WHAT ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER?

Almost every day, some pundit or other, is pontificating on how candidates should conduct themselves during an interview -- what they should say, how they should speak, what they should wear etc. But rarely if ever is there a focus on the interviewer -- the employer or executive search that is representing the employer and how they should behave.

I find this lack of focus on the interviewer interesting because isn't the hiring company trying to "sell" their company to the best candidate? The interviewer(s) might get away with slovenly, or bizarre behaviour and questioning with the less desirable candidates, but not with those whom they truly wish to attract. An interview in fact is a negotiation, between two parties who wish to engage in a business arrangement. As in any negotiation, both parties need to understand the offer and the offerings and put their best foot forward to ensure a desirable outcome.

Some things which I think are inexcusable from an interviewer perspective are:

• Lateness -- I'm sorry, a couple of minutes maybe, but leaving a candidate cooling their heels for 15 to 20 minutes (and yes I've witnessed this and had reports of this from some of my colleagues) is inexcusable. What you are saying to the candidate is that you will always be disrespectful of someone else's time. And guess what -- if this is the way before you get hired, it will be even worse once you are employed.
• Lack of Preparation -- Know who you are interviewing. Don't fumble around looking for the candidate's resume or  begin reading it for the first time when the person is sitting in front of you. Also as part of this, don't have other people's resumes lying in full view of the interviewee. Again this behaviour is not respectful and any good potential hire will walk away.
• Checking emails, pings or taking a call -- I've witnessed all of these and have had many more reported to me. Really? Again, are you just showing the potential candidate how important you are or how insignificant they are? 
• Follow up -- This is post interview, but if an individual has taken time from their day and made an effort to come and see you, then advising them as to the status of the process is important. If they haven't made the grade, let them know and the sooner the better. And if you are considering them, well you better let them know that too, otherwise they might end up finding a more communicative potential employer. Be considerate and show some respect again for the effort someone has made.

This goes equally for the search firm or the employer, because the former is representing the latter, so in effect, your reputation as a company rests on how the search firm is representing you.

Here are a few real life examples from my past. 

• I once was interviewed by a VP of HR, who spent his entire time asking me questions with his chair swivelled away from me looking out the window. I didn't know what to make of it. I don't know what interviewing strategy he was employing but it served to tick me off.
• I had a similar incident with a C-Level interviewer, where he sat staring right past me during the interview. In this case though I wasn't asked any questions. He just spent the entire hour of the interview talking about himself!
• I have had two situations, one from executive search and another from the President of a company, which offended my female sensibilities. The former asked me how did I think I could have a demanding job when I had a child and the latter asked me "What I thought about women in business?" If you are thinking this must have been eons ago, not so much. We are talking mid-90's. Oh, you are probably wondering how I answered these questions.I asked the former how often he asked this question of men, and the latter? "Well, I said, there are obviously not enough of us in your business." These answers caused both of them to go quiet.
• I was being interviewed by one of the top recruitment firms for a role. At the end of the interview, the recruiter indicated that I was an excellent candidate for the position. And then he asked if I would sponsor him on a charity run he was doing in the week ahead. I was a little stunned at the request so I asked "Are you indicating that if I sponsor you I get the job and vice-versa?" I said it with a smile on my face, but the implication was there. "No, no, I was just kidding" and that was the end of it.
• A C-Level executive interviewed me and looked like he had just rolled out of bed 5 minutes ago. Unshaven and slovenly. Of course I was dressed to the proverbial 'nines' so the disparity was apparent to anyone observing. He looked like he had just gotten out of jail and that perhaps I was his lawyer. 

My message here is let's not just focus on the interviewee but also on the interviewer. If you are a candidate for a role, you shouldn't expect to be disrespected. If you are during an interview, run, because it will only get worse when you are hired. I wished in a couple of instances that I had done that, because the environment within the company was well represented during the interview process!

PS: You may have noted that I have only mentioned men as the interviewers. That is because this is where my questionable experiences have occurred. I have been interviewed by some women, and for me the experiences were great, but I'm sure there are some stories that people have about women as well, but I don't

LIFE LESSONS FROM A LAPTOP THAT CRASHED

When you linger over a decision, hoping that the inevitable will somehow go away, the only person you are fooling is yourself.

I realized that when my seven-year-old Mac laptop died an ignominious death last week. It had become cranky over the last few months, crashing intermittently, programs being non-responsive, taking forever to do the simplest tasks, and don't even get me started on the download speed.

About a year ago I had to install new RAM, which brought me to 4 GB, and that helped a little, but not much. I kept nursing my system along, not wanting to spend the money for a new one, but also getting into the mindset that it was good enough and that I could manage.  I might not be a power user or gamer, but with the changes in technology and our use of it over the last seven years (think youTube, streaming, etc), you don't have to be to have issues with an old computer. 

