I was asked this question by a management student in my recent seminar held last week in Mumbai, the discussion that ensued was noteworthy and hence I wish to share it with all.
Does corporate hiring happen unbiased??
I do not know whether the questioner was aware of the depth of the question he had asked and the tremendous impact of human involvement in the corporate hiring process.
Thousands of speakers and authors have addressed topics concerning, how to face an interview, the latest trends and tricks and tools of getting through an interview.
One area that has got minimal or has been completely ignored is the effect of EGO of the interviewer.
The interviewer may be anybody, an HR Executive, an HR Manager, the CEO, the Director or any individual. That does not matter. The very basic thing to be understood here is that the interviewer has to be a responsible human being. He has to have the ability to take the responsibility of his organizations goals, values, vision and ethics. He is like a crucial gatekeeper. This gatekeeper decides who will get in and who will stay out. Hence the gatekeepers role (the interviewer) is very vital and of utmost importance. Infact his decision to a great extent influences the success or failure of the organization in this competitive world.
Thousands of organizations categorically state - "Employees are our greatest asset". True, very true, and these assets are directly chosen by the gatekeeper. However, it would be very hard or even impossible to get any interviewer to confess that his decision of hiring or rejection was not influenced by his/ her EGO or perceptions or values. Either they are in complete denial or they are ignorant about the lasting impact.
What has been happening in the corporate world and management schools in simple words is that, they were teaching us to wear huge masks, so tough masks that it would be impossible for the interviewer to penetrate inside and discover the real self. Various ways to groom, present yourself and even how to display your key skills to the interviewer are taught as part of the curriculum. They teach that perceptual experts have arrived at a conclusion that we have 6 seconds to make a first impression, 2 minutes to create an impact and so on. That is the visual side of perception and that’s perfectly OK. Personal Hygiene, Clothes, Hair, Shoes etc etc should be managed in certain prescribed manner.
That’s one side of the coin, now the other side.
Having been involved in thousands of interviews I think I have seen a lot : attitude, violent, alcohol, facial tattoos, fanatics etc. Still, the importance of an interviewer's perception is an interesting one. Those of us who conduct interviews are humans for sure. We definitely have our perceptions : the good, bad and ugly.
It is still not an accepted fact in the corporate world that an interview is a two-way process. The EGO stands so rock like in this process that the success of the interview totally depends upon the level to which the interviewers EGO get satisfied. The basic truth is that the interviewer starts inferring about the candidate through various perceptional filters that are unique to himself. The interviewers Perceived values, his mother tongue, his caste, his religion, his nationality or the state he hails from, his gender etc influences his decision. He assesses the candidate from these filters and simply passes on his choice. Only if the candidate breaks through these filters, does he get an opportunity to deliver in life.
To become a successful and truthful interviewer, one has to drop the EGO. For thousands of years, the eastern philosophers and mystics have been emphasizing on dropping your EGO. To know your inner self, to experience the truth, the very basic thing in life is to drop the EGO. From Gautama Buddha to Chogyam Trungpa to Lao Tzu, their teachings conclude on the same path - Drop your EGO.
It is worth mentioning the most often used statement by Sri Ramana Maharshi to his seekers - Who am I ?? He says : The thought ,Who am l ? will destroy all other thoughts and finally kill itself also.
I happened to read an article in a leading newspaper last week, the title covered a statement, "recruiters today aren’t going to make the process an easy one for you"
I read on, how many leaves do you see in the tree outside? How many people in your batch wear spectacles? How many steps have you climbed on the way to this office? These were the questions that were asked by the latest, so called innovative interviewers.
I am yet to find any innovativeness in those questions. Those questions have simply emanated from someone’s EGO and they expect someone to appreciate that ego borne question and tag that as innovative. Why would a job seeker count the leaves on a tree to get a job?? Even if that poor candidate had counted the number of leaves, this egoist would ask him the next question then - How many green and how many yellow?? How many on the ground and how many on the tree?? What is innovative in that question?? And this question was asked by the Head of Human Resource. That was simply a dead question, no life in it.
Such incidences are very common, and more the seniority of the interviewer, more hardcore ego driven questions can be expected. They all seem to be on an EGO trip. The new Maruti A-Star advertisement is a classic. Four to Five veterans on an interview table in a typical corporate format, each person asks a question on a subject he has specialized in, to the job seeker. The job seeker like a goat in a butcher’s hand simply nods a NO each time to all these interviewing lords. In the end, when they express dissatisfaction and a rejection filled facial gesture, he piles up courage and says, can I ask you'll a question?? They said yes, please ask, and he asked - Was this interview for you'll to tell me what you know or to understand what I know?? That was terrific, yes that’s very true and this is happening in the whole world. They older one gets, the more knowledgeable he is – Claims his EGO. This is one of the great problems in the corporate world. Understand this fact that one can get lost in knowledge without knowing anything about the reality. He may know all the theories, all the philosophies, but he is just a blind man who knows everything about light but has not seen the light himself.
