I want a 2nd Date – Why Won’t They Hire Me?
So, you’ve got a resume that’s stellar – at least according to the approvers at Ladders.com! – and, oh look! You got an interview request! You go donned in your “grown-up” clothes for your interview, portfolio in hand, to go through your interviews. And then you wait……..and wait……and wait…….and suddenly you start to feel like you went on a date that you thought was awesome, but your date isn’t returning your calls. Panic sets in, you start doing the dance “should I call? Should I email? Well, I don’t want to seem pushy….but maybe I should. Wait, no, I’ll wait. But I should at least call so they know I’m interested…or maybe I shouldn’t….” until you have successfully freaked yourself out. Finally you see an email in your inbox from HRLady@myinterviewcompany.com and heave a sigh of relief….until you read the “we really like you and wish you luck in your endeavors but we are not going forward with you”. More often than not, that’s the beginning of a state of confusion – I thought we were getting along so well! Why don’t they like me? I have the credentials, I have the skills, I can make them happy…..just a chance. What did I do wrong?
Recently, an interviewee asked me, point blank, “Why do they have to do an interview?” Now if this was said in whiny, stretched out, “I don’t wanna do this” way, I’d understand. But this was said with pure confusion. I was stunned. Hello, Cultural Difference! This did bring an important point to the forefront – unless you know the “why” behind the interviewing process, you won’t know which foot to put forward. He followed up with “I have the credentials, what difference does it make with these behavioral questions? They won’t know who I am in 45 minutes.”
Therein lies the rub – you only have those 45 minutes to show someone who you are: who you can be to the company, and who you are as a person. So when we have that moment of “what went wrong?” unfortunately, in some cases it comes down to not showing enough of the you that would fit the company holistically. A company can find credentials in black and white, it’s the person, the personality that serves as the differentiator, not whether you used Times New Roman or Helvetica on your resume. Said differently, and bluntly, if a company only cared about a resume, you’d have a lot more people… shall we say enhancing?...their resumes, and a lot more company’s having an automaton culture. In today’s market, corporate culture has a value to the company itself, and their employees represent that value. Your stories, anecdotes, random fun-facts help the interviewer determine if you fit the culture.
As we learnt in the last blog, once you’ve separated your resume figuratively (not literally! ) into chapters, you should have a sort of annotation for each chapter, a random fun-fact, like a buy-one-get-one-free deal! Each chapter should have an anecdote that would speak to the same point you’re trying to make. Here’s an example of what I mean:
BIG COMPANY DATE 1 – Date 2
Consultant
§ Led requirements gathering interviews and workshops with all levels of management for “As-Is” assessments
This could be a chapter titles “Analytical Skills”, “Communication Skills”, or “Client Relations”. But there’s a bonus (insert the infomercial voice here! Pomp and circumstance!!!) -- I know what happened during my time between Date 1 and Date 2 – I learnt presentation skills, I joined a local softball team with my colleagues, I worked on morale building within the company, I volunteered at a local school, I bungee jumped, I flew (okay, I’m making some of this up….). The point is that each section of resume not only represents a professional timeline, but a personal timeline as well. This time, taking a resume that you have already broken out into chapters, create a table for yourself about random anecdotes that occurred around the same time. It may look something like this:
Communication, Analytical, Client Relations Softball, Bungee Jumping
BIG COMPANY DATE 1 – Date 2
Consultant
§ Led requirements gathering interviews and workshops with all levels of management for “As-Is” assessments
The blue text represents the professional skill sets I want this experience on my resume to represent, and the green text serves as a reminder to me of the person who I was outside of the office at this time, so I have some fun stories to share. Who knows, maybe my interviewer has a daughter who played softball, or a brother who bungee jumped – both instances give me an opportunity to make a professional interview into a personal connection. And THAT is the sweet spot!
Unfortunately, we often overlook the importance these anecdotes have on representing who we are as a person and the impression they create for the interviewer. It tells the company “hey, look! I can create a financial model/project plan/whatever and am fun to work with too!” Most companies know that they can teach a skill, like Excel Modeling or Powerpoint, but they won’t necessarily invest in making a person dependable, a team player, fun to be working with at 11:00pm – that comes from your personality. And it’s up to you get that across. After all, you have to show them that the second date will be even better than the first ;-)
