When interviews are not going well
Today was a difficult day. I had to explain to a candidate why they were not getting job offers from employers. The reason this was difficult is that I didn’t want to say anything that would cause offence, or later upset. The reason it had to be done however, was that it is hard to improve if this feedback isn’t given to job seekers.
To give you a bit of a background, I have a fantastic candidate who we will call John. John has all of the raw aptitude to truly be successful in any organisation. He is confident, a great communicator, well presented, he is driven and comes across as motivated to do well. The only issue is that despite seeing 8 companies for interview, John simply isn’t being offered any jobs. The jobs he really wants, aren’t inviting him back to a second stage interview. The jobs he isn’t keen on, still aren’t inviting him back for another interview.
And so this begs the question “why?”
The feedback from the employers had been that John comes across as too confident, too cocky and not keen enough on the roles available. I know from my dealings with John that he is incredibly keen on the positions, yet this doesn’t seem to be coming across. So where is he going wrong?
Well, firstly John isn’t preparing in the same manner as the other candidates. We spend a lot of time briefing candidates to prepare for roles in a certain way and yet he isn’t taking in the same level of preparation to interviews as other candidates. He is definitely researching the company prior to an interview, but is not able to articulate enough of this knowledge when quizzed in the interview.
As someone who interviews candidates myself (both senior and junior) it is frustrating and sometimes offensive when meeting a candidate that has not researched the business. This screams out that this person doesn’t care about the interview. If they don’t care about the interview, perhaps they don’t care about the company, the role, the interviewer, the management…the time spent investing in the interview itself. Overall, it can come across as disrespectful. It’s funny, isn’t it? How something so small can have such large repercussions?
And yet, the confidence is there in all of us. We all assume we will be able to “wing it” in an interview and impress the interviewer with our natural charm. In fact, on many occassions, this probably is enough. Unless you’re up against an individual that has gone the extra mile to demonstrate their research and understanding of the business they’re being interviewed for. Then…well, you’re quite literally screwed.
You see, as a potential employer you want to hire the dilligent, hard worker with a genuine passion for your business. In fact, you would probably hire that dilligent, hard worker over the better qualified, more experienced candidate that appeared badly prepared and disinterested. It seems so obvious what employers are looking for, so how can you ensure that you’re preparing effectively before an interview.
Always make sure that you understand WHAT the company does. And ensure you can explain it in your own words. How do they add value, and who do they do this for? Ensure you can familiarise yourself with their competitors and have a rough understanding of what makes each company different. Why do clients choose to engage with them and who are some examples you can refer to? This type of research should be documented and prepared in a structured manner which can be referred to during the interview. Many of our candidates put together business documents to demonstrate their understanding of the business and the marketplace in which they operate. When employers see a well presented document, it immediately sends out the right message.
More than anything, its essential to get feedback and learn why interviews might not be going well. John was keen to hear feedback and took everything on board. He was in fact pleased to hear what had been happening and even provided feedback to us (as recruiters) which would further help him in interviews.
Next step from here is to keep proividing John with interviews that are in line with his career objectives and providing some coaching around preparing for interviews and conducting them face to face. I feel pretty sure that John will find a good role very soon which fits his needs and desires.
Once he is in there, I have every confidence that he will be a phenomenal success!
Davinia Noble
ProGrad is a graduate recruitment company working on behalf of some of Australia’s leading organisations to assess, place and train graduates into B2B sales and marketing roles. For more information, please call our ProGrad office on 02 8235 8300.
