In a structured job interview points are awarded to each applicant based on their interview answers.
Some employers, as well as using the traditional structured job interview, will use out-the-box recruitment tricks to test the suitability of each applicant.
This week a candidate attending a job interview, with an undisclosed employer, failed before the job interview officially started.
On the ‘Life Pro Tips’ forum on Reddit, a Chief Financial Officer explained how a male applicant failed the company values test. She wrote: “Today, a candidate blew his interview in the first 5 minutes after he entered the building.”
The Interview Hidden Test
What many job applicants fail to understand is how an opinion of each interviewee is created at the initial employer meeting – as the applicant walks through the employers door.
On reddit, the hiring manager explained how the receptionist greeted the candidate, he was “dismissive” she stated.
The receptionist then attempted to engage the applicant in a conversation, but was again confronted by poor people skills “again, no eye contact, no interest in speaking with her.”
Unknown to the interviewee was the truth that the receptionist was in fact the hiring manager. In the end she asked him into the conference room and explained ” how every single person on our team is valuable and worthy of respect”
The employers goal here was to check personal qualities – is the applicant a team player?
She later explained to the applicant he wouldn’t be a good fit for the company and thanked him for his time before ending the interview.
Why Trick the Applicants?
Some career professionals will view this type of interview test as underhand.
These days applicants can search for commonly asked job interview questions by industry, and even by company.
Research allows each candidate to prepare the ‘prefect’ high-scoring interview answer which can damage the recruitment process.
Research shows, how an applicant, being aware of the interview questions, can distort the interview in such a way that the employer believes that the interviewee will perform better then they actual will do.
This distortions can result in suitable career professionals being rejected for job roles they are highly suitable for.
In addition, employers also need to hire a team that meets the organisations culture and values. This is why some hiring managers ‘trick’ the applicants.
Interview Observations
One customer service employer invited all applicants to an all-day interview.
Around 100 potential canadines attended. Each interviewee was asked to stand up in front of the other candidates and deliver a 1 minute introduction speech.
The employer went on to explain how they valued customer service – listening and communication, and these skills would be assessed during the 1-minute talks. In addition, they asked for all candidates to be polite and listen to whichever speaker was on stage.
What wasn’t discussed was how the interviewers, who were situated around the room, were observing the seated applicants, not the interviewee on stage. they were looking for who was listening or who was ‘on their phone,’ which candidates were encouraging and which were dismissive.
The golden rule for the job interview is to be professional from entering the employers building to leaving, as you never know who is watching!
Job Interview Advice