Now one more -
The same article states: In a different interview setting, candidates were asked to express their opinions on the increasing significance of brain drain .While most candidates kept harping on the need for better facilities and the lack of government grants for research, etc to keep the best brains in our country, one of them blurted, ‘It considerably increases the marriage prospects of those who have moved abroad’ as one of the key reasons! “And from there on, a very serious discussion was won over by just looking at the problem from a very non-traditional point of view. Yes, the candidate got selected!”
Now is that innovative?? One joker blurted out a statement, and just because he made others laugh that instant, he was selected. In that case all circuses will find a serious dearth of clowns in their business; since all the jokers would see themselves on a corporate chair working in typical air conditioned cabins. I am not against humour, but what has humour to do with a job? Except for a stand-up comedian role. If that was the criteria of selection for a software professional, the interviewer would have missed a candidate who is exceptionally good at logics.
The very basic lesson, every interviewer should understand and deliver is that, his main objective of his/ her interviewing is not to satisfy is self EGO, but to identify if the organizations goal and the candidates individuality is in congruence. Drop your self perceptions and EGO, simply be a witness to the process. Try and explore the candidate’s individuality, a process exploring his upbringing, his leadership affinity, his flexibility to life and experience in a team and many more contributors of a person’s individuality. Exploring his individuality will help screening him without any masks; you can explore his true self to a great extent. If the congruence happens, then the deserving candidate is in, a new productive pillar is identified and added to the edifice of the corporate structure.
Success is embedded in the system now - Go ahead, hire the best !!!!
For more articles on self improvement, follow me at www.mentora.in and Transforming Lives – Unlimited | A journey in search of Individuality
Submitted by : Mathew Thomas ( Mentora Champion) is a passionate Trainer, Motivational Speaker and Educational Coach who has worked with a wide range of clients including multinational organisations, education bodies, professional training providers and individuals.
Does corporate hiring happen unbiased??
I do not know whether the questioner was aware of the depth of the question he had asked and the tremendous impact of human involvement in the corporate hiring process.
Thousands of speakers and authors have addressed topics concerning, how to face an interview, the latest trends and tricks and tools of getting through an interview.
One area that has got minimal or has been completely ignored is the effect of EGO of the interviewer.
The interviewer may be anybody, an HR Executive, an HR Manager, the CEO, the Director or any individual. That does not matter. The very basic thing to be understood here is that the interviewer has to be a responsible human being. He has to have the ability to take the responsibility of his organizations goals, values, vision and ethics. He is like a crucial gatekeeper. This gatekeeper decides who will get in and who will stay out. Hence the gatekeepers role (the interviewer) is very vital and of utmost importance. Infact his decision to a great extent influences the success or failure of the organization in this competitive world.
Thousands of organizations categorically state - "Employees are our greatest asset". True, very true, and these assets are directly chosen by the gatekeeper. However, it would be very hard or even impossible to get any interviewer to confess that his decision of hiring or rejection was not influenced by his/ her EGO or perceptions or values. Either they are in complete denial or they are ignorant about the lasting impact.
What has been happening in the corporate world and management schools in simple words is that, they were teaching us to wear huge masks, so tough masks that it would be impossible for the interviewer to penetrate inside and discover the real self. Various ways to groom, present yourself and even how to display your key skills to the interviewer are taught as part of the curriculum. They teach that perceptual experts have arrived at a conclusion that we have 6 seconds to make a first impression, 2 minutes to create an impact and so on. That is the visual side of perception and that’s perfectly OK. Personal Hygiene, Clothes, Hair, Shoes etc etc should be managed in certain prescribed manner.
That’s one side of the coin, now the other side.
Having been involved in thousands of interviews I think I have seen a lot : attitude, violent, alcohol, facial tattoos, fanatics etc. Still, the importance of an interviewer's perception is an interesting one. Those of us who conduct interviews are humans for sure. We definitely have our perceptions : the good, bad and ugly.
