The lesser known details of job interviews

#Welcome back dear #readers!

Many of us have looked for #jobs at some juncture of our careers. Typically, the #success rate tends to be in low single digit percentages. There can be many reasons: job requirement cancelled, company shut down, closure of #business unit, #hiring freeze (common with US companies), rejections in #interviews and more.

Experience with arrogant #interviewers

Over my career, I have faced many interviews, often those where the interviewers came #unprepared, least of which having not read my Curriculum Vitae. A few were really bad experiences. Around the year 2001, the CEO of a company (he was a local celebrity of sorts, hardly a few may remember his name now) made me wait till the evening even though my interview was scheduled for the morning. I had waited without lunch. When I was called into his room, his #sycophant deputy was also there. The interview went on OK. In the end, the #CEO gave me an opportunity to ask questions. As it was for a sales role, I asked him "What will I get if I exceed my #sales #target?". I expected him to give me a glimpse of #commission #rates. Instead, his response was arrogant "If you exceed your target, you can keep your job; else, you lose." That was unbefitting. I stood up, said with a smirk "So, yours is a hire-and-fire company! Thank you.". I walked out leaving the CEO shaken and the sycophant, aghast. While many of his contemporaries (#IT #leaders) in #Bangalore made names for themselves, I think his arrogance got the better of him.

Meeting the unprepared / reluctant interviewer

In another company, after a long wait, two interviewers who didn't consider the position / interview important began my interview lazily. At first they expressed uneasiness probably because they were forced to interview. Each one scratched himself here and there and flipped through my #CV. Then they asked me the question that should never be asked "So, can you tell me something about yourself?". I responded "I have mentioned all the details of my career in my CV. Please let me know what else you like to know.". They repeated their question. I stood up, said "It appears that you have not prepared for this interview. You can call me when you are." and walked out.

At 维布络 , I was trained on developing interviewing #skills and was then certified. The then in-house trainer of the "Interviewer Certification Program" Kayomarz Shroff had cautioned many times to not interview without preparation and to never ask personal details as well as the self-incriminating question "Can you tell me something about yourself?".

The primary market and the secondary market

Analogous to #stock #markets, one can classify job market into #primary and #secondary. Let me explain this in detail.

A primary job market is where there may be more than one vacancy for the same position in the company and those many candidates may be hired. Typically this is #campus hiring. In campus hiring, the candidates may not be able to #negotiate the #level and #salary much, though a few candidates with relevant #experience may be paid a little higher than others hired for the same job from the same campus. Often companies decide the salaries and the roles based on the campus they may visit.

The secondary market is where one looks for his / her next job, #advertised in #media and on the #Web. This is where it becomes tricky for the candidate. Companies have no business to ask how much a #candidate is #earning in the present job, because salary is a #bipartite #confidential matter between the #employee and the #employer. However, many prospective employers ask this information, to pay the candidate least possible salary. There is more than just salary.

The scam of peer interviews

Many companies have peer interviews. One of the reasons used for justifying peer interviews is that the peers know the job #requirements and the #organization #culture well. So, purportedly they can #assess the candidates well. The real reasons can be quite different.

"Love me, love my dog"

The #hiring #manager may be very comfortable with his team, may not want to antagonize his / her existing team by hiring a "different" candidate. This is the classic "Love me, love my dog!" attitude. The second reason is that the hiring manager may like to place oneself on a pedestal / in an ivory tower, make oneself scarce to the candidate, attribute self-importance to belittle the candidate.

If the role is important, why doesn't the hiring manager interview first?

It may be a good idea to refuse interviews from companies where the process begins with peer interviews. In my view, if the hiring manager knows the requirements of the role the best. If s/he does not want to interview the candidate first, then s/he does not deem the role, the recruitment and the hiring criteria, as important. As the hiring manager decides, the initial interviews by peers will likely be detrimental to the candidate or a waste of time at best.

The gang that moves together stays together

Often, peers are persons who would have worked in the hiring manager's team in their earlier employments. It can be ascertained with a quick glance of their LinkedIn profiles. They have greater mutual comfort, form a gang of sorts wherever they go and switch jobs together. They look for candidates of their "type", whatever "type" they may mean.

Company's interest or the peer's?

Peer interviews have conflicts of interests built in. Peers may reject candidates who are more #competent than themselves. Yours truly experienced this many times in the (in)famous A and G companies. There are hardly any peers who keep the interests of the company (that is to hire a great candidate) while interviewing a potential peer, keeping aside their personal interests ("Will the new hire to overtake me or get #paid more than I do").

However much one prepares for an interview, s/he much expect some unpleasant experiences and prepare mentally. Your mileage may vary.

I eagerly look for your views. Comment here!