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Who Hires the People Who Interview You? by Connie H. Deutsch Did you ever wonder how the people who interview you for a job got the job that lets them interview you? I've learned a lot about the interview process and the people who interview you. When I was young and I started looking for jobs, I thought the people who interview you know what they're doing. They know whether you'd make a good employee or not. They'd be able to match up your skill sets with their available positions. They would be able to see your potential and guide you in the right direction. How naïve we are when we are young. It's embarrassing to think I was ever that young. I remember going to school and looking in the Classified Ads in the Help Wanted section of the newspaper to see what kind of jobs were available. I still hadn't decided what my major was going to be but I was very interested in Philosophy and Psychology. No one told me how to read the Classified Ads and I spent hours trying to figure out what the abbreviations meant. It was a hopeless venture but one thing I did learn. After hours and hours of trying to make heads or tails out of the Help Wanted section, I discovered there were no job listings for a Philosopher so I promptly changed my major and made Philosophy my minor. The very first interview that I went on after I graduated was to the telephone company. The ad said that I had to have a minimum of two years of school and I had my four-year degree so I figured I had a good chance. I also had a pleasant telephone voice. I mean, at that age, who doesn't have a pleasant telephone voice? I dressed appropriately for an interview, and in those years no one dressed inappropriately for an interview, for work, or for school. There was only one dress code for everyone; the girls wore dresses or skirts and blouses and the boys wore white shirts, ties, and slacks. And so, I went to my interview dressed for success. I took the written test, the telephone call test, and the interview and did very well. Too well. The interviewer told me she was sorry to have to turn me down but she felt I would be bored within a very short time and they would have spent all that money training me and then I would be looking for something more challenging. I tried to assure her that I would not get bored and their money would be well spent. She was adamant that I wouldn't want to stay with the phone company. She said you're overqualified. Throughout the years, I kept hearing that I was overqualified for the jobs that interested me. I didn't even try to interview for the jobs that I knew I was underqualified for. And there really were no jobs that I was adequately qualified for that interested me. Then, one year, money was tighter than usual. It was right before Christmas and I spotted an ad in the newspaper looking for people who wanted to work as a cashier for six weeks at this department store. I quickly put on my interview outfit and hurried over to fill out an application, all prepared to start that day. I was interviewed by a very sweet lady who asked me if I was willing to take a job that would only last six weeks. I assured her that I would take any job for any length of time. She kept reassuring me that I was just the kind of applicant she was looking for. I breathed a little easier. Then she told me that I'd have to take a math test and the air whooshed out of my lungs. "Math has always been my worst subject," I told her. "Oh, don't worry about that," she said. "We just need to make sure you can count out change for the customer. I'm sure you'll do just fine and we can put you to work right away. Go in that room and take the test and I'll grade it for you while you wait." I went into the room, took the test, and with so much apprehension swirling around inside me, I waited for this sweet lady who wanted me to work starting immediately, to come out and give me my test results. When she came out she was frowning. I was afraid to ask her how I did but then I braved it and finally asked her, "How did I do?" She frowned again and said, "You got 100% and that's why I can't hire you." I thought she was fooling. Nope. She wasn't fooling. She told me that she thought I would get bored and leave the store after they trained me. Money was in such short supply, I assured her that I would not get bored and I would not leave the store before the six weeks were up. I even pleaded with her telling her, "It's only for six weeks. I promise you I won't get bored in just six weeks." No go. She apologized and didn't hire me. A short time later, I was hired by the COO to be the Personnel Director of that department store where I had been turned down as a seasonal cashier just a few weeks before. Now I had 125 employees under me, and the store manager was the only one I reported to. When I started my new position, I looked for the sweet lady who had interviewed me but she was no longer there. I guess she got bored with the job and left. Connie H. Deutsch is an internationally known business consultant and personal advisor who has a keen understanding of human nature and is a natural problem-solver. She is known throughout the world for helping clients find solutions to problems that are often complex and systemic in nature and part of a corporation's culture or an individual's pattern of behavior. Connie has hosted her own weekly radio show, been a weekly guest on a morning radio show, done guest spots on radio shows around the country, and appeared as a guest on a cable television show. Connie wrote a weekly newspaper Advice Column for sixteen years and has been invited to speak at local colleges and given lectures around the country. She also wrote the scripts for a weekly financial show on cable television. Connie is the author of the book, "Whispers of the Soul" and is the co-author of an E-book, "Getting Rich While the Rest of the World Falls Apart" which is being offered as a free download on her website. She has also written and produced two CDs on Meditation and Relationships and has done coaching on customer service and employee relationships. Her website is: http://www.conniehdeutsch.com
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applicant, job, interview, Help Wanted, Classified Ads, interviewer, position, store, store manager, training, job search, employee, employer, hire, s,
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