INTERVIEW: THE ART OF INTRODUCING OURSELVES

PATRICK VANDECASTEELE. (n.d.). Artists’ Talk [Painting]. Al -Tiba9. https://www.altiba9.com/interviews

MOTIVATION

During the last decades, interviews have entered into our professional lives more than ever. There are a lot of people lately, who invest time and energy to make the required preparation before their interview, creating a whole new field into the professional pathway, while more and more companies and recruiters, develop their hiring process through innovative stages of interviewing and tasks. But, why interviews make some applicants feel nervous and insecure? What is the main role and essence of the interviews? These are some of the most important questions and meanings that this article aims to answer and reveal.

CONTEXT

Bang, J. (2021). Rejection Letter Examples For After an Interview [Illustration]. The Balance. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/rejection-letter-examples-for-after-an-interview-2059490

Regarding the first question/meaning, ’’Why interviews make some applicants feel nervous and insecure?’’, most of the people do not know how to introduce and interpret well their characteristics and achievements. Sometimes, it is easier to talk about others and more difficult to become our own judges or our own external observers. One of the most difficult challenges for an applicant is, the balance between his emotions and psychological state, in which he might be during the job seeking period, and the confidence he has to attract during the interview. It is a common phenomenon that, people who seek for a professional opportunity for a long time, are exhausted mentally and psychologically. The job seeking process includes, market research, self-preparation, rejection and waiting for recruiter’s feed backs. The applicants should be confident and mentally powerful during an interview, no matter for how long they have been waiting for a chance of an interview, which finally might lead them to a job offer. The expectations and the wait, decrease their confidence and their internal strength every time they are invited to a new meeting, because they reasonably tend to believe that this time will be as previous times, without recognition and acceptance. The feelings which they collected through their previous interviews or the rejections, penetrate