I’m reading a book right now, written by prominent figures in the field of talent acquisition, and just finished a chapter about how to interview candidates of all types. It's very tactical: what questions to ask, which ones are outdated, how to detect an untruthful response, how to counter their counter, you name it. These guys are touching on everything.
Except the most important thing.
Not knocking this book (it's excellent) or any other book about talent development and career advancement. You should read all of them. You've got to learn the rules before you can break them.
But realize this: elaborate interview tactics, from both sides, are often just a poor substitute for the magic that's missing.
What's the magic? Being interesting.
Am I saying that all the best jobs should go to those who can razzle-dazzle the interviewer to the point of ignoring actual qualifications?
No. I'm saying that when 500 people applied for a job and 200 of them have the actual qualifications, further differentiation is required. While the other 199 are fixated on how they can appear even more qualified, you can just be a human being.
Your human being-ness is the layer that gets added on TOP of your qualifications. You authenticate your qualifications by conveying them with subtlety.
Interviews are inherently silly, of course. You cannot apply a rigid framework to understanding a unique human being. Humans respond to stories, so turn interviews into conversations.
Every interview you do, no matter which side of the table you’re on, should be derailed by the fact that you are unable to disguise, no matter how humble and tactful you are, the fact that you have a wide breadth of heroic and unique experiences under your belt; a love for life that you just can’t stop smiling about.
You have hobbies. Your kid has a hilarious talent. You once survived getting hit in the head by a 9-iron on the golf course, so you no longer golf, you race cars at the track on weekends. The scar on your hand is from a surfing accident. Last year you donated your entire closet and now you only own 2 suits and 6 white tees.
Then be quick to flip the spotlight to them. What's the story behind that vintage watch? What's the hardest thing about working here? Do you know so-and-so from such and such? Have you read The Infinite Game? Your early career arc is impressive -- who was your mentor? Is that your old Citroen in the office parking lot? (It probably isn’t, but I can personally guarantee you that that question leads to a very interesting conversation).
Will you be able to fit all of this into the allotted interview time? Hopefully not! If your interview doesn’t go 10 minutes overtime and end with “we should get coffee and pick this up again, I have so many more questions” then it was not a good interview.
Are there no substantial job-related questions that you need to prepare for? Of course there are (see separate post), but they won't be asked directly, so your answers must be intertwined into exciting conversation, and subliminally revealed in your own questions back to the interviewer.
People hire people they trust. And they trust people they know. So make a friend.
