I think when I look back at my entrepreneurial career in 20 years I will pin-point this interview with a prospective employee as one of the most bizarre moments.
We were hiring for a contract marketing role and it was our final interview for the day. It had been an exhausting day. This applicant’s resume was probably the most decorated of any applicant. It was seriously impressive and we had high hopes.
Before we started the interview I noticed the applicant was wearing an item from one of our competitors which I commented on to bring about some light-hearted conversation. In a really passive aggressive tone the applicant asked us to ‘GUESS’ which competitor it was. Good start.
We started the interview with a simple ‘tell us about yourself’ question. Surprisingly, you often get varied answers to this question. Some applicants think that this is their big opportunity to sell themselves and what they’re capable of. But really, I just want hear about who they are! The applicant went off on a tangent for 5-10 minutes where they spoke about consumerism, business problems and their experiences with our competitors. During the same speech, the applicant tried to passively undermine the panel with questions like ‘do you really know what the big problem is’ when referring to our own business.
At this point I thought we might be getting pranked. I was tempted to look around for hidden cameras and a production crew.
Reluctant to engage in deep discussion of our ‘big problems’ with an applicant that we’ve just met, I scurried on to the next question. A pretty simple question, “what experience do you have with social media management?”
You can have the best resume in Australia, but if you can’t demonstrate that you actually have the particular skills we require, there’s not a chance in the world we can give you the job.
Instead of answering the question, the applicant went on another spiel about investigating core business problems. I had to politely interrupt after another 5 minutes had passed to ask for any specific examples of previous work in regards to social media management. The applicant continued the spiel without any reference to social media.
It was sounding more and more like some kind of aggressive sales pitch. I stepped in again and said ‘do you have any experience with these specific skills’.
The applicant said, ‘I don’t think this job is right for me’, stood up and walked out.
We sat there for about 15 minutes after the interview just wondering what had just happened. I was still convinced a production crew was about to jump out from around the corner, perhaps the work of Hamish & Andy.
I’m not sure what the applicant was doing there, if they even wanted the job or if they were trying to sell some kind of consulting service.
It was just bizarre.
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