Finally last week, I realized I couldn't ignore my systems shortcomings. It crashed several times, refused to cooperate a few more, so I went and bought a new one. I brought my external hard-drive backup, which had seemed to be merrily backing up every hour and handed it over to the techies at the store to transfer my files. Alas, that is when I found out that my computer had left me -- perhaps not physically but virtually (or if you want to make a human comparator let's call it emotionally). There had been no backup for 3 months. 

I won't get into all the details, but my hard drive was corrupted and thankfully, with all the brainpower of the techies at Apple, they were finally able to transfer my files after 4 days.

This computer episode made me think about how so many decisions in life we hold off on making because we figure that we can make it work for a little longer, and/or maybe if we ignore it that it will get better.  I see people (including me) doing this time and time again, holding off on dealing with a fractured marriage/relationship, an intolerable job, a client or supplier relationship, or the myriad of other things that can challenge us.

Yes, you can nurse it for a while, "upgrade the RAM," ignore the frustration that is wrought, and just figure well, this is good enough. We believe that if we wait long enough things will get better, but the converse is often the reality.

And then what happens? Well, we may still be physically present in the relationship, but emotionally we've mostly checked out. There is the old adage that the person has one foot out the door. And if you have one foot out the door, what's keeping your other foot from following?

Pretending that things will get better is nothing more than sticking your head in the sand and assuming that the "threat" will be gone or the situation will have changed  once you resurface, but it always comes back. And by the time you realize this, you may find that some amazing opportunities which had presented themselves are gone.

My computer knew before me that it was time for it to go to that electronic happy place in the Cloud (sorry I couldn't resist :)). It decided that three months ago, but I lingered. And that lack of action almost caused me a bit of a catastrophe -- a significant amount of lost data.

I intend to take the lessons that my sage, tribal elder of a computer taught me and reflect on other areas of my life where I may have lingered too long. Perhaps you should as well!

NO MAGIC WAND FOR SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Today the fitness centres will be full, the diets are beginning, people resolve to quit smoking, drinking etc., or determine to improve themselves in a myriad of different ways.

Those of us who workout regularly despise the months of January and February, when the flock of newbies hoard the machines, and who also are doing the exercises wrong. "Tut, tut" we say, and we wait. Because within a couple of months, if not earlier, most of these efforts will be abandoned. 

Not only in the gyms, but the diets, the quit whatever, the "I'll be a better person by……" It is the annual desire to improve in some way, but alas, because people can't see an improvement in a day, or week, or just incremental improvements after a month, or they "cheat" by having "just one smoke or drink: and then they go "what's the point", abandon their efforts and end up next year with the same resolution and intent to do better.

Why do people end up on this hamster wheel of disappointment? Because everyone is looking for a fairy godmother to wield a magic wand, wave it and remove whatever offends one. Unfortunately, fairy godmothers are illusionary, and the reality is making any positive change in your life takes effort and sacrifice. (And remember even the fairy godmother couldn't maintain Cinderella's makeover past midnight). 

The fitness clubs, the diet gurus, the smoke cessation product companies all promise (unless you read the fine-print with the disclaimers) a better you, if you buy into their marketing. And they usually have a "in four weeks" you can lose x amount of pounds, or feel 10 years younger. Wow, who wouldn't want that? I mean, four weeks? I can do anything for four weeks! 

The unfortunate thing is that after working out several times a week or going on a crash diet, people revert to their old ways. "I got too busy," "I'm just taking a short-break," "I'm going on vacation." Excuses, wrapped up in pretty words. Because once you revert to the way you have been living for years, well, let's face it, you haven't incorporated the new way.

If you are really serious about positive change, accept the incremental improvements. Don't say "gee, I lost five pounds, so now I can celebrate with a slab of chocolate cake." Keep at it. Focus. Chose one area where you commit -- that is don't say I'm going to diet, start a fitness program and etc. Just one. And stick to it.

Don't expect to see an immediate improvement. It's taken you years to get this way and it is going to take you a while to change. Don't go for the crash diets, because beyond this not being healthy, your body goes into starvation mode and once you stop, you'll gain more weight back. Don't say I'm going to go to the gym 5 days a week, start with one, or two and then move up from there. Otherwise you will disappoint yourself and then say 'what's the point.'

There was a quote from author Carl Bard I came across the other day that truly resonated with me about changing one's life. 

"Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."

So whatever you are considering for 2014 keep this quote in mind. And then be able to reflect on New Year's Eve 2014, how you've created a great new ending for your life!