Hiring Teams using humour at Interviews | Resume Advice: being "found" versus being "read"

Happy Tuesday all! Yesterday was a holiday over here and hope everyone who had a long-weekend enjoyed their time off. On this week's edition of my Newsletter exclusively on LinkedIn (make sure you subscribe):

• Should Hiring Teams use jokes/humour to make Candidates feel at ease?
• The key point of GREAT Resume advice: being "found" versus being "read"

Should Hiring Teams use jokes/humour to make Candidates feel at ease?

Some time ago, when visiting a Car Dealership, I remember observing a seasoned Salesperson showing a pre-owned vehicle to some customers, and it seemed like a very intense, serious discussion. At one point I heard one of the customers say, in a very serious and concerned tone of voice: "Hmm looks like there are some scratches on this door" they observed - to which the Salesperson responded: "Yes you're right - I'll throw those in at no extra charge!". The customers cracked up, the Salesperson cracked up - everybody was laughing, including myself as an onlooker, and you could just feel the tension ease.

Now I'm not sure what happened beyond that point in that interaction, but I wanted to share that to explain that humour can be a great way of relieving the tension that usually is a part of some very serious conversations.

This certainly applies to Job Interviews.

The Applicant you're interviewing is probably at least a bit nervous, they've probably done enough research on you and your Organization to make their head explode, and not to mention they had to refresh themselves on all the great things they've done and accomplished so they can speak about them with you as well.

Now as a Recruiter myself, I like to throw in some humour to help people feel at ease.

Why?

Because I truly do believe based on my own experiences working in recruitment, the more at ease someone feels, the better able they are to have a conversation. And I think every Candidate deserves that shot. I don't have control over how much preparation they put into our conversation - and that is certainly upto them taking that initiative - but its upto me to try and create an environment where they can mostly focus on discussing their professional accomplishments, and not worrying about how nervous or anxious they feel.

That being said, the humour has to be appropriate. Bad or offensive humour can offend and really reflect negatively on you, your Organization and your brand.

"Yeah but Dean, why would I want to hire someone with a bad sense of humour??!"

Because you're probably not hiring them for their ability to take a joke. Unless you're hiring for a Comedian or Comedy Club, you've got your priorities mixed up if you're hiring for humour. Yes, having a great sense of humour is nice - but you're hiring for skills, knowledge, ability and potential. That should be first and foremost. You're using humour as a tool to relieve Interview related tension and anxiety so that the Candidate feels more relaxed and able to have that conversation with you.

So here are a few things I believe should be avoided when you're trying to add in some humour into the Interview conversation:

• Never use humour at the expense of the Applicant. Very simply put, never make jokes directed at the Applicants themselves. Sure some of us don't mind this, but not all of us take humour directed at ourselves in the same way - especially coming from a complete stranger (i.e. YOU, the Hiring Manager/Interviewer). Hey, maybe if you decided to hire them and you both become work buddies in the future, you'll be comfortable enough with each other to be poking fun at each other both ways. But that's not now. Its a Job Interview, this is probably the first time they're meeting you, so avoid any humour directed at them.
• Avoid making fun of anything work related. Making fun of something you noticed on their resume, current or previous employers, certifications they've taken, etc. While not everyone lives and breathes in their work or profession, most people are certainly proud of what they've done professionally. They don't need to hear about that funny joke you heard about employees of a certain Company in which they used to work at, or people who take a certain certification. You just risk offending something which they might personally be very proud of, regardless of whether or not that was your intention.
• Don't joke about sensitive topics. Politics, religion, sex, race, ethnicity, etc - these are topics people can take very personally. Avoid poking any kind of fun about anything in these areas. These areas include beliefs people can hold very close to their hearts, and also lifelong held beliefs. Stay far away from these topics - they can hurt/offend and they can damage your brand!
• Not knowing when to stop. So you've used humour, and you've got them laughing and feeling good - great, congrats. Now get back to the actual topic being discussed. That was the whole point, so you're both able to have a productive conversation. This is not the place for you to bask in your secret fantasy of being a stand-up comedian. Stay focused: its an Interview and you're the Hiring Manager/Interviewer. You want the Applicant to take this conversation seriously and you want them to see that you're taking it seriously as well. Not knowing when to stop with the humour can be annoying at a certain point, and also confusing as the Candidate might wonder if you even know what you're doing or have a genuine interest in seeing if they are a fit for the role. Humour is something you should sprinkle in here and there throughout the conversation, but don't just keep throwing joke after joke and not know when enough is enough.

So as great as humour is, and while it certainly can help in easing the tension at Interviews, make sure you avoid the above mistakes when it comes to sprinkling a few jokes throughout the conversation! Remember: its a tool you can use!

If you're a Company in Canada looking to hire IT Talent, reach out to me for more information and ideas on addressing the challenges you're facing in your recruitment process - send me a direct message here on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected]

Determining GREAT Resume Advice: "finding" versus "reading"!

There is a LOT of Resume related advice I observe on LinkedIn and other social platforms like ALL the time - as I'm sure most of you have seen as well.

However if you're a Job Seeker, there is an important, practical distinction between great Resume advice resulting in your Resume even getting in front of a Hiring Manager, and advice that only has surface-level value:

How FINDABLE (probably not a word, but I'm using it) is your Resume?

That's really what it comes down to from a practical standpoint.

This is the one concern I have with some of the advice I see out there from people providing tips ONLY from the standpoint of how good of a read your Resume is. Yes its important that your Resume can be easily read, etc.

But here's the deal:

Its one thing to READ and REVIEW a Resume.

Its a completely different thing to "source" and FIND Resumes.

The FINDING part is usually upto Recruiters. And if your Resume is not FOUND, it won't get in front of a Hiring Manager. The point I'm trying to make here is, do not mix up what makes a Resume readable and human-friendly with what makes a Resume practical and "findable".

This is why you'll sometimes see a discrepancy between Resume advice given out by people posting on LinkedIn and elsewhere, versus that advice not getting you results in your job search.

Its not just about how your Resume looks - but whether its searchable, findable, "keyword friendly", etc. These are all things which help increase the visibility of your Resume.

So the point I'm trying to make here is, when getting Resume advice from anyone, always ensure they are addressing and explaining to you how their advice will help increase the "being found" part of the recruitment cycle.

Because no matter how good your Resume looks - the first problem it needs to solve is the "being found" part.

What good is a good looking resume if no one is finding it and no one is reading it?

If you're an IT Professional in Canada with at least 3+ years of professional work experience, send me a message on LinkedIn introducing yourself and let me know your Career plans!

That's it for this week - see you next time!

Any topics you want me to cover in a future Edition? Let me know in the comments - don't forget to Like + Subscribe if you haven't already!

Dean Kulaweera - IT Recruiter | Director, Recruitment & Sales |?Tech Recruiters 360

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