It is still not an accepted fact in the corporate world that an interview is a two-way process. The EGO stands so rock like in this process that the success of the interview totally depends upon the level to which the interviewers EGO get satisfied. The basic truth is that the interviewer starts inferring about the candidate through various perceptional filters that are unique to himself. The interviewers Perceived values, his mother tongue, his caste, his religion, his nationality or the state he hails from, his gender etc influences his decision. He assesses the candidate from these filters and simply passes on his choice. Only if the candidate breaks through these filters, does he get an opportunity to deliver in life.
To become a successful and truthful interviewer, one has to drop the EGO. For thousands of years, the eastern philosophers and mystics have been emphasizing on dropping your EGO. To know your inner self, to experience the truth, the very basic thing in life is to drop the EGO. From Gautama Buddha to Chogyam Trungpa to Lao Tzu, their teachings conclude on the same path - Drop your EGO.
It is worth mentioning the most often used statement by Sri Ramana Maharshi to his seekers - Who am I ?? He says : The thought ,Who am l ? will destroy all other thoughts and finally kill itself also.
I happened to read an article in a leading newspaper last week, the title covered a statement, "recruiters today aren’t going to make the process an easy one for you"
I read on, how many leaves do you see in the tree outside? How many people in your batch wear spectacles? How many steps have you climbed on the way to this office? These were the questions that were asked by the latest, so called innovative interviewers.
I am yet to find any innovativeness in those questions. Those questions have simply emanated from someone’s EGO and they expect someone to appreciate that ego borne question and tag that as innovative. Why would a job seeker count the leaves on a tree to get a job?? Even if that poor candidate had counted the number of leaves, this egoist would ask him the next question then - How many green and how many yellow?? How many on the ground and how many on the tree?? What is innovative in that question?? And this question was asked by the Head of Human Resource. That was simply a dead question, no life in it.
Such incidences are very common, and more the seniority of the interviewer, more hardcore ego driven questions can be expected. They all seem to be on an EGO trip. The new Maruti A-Star advertisement is a classic. Four to Five veterans on an interview table in a typical corporate format, each person asks a question on a subject he has specialized in, to the job seeker. The job seeker like a goat in a butcher’s hand simply nods a NO each time to all these interviewing lords. In the end, when they express dissatisfaction and a rejection filled facial gesture, he piles up courage and says, can I ask you'll a question?? They said yes, please ask, and he asked - Was this interview for you'll to tell me what you know or to understand what I know?? That was terrific, yes that’s very true and this is happening in the whole world. They older one gets, the more knowledgeable he is – Claims his EGO. This is one of the great problems in the corporate world. Understand this fact that one can get lost in knowledge without knowing anything about the reality. He may know all the theories, all the philosophies, but he is just a blind man who knows everything about light but has not seen the light himself.
Now one more -
The same article states: In a different interview setting, candidates were asked to express their opinions on the increasing significance of brain drain .While most candidates kept harping on the need for better facilities and the lack of government grants for research, etc to keep the best brains in our country, one of them blurted, ‘It considerably increases the marriage prospects of those who have moved abroad’ as one of the key reasons! “And from there on, a very serious discussion was won over by just looking at the problem from a very non-traditional point of view. Yes, the candidate got selected!”
Now is that innovative?? One joker blurted out a statement, and just because he made others laugh that instant, he was selected. In that case all circuses will find a serious dearth of clowns in their business; since all the jokers would see themselves on a corporate chair working in typical air conditioned cabins. I am not against humour, but what has humour to do with a job? Except for a stand-up comedian role. If that was the criteria of selection for a software professional, the interviewer would have missed a candidate who is exceptionally good at logics.
The very basic lesson, every interviewer should understand and deliver is that, his main objective of his/ her interviewing is not to satisfy is self EGO, but to identify if the organizations goal and the candidates individuality is in congruence. Drop your self perceptions and EGO, simply be a witness to the process. Try and explore the candidate’s individuality, a process exploring his upbringing, his leadership affinity, his flexibility to life and experience in a team and many more contributors of a person’s individuality. Exploring his individuality will help screening him without any masks; you can explore his true self to a great extent. If the congruence happens, then the deserving candidate is in, a new productive pillar is identified and added to the edifice of the corporate structure.
Success is embedded in the system now - Go ahead, hire the best !!!!
For more articles on self improvement, follow me at www.mentora.in and Transforming Lives – Unlimited | A journey in search of Individuality
Submitted by : Mathew Thomas ( Mentora Champion) is a passionate Trainer, Motivational Speaker and Educational Coach who has worked with a wide range of clients including multinational organisations, education bodies, professional training providers and individuals.
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