How to end job interviews
This week’s post explains what will end job interviews and employee careers. I have several jobs working in HR. One is to interview candidates, and the other is to work through the challenges/opportunities employees may face throughout their careers. Yes, I said “opportunities”. Very HR-esque of me, but when you are being PAID to do a job, challenges are not problems. Challenges are “opportunities,” and challenges are job security.
Premise 1
As employees, we are paid to do a job. Your job is to solve your manager’s and your company’s problems. If you think your job is to get a promotion or a raise, think again. Consider yourself lucky whenever you are presented with a problem, because you were just presented with job security. Problems may include shipping products on schedule, putting together X amount of widgets per hour, or coming up with the next revenue-generating product the company will profit from. These are all opportunities.
Premise 2
If A equals B and B equals C, then A must equal C.
Your manager is a human being. Human beings don’t like messy people problems. Your manager doesn’t like messy people problems.
Don’t be a messy people problem.
The three words I don’t appreciate hearing during interviews and when working on employee issues are “hate,” “can’t,” “impossible,” and “stupid.”
Yeah, that is 4. Please don’t say I never gave you anything. “Stupid” is a freebie.
When I interview a candidate, if I hear the words “can’t,” “impossible,” or “hate” in the course of the interview, the candidate is done. I want to present a problem solver to the hiring manager, not a problem “creator.” The words “can’t,” “impossible,” and “hate” are strong signs of problem creators.to me, this is worse than dropping an F-bomb. This is where I turn to the little children and exclaim, “Earmuffs!!” Proper boys and girls don’t drop F-bombs, and employees who are constantly thinking about solving problems don’t use language that includes “can’t” and “impossible”.
The word “stupid,” used in most contexts, will also end an interview. After I hear these words in an interview, I may still be asking you interview questions. When you answer, I will think about the White Sale at Wal-Mart and ask if they have 800-thread-count sheets on sale. Anytime I hear a candidate say something like “My prior manager always had stupid ideas” or “My manager was stupid”, the interview is over. Elvis has left the building, and so has the opportunity.
Can’t and impossible will end job interviews
- “This can’t be done.”
- “I can’t do that.”
- “My manager always asks more of the team than they can do.”
- “This idea is impossible.”
- “We wasted our time; it wasn’t going to get done in the amount of time given.”
- “My last manager always wanted the impossible.”
For the record, we put a man on the moon in the 60’s. If we could do that in the 60s (That would be the 1960s, before computers), I don’t think there is anything your manager can ask you that is “impossible” or “can’t” be done.
“Hate” will end job interviews:
- “I hate the reporting part of my job.”
- “I hate it when someone cuts me off mid-sentence.”
- “I hate cauliflower.”
- “I hate Suzy’s co-worker; she is stupid” (this is a double whammy)
Years ago, I saw a clip of Oprah Winfrey interviewing Michael Jordan. She said something to the effect, “Michael, you can have pretty much anything in the world. I want to know what you hate?”
Michael paused in thought and then responded. “Hate is a very strong word. I don’t think I hate anything; I just haven’t learned how to appreciate it yet. I don’t hate anything”.
And the audience exploded in applause. This is why everyone loves Mike.
Flag for a closed mind
The words “can’t”, “impossible”, “hate”, and “stupid” are all indications of a problem creator. A candidate who indicates they are a problem creator won’t get hired for several reasons. The list below is only two reasons.
- I work in HR. This makes me one of two guys. I am either the guy tasked to help the manager solve their messy people problems, or I am tasked to solve them myself. If I see a problem creator when looking to fill a position, I will look at the 100 other candidates I know are out there. That is one of the benefits of being the gatekeeper. Wouldn’t you do the same thing?
- Managers don’t want naysayers on their team. Managers don’t want to deal with problems. Many employees think that a manager’s job is to solve employee problems. If that were the case, all the folks working in daycare would be perfectly qualified to work as managers in corporate America. Managers are people, and people don’t like to work with problem creators.
I want to hire and promote employees who see the glass half full. No one wants to hang out with a naysayer, let alone work on a project. I don’t want to work with someone who sees the half-empty glass. If you think the world is going to come to an end, then build a bunker and stockpile it with MREs and guns. I don’t need a cheerleader, but I don’t want a naysayer. If I am going to err, I will err on the side of a cheerleader.
Anyone can be happy-go-lucky when times are good
I am not looking to hire employees who will only perform in the best of times. I am looking to hire someone to perform consistently in the worst of times when deadlines create stress and a lack of revenue creates panic.
The team that can function at these times will be the team that sees the light at the end of the tunnel. This will be the team that makes it through, and I want to be on. “Can’t” and “impossible” won’t be in this team’s vocabulary.
If you want to get hired, and more importantly, if you want to receive more opportunities in your current gig, stay away from the use of the words “hate”, “can’t”, “impossible”, and “stupid”.
I have listed only four words that will end job interviews. Do you know any others? In the comments, let me know which ones you have seen kill careers and interviews below.
See you at the after party,
HRNasty
nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone who is good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.
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Dennis
August 22, 2013I once applied to work at an “Outdoor” company. The lobby was decorated with nature scenes, and the rooms had stuffed animals. I myself was stuffed into a room with a lifeless stuffed antelope-looking bust to take a 3 hour online skills evaluation test. My first words upon entering the room were “I will be here with that thing?”. Aside from mediocre test scores, I did not get the job.
Bob
August 14, 2013companies? Company’s perhaps.
HRNasty
August 14, 2013You are absolutely right. Thank you! I will make the correction.