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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Campina Grande do Sul by | Dec 14, 2015 | Adventures in Interviewing, Hiring Managers, Interview Techniques

I need to order isotretinoin without presciption and order it COD katy_bethOver the Thanksgiving holiday, my daughter and I were listening to the radio. A song came on that we both love. I began belting out the tune at the top of my lungs and sang along to the chorus of the Zac Brown Band song. I sang “Long Gone” along in perfect pitch (to me at least).  My kid laughed uproariously. “MOM”, she yelled, “Those aren’t the words!” I said, “Yes they are!” She giggled “No, really. It’s not ‘Long Gone’. It’s ‘Home Grown’!” She had to google it for me to believe her.

This misunderstanding happens in interviews for new employees all the time. Someone on the interview team will recount what the candidate said and someone else will have heard the words from the person completely differently. The very first step in the analysis of an interview for the hiring team is to agree to what the candidate actually said. The actual choice of words that they used are very important. For example, “My boss is really great to work with”. Did they really say “with”? Are you sure they didn’t say “My boss is really great to work ‘for'”? That simple word changes the entire meaning of the sentence as well as the intent of the comment. The word “with” denotes that the candidate doesn’t acknowledge their bosses’ authority, and if they don’t acknowledge it in the interview, they really won’t when they have direct deposit.

I talk about listening to the exact words all the time to my clients to ensure they get to hire someone who will fit with the company culture, leadership style and even the position itself. If you are not paying attention, you can miss something really important in an interview which can lead to a bad hire. You can also really embarrass yourself in front of your teenage daughter.

Barbara Walters and I have the same job title, but not the same job.

Barbara Walters is one of the best interviewers in the world, bar none. She is prepared, she does her research, and people tell her things that they don’t tell anyone else. Charlie Rose is another great example of an amazing interviewer. He asks probing questions, and then he is amazing at letting the conversation take its course.
I am also an interviewer, but my job is vastly different from Ms. Walters for one reason: the power difference between the interviewer and a candidate is one sided for the interviewer. Barbara Walters is a powerhouse in her own right, and yet, the people that she interviews run countries. There isn’t a large power difference on her side. They aren’t looking to her to provide them a lively hood, and really, she looks to THEM for her lively hood.
When a hiring manager is interviewing someone, they typically don’t understand the enormous power that they have over their candidates, and when you don’t understand the dynamic between two people, you can’t make effective hiring decisions.

Who is an Interviewer?

Lots of people are confused about the role of an interviewer. Some people think that an interviewer is a Human Resources professional. Human resources is defined as the function within an organization charged managing policies related to the management of individuals who already work in the establishment. The responsibility interviewers perform is the formal meetings for the assessment of the qualifications of an applicant. In other words, interviewers identify future staff.

While the roles of human resource professionals sometimes require them to also perform the duties of an interviewer, this is not essentially part of their job description. People also often confuse interviewers with recruiters or headhunters. Recruiters solicit people to apply for positions. Interviewers select the candidates and determine the finalists for review by management of the company.

If your human resources department is performing interviews, look into additional training to give them the appropriate tools. Nowhere in their education is this job skill addressed.

No one can replace the hiring manager in the interview process.