Job interviews. I don't think any of us enjoy them, they're a stressful affair. You're placed in front of a person, or sometimes multiple people and are supposed to put across the best possible image of yourself and why you're the best person to have stepped foot in that room. Rather daunting.
Having myself applied for countless numbers of weird jobs that require no qualifications whatsoever (I once got turned down by a company looking for someone to put flyers in letterboxes, a low point in my life) I have encountered several different types of interview. I've had the classic one on one interview, I've had group interviews and I've had phone interviews, and one thing I've concluded from them, is that they do not work.
The first job I got sacked from entailed standing in the street trying to get people to sign up to charity, I was your classic charity mugger and I was useless at it.
Fast forward a couple of months, I've finished a group interview and have been told by the interviewer that I have a natural knack for sales. Given my sacking, I can't help thinking that this man may have been slightly wrong. But how was he to know that? In the short time that he had known me, I had portrayed myself as this big, bold, confident man, comfortable with presenting myself in front of strangers. Now those who know me, know that I am not like that at all, but to get the job, that's who I knew I had to be, so that's who I became for an hour.
So the point I'd like to put across this week is, the working world and world around us has evolved and become more innovative, so why haven't interviews. There have been subtle tweaks here and there, and barring a few companies, the job application process remains fundamentally the same.
There is no way that you can determine that someone is the right person for the job, by sitting opposite them and interrogating them and getting them to perform for you. I think the issue is deeply rooted in the belief that certain jobs require certain traits and that is what the interviewers look out for. Businessmen and women must be cutthroat, salesmen and women must be extroverted and confident, chefs have to swear a lot. This is where I think companies are going wrong, they keep looking for clones of people they have hired in the past and get stuck in this never ending cycle of employee regeneration.
So for any business owners out there, if you're looking for new staff, why not take a punt, take on someone who doesn't necessarily fit the mould, someone who may bring you something a bit different, and you never know, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Have a lovely week! Dan C, Gen Z