In a Job Interview, Take the Fifth
By Bruce Hurwitz
THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE SOLELY THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.
Or as Archie Bunker would have put it, “Stifle yourself!”
When I have a candidate for a position, i.e., when I am wearing my recruiter’s hat, not my career counselor hat, I do something that most of my peers do not understand. I don’t tell my candidate how to behave during the interview. I don’t prepare them for the interview. I tell them to prepare. I tell them what to do. I tell them what not to do. I just don’t do it for them. Why? you ask. It’s simple:
What candidates don’t seem to realize, even today, is that recruiters do not work for them but rather for the employers. Recruiters get paid when the position is filled with their candidate. Because I give my clients (employers) a six-month guarantee that my candidates will remain on the job for at least that length of time, it is crucial that my candidates be authentic when interviewing. If they are not and say things “because Bruce told me to,” they won’t last six weeks, let alone six months, and I’ll have to honor that guarantee which is something I rarely have to do and never like to do!
Let me rephrase that so it will be clear: I discuss behavior with my candidates, not answers to questions.
I have had candidates rejected for numerous reasons of a personal (behavioral) nature. (Just because I tell them what to do, or not to do, does not mean they listen!) Some show up for the interview reeking of perfume/cologne/aftershave. Then the client tells me, I literally could not stand being in the same room with them. Some dress inappropriately. But the two great sins, not including being late, are interrupting interviewers, and talking too much.
Interrupting is just rude. Talking too much means you have difficulty organizing your thoughts and prioritizing what is of primary importance to the interviewer. (The feedback I always receive from the client is, “I could not get a word in edgewise!”) That being the case, my advice to all interviewees is less is more. In other words, get to the point and then shut up!
Some will tell you that there is an ulterior motive to a question. You must figure out what it is and address that issue. In other words, what are they really asking, what do they really want to know? For example, What are your weaknesses? means, What training will we have to provide for you? There is some truth to that, but not always. A direct question deserves a direct answer. The problem with thinking about ulterior motives is that you will overthink everything. That will lead to disaster. So don’t overthink. Take a breath, answer the question succinctly, and let your ears do, as the Good Lord intended, twice as much work as your mouth!
NOTE: To readers outside the United States who may not understand, the reference in the title to “the Fifth” is to the Fifth Amendment to the Federal Constitution which gives everyone the right to remain silent in a court of law. If you don’t know who Archie Bunker was, look it up!
In a Job Interview, Take the Fifth | Employment Edification
