Interviews are not only stressful for the interviewees. It is hard for the interviewers too…
Imagine every time you enter the interviewing room there is a set of wide-open, terrified eyes staring at you. It somewhat resembles a scene from Bambi where the mama deer spots the huntsman. The pupils of the candidate dilate, his movements become sharp and brisk and his face goes pasty. The hunt has begun, and the candidate is on high alert. Who will outsmart who?
There was recently an interview I had to conduct over Skype where the candidate really surprised me, and I would have given him the job solely because of his creativity. The interview started as it usually does – two strangers staring at their own reflection on the screen rather than look at the camera directly. The questioning was going great until I asked the candidate a specific question related to the area of his, so-called, expertise. Suddenly, his screen froze, and the sound disappeared. The image was still but I continued to talk and stay on the line. While I was waiting for the call to resume, I started looking at his surroundings in the image when I suddenly noticed that the clock arrows behind the interviewee were moving. At that moment I knew that the screen had not frozen. This was a calculated move. The candidate was trying to avoid answering a question by pretending that the connection went bad. It was then that I decided to tell him I knew what was going on. Once I did the call was ended and I never managed to get back in touch with him.
To this day I am not sure who outsmarted who, but one thing is certain … the candidate was very creative and tried to use the unreliability of technology to his advantage. What would you have done if you were in my shoes?
There is so much literature for candidates on interviewing tips and tricks but what about the interviewers? Here at BPC we have you covered. If you need assistance with polishing up your interviewing techniques and learning new tips and tricks that will prepare you better for the real world just drop us a line!
