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Crandall
Associates, Inc |
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Listen Carefully During An Interview |
"Friends, Romans and Countrymen, Lend Me Your Complete Attention!" Unknown author, but very wise Listen Carefully During An Interview In today's culture, we pride ourselves on our ability to communicate in any manner of media. We equate communication with the ability to convey our message. However, we pay little attention and even neglect the other aspect of communication - listening. How effective is our message if no one gets it? "Good listening is vital to effective communication." How many times have you heard, "Weren't you listening to a word I was saying?", where in fact you said, yes, you were and may have even thought so but, were you really? Or, were you also thinking ahead to what you were going to do next? It's easy not to listen in the true sense We're trying to juggle too many balls at once and have too many distractions. We view ourselves as the model of efficiency. Yet if we are not picking up subtle cues which can help us avoid making misjudgments - how efficient are we? First of all I think its important to understand what we mean by listening. Its been said we talk at one another rather that with one another. We nod our heads, chomping at the bit for our turn to speak so we can make our point. In order to communicate effectively, we have to not only hear what is said but to also understand the attitudes, needs and motives that lie behind the words. This is especially true when it comes to interviewing a prospective employee. People will often say exactly what they think you want to hear . . . I'm not saying that people are inherently trying to deceive. But, in a relationship where the two people are not on equal footing such as employer versus employee, one must pay particular attention to the manner or delivery of the speaker. Are there hesitations? Did the speaker answer the question, or was there a whole lot of nothing being said? Consider the situation where you have an "out-of-town" candidate who, on paper and in person, is everything you've been looking for to fill the position. You're anxious to fill the job. You have already decided this is the person for the job. However, you must consider what the candidate is thinking. This is where listening skills are particularly valuable. You ask why they are looking to leave their current position. Nine times out of ten, the answer will be for greater responsibility or more money. Does your job offer what the candidate is seeking, or will they use your offer as ammunition to elicit a counteroffer from their present employer? Equally important to consider and question is the candidate's personal circumstances. You question their willingness to make a move. Again your listening skills should be sharp as a tack. Are they as excited to join your firm as you are to hire them? You listen for those hesitations as well as the tone and timber of the voice. Are their questions honest attempts to flesh out an offer so they can plan their relocation? Or, do they represent obstacles the candidate is putting up to justify not accepting a generous offer. Consider this example . . . A candidate interviewed with a company at a salary well above the state range. The company knew this was the person they were looking for and started to negotiate an offer fairly early in the process. With each demand they met the candidate would then add yet another. Finally, it became obvious that while the candidate insisted he was interested and excited about the opportunity, he was never going to accept the offer. The problem, as it turns out, was that while the candidate was truly interested in the opportunity, his family which had very strong ties to the area, was balking at the prospect of making a move to another state. How could listening have prevented this? Well, for one thing, the candidate had casually mentioned weeks before, and casually mentioned and even prefaced some of his remarks with "before I forget" and then proceeded to inquire as to the possibility of obtaining corporate housing and commuting home on the weekends. What is he/she telling you? First of all, even though phrases such as "before I forget", "by the way" or "incidentally" are meant to give the impression that the statement which follows is an afterthought, it's more often than not anything but. In fact, it may be the most important thing on that person's mind and the whole reason for the conversation. Someone considering such a drastic lifestyle change is saying loud and clear "I am not relocating". Had this been discerned weeks earlier, a lot of time and money could have been saved. It's amazing how something so simple can have such a profound effect. Therefore, friends, Romans and countrymen, we must lend more than our ears when communicating with each other, we have to give our complete attention. Remember, no one can learn anything while they're talking.
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© Copyright Crandall Associates, Inc., 2007. All Rights Reserved. |
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