Page 95 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

I N TERV IEW THE I N TERV IEW ER

The central truism about HR people is that, as a profession, they
are highly risk-averse. A nightmare for HR people is that the candi-
date they endorsed will melt down in the next interview or, worse,
be hired and then turn out to be a lemon. When that happens, guess
who is accountable? That’s right. The poor HR screener who missed
the candidate’s signs of pathology that, in retrospect, were as glaring
as a Times Square billboard. The result? If an HR screener has the
slightest hesitation about you or your interview, she (HR screeners
are overwhelmingly women) will simply go on to the next candidate.
Given the economy and the large number of qualified candidates
competing for each position these days, HR people won’t hesitate to
move on if you give them any reason to question your desirability as
a candidate.

So your first strategy is to not give them any doubt about your
application. To do that you must appear to be immediately quali-
fied, interested, positive, and likable. Confidence is important, but
try to avoid cockiness. Remember, your starting salary will usually
be higher—sometimes dramatically higher—than the salary of the
interviewer. Don’t give the interviewer another excuse to dislike you.

ALLY WITH THE HR INTERVIEWER

Your second strategy is to win the HR interviewer as an ally. If you
treat the HR interviewer as an impediment rather than as a per-
son, you convey arrogance and rudeness. Your attitude also raises
questions about your ability to work with every person on the team.
So in the interview, you will make yourself look attractive by genu-
inely caring about the HR person’s opinion. Listen thoughtfully and
gratefully. Treat the HR person with respect, knowing HR’s contri-
butions as well as HR’s limitations in the decision-making process.
Don’t lay it on too thick, but if you show real respect, the HR person
will tend to move your application to the thin pile that says “maybe”
instead of the thick pile marked “no way.”

In other words, your strategy in interviewing with HR is to satisfy
your interviewer that if he or she passes your file to the hiring man-
ager and you subsequently get the job, there will be no possibility

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