#CJP Insights – In an interview, you never know what strikes gold for the candidate

Interviews are high stake affairs. A 30 minute conversation and life can change – richer role, higher salary, better employer brand … but you never know what really works to a candidate advantage.

Its human psychology at play and the decision cannot really be expressed in terms of an equation

a) x questions answered correctly and Pass

b) x-1 questions answered correctly and Fail

We are hard wired to typecast, pigeon hole and stereotype

We make snap judgments within seconds. Multiple data points that have entered our sense filtered rapidly through our memories, past experience and even our current state, to support our unconscious mind to shape an opinion

And thus, interviews have a mystery element also . Sometimes the interviewers are unable to explain why they said Yes to a candidate when when s/he had answered a lot of questions incorrectly, did not come across as very bright/dynamic

I once attended a talk by a renowned Indian entrepreneur – Mr Mehta . He narrated an instance where he interviewed a candidate and found him to be missing the spark, maybe because of a series of wrongly answered questions. The candidate evidently knew he wasn\’t going to make it.

But then that was the close of day and as the entrepreneur walked out of the room, the candidate also walked out but before that – he switched off the lights

That left Mr Mehta quite surprised . He told himself – a candidate who knows for sure that he won\’t be selected for this job still cares about my company – and this speaks volumes about his sense of values . A stroke of positivity emerged and he decided to give him a  chance. The candidate, Mr Mehta stated, eventually rose through the ranks in the organisation and vindicated his leap of faith.

Have you also faced moments where you have felt a strong urge to give someone a chance , because of such mysterious factors , which clearly cannot be decoded for sure