What Gets You Recruited?

Since I moved to the United States, I have interviewed for many positions. Some were desk jobs, many were academic, and interestingly some were no where close to my profession — towing the cart in -15 centigrade in snowy night. Most job interviews, irrespective of how scholarly or odd the job is — the anatomy of the interview is more or less the same. It starts with an introduction, kicks off, goes into building rapport, gets to a climax, follows with questions and answers, and if you are the only candidate or if they like you already, a person would like to show you around.

Job is posted, you apply and the recruiters will evaluate you but one thing they never mention in the advertisement and nearly never say during interview is actual key to sealing the deal. First you need to know that if you are interviewed then it means you have qualified the bare minimum of that particular position.

Sealing the deal factor is your Attitude.

Attitude or demeanor is the most important filter after your bare minimum criteria for the job. In any job, there is a certain attitude that is demanded which is assessed.

One common thing assessed for all the jobs is — “Is the candidate fit to work with us?”

This does not mean if your color, accent, background or anything matters at all. These things can be easily tracked by your resume. What means is — How well is the person’s bandwidth aligned with the organization or the manager? It can only be known by balanced conversation. When I interviewed for so diverse set of jobs, I came across different people, with different education levels and some even not comfortable for a foreigner to be at their firm — the general discussion, however, was around if my Attitude is fit for them.

After initial filters, the most important factor that gets a person recruited is the demeanor.

These are the few things that can help you navigate your interviews in future:

1. Make sure that you know the set of attitudes that are necessary in your industry.
2. Never boast about yourself. There is a delicate balance between telling your achievements and boasting about them.
3. Irrespective of the industry you are interviewed for, always have a growing mindset and should be an integral part of your personality.
4. Interrupting others in interview means, you are out.
5. Ask question about the industry or organization for your genuine understanding or knowing the opportunities you may have — not to just be heard.
6. If you are interviewed by a senior in the company, be known that after your interview — the interviewer will ask his or her secretary about your first interaction with them.
7. Recruiters are wise people — mostly! — they can see your passions. Show your fire but do not over do it. They know your strengths and weaknesses at various levels before you even walked in.
8. Keep your introductions very brief. Once a recruiter did a seminar at a course that I attended in a business school and he told that longer the introduction, less likely we would be inclined to build the relationship.
9. A powerful interview is like a date with bit of past, some of present, and somewhat the future. An interview is like the speed dating — they want to know, whether we can be together or not.
10. Be yourself, always. Do not pretend. It takes zero effort to be real.

These items are not the part of any job advertisement or qualifications but the most important to get you a job and possibly also help at various levels of your career. Job Recruiters do not want you to know but you should know that this is what will bag you promising results — now and always.

Stay energetic, keep growing.