologies or tools that you may have implemented to overcome adversity. And not every story has a happy ending, let's be real about this.

A recent piece of scientific research published in the journal?Basic and Applied Social Psychology?supports the strategy of pointing to struggle over success. Interestingly it found highlighting success alone isn’t enough to make a positive impression on others, in fact the opposite can occur. It can create an air of doubt in the listener. By adding the additional context of the stress and effort that went into that success you create the sense of, "yes, I get it, I've been there."

In addition to avoiding glossing over your previous challenges and struggles, let's not fall into the common mistake of trying to be someone you’re not. It’s very easy for most people to tell when someone is putting on a charade, so to speak Simply being your wonderful self (assuming you’re also qualified for the position) is often enough to score some major points. A study published in the?Journal of Applied Psychology?concluded as much after interviewing hundreds of job seekers. Adequate preparation for a STAR based interview regarding the job description and the company's values is the only way to succeed in an interview. In the absence of preparation, I've seen hundreds of candidates trying to be something that they think somebody wants them to be. You lose 100% of the time when you're trying to be something that you're not, when all we really want is for you to be yourself.

Everyone Wants to Hire You When You Meet

It’s what you say and do that dictates how this will go. It's key to understand that you are being judged long before the first interview question is ever asked. Researchers from Yale University released a study a few years ago saying that most hiring managers begin forming biases and opinions on interviewees within seconds of candidates speaking based on speech patterns, that's why Pacing and Paraphrasing is a section of my training! Another study reports candidates who speak slowly and show clear signs of nervousness are routinely passed over for positions. Instead, researchers suggest maintaining an air of friendliness with just the right amount of assertiveness mixed in.

While all of this advice may seem like a lot of information, a lot of it can be whittled down to a few key strategies that keep in mind.

First, no matter what you may be asked during an interview, to your best to present yourself as genuinely as possible.

Second, don’t be afraid to speak to your mistakes and the adversity and struggles you've encountered.

Third, always maintain a certain level of self-confidence. Remember, confidence isn’t cockiness. We believe in you (your recruiter)

If you’re in need of assistance landing your next interview please visit our website at?https://pxtservices.com/?or utilize the?LinkedIn Learning?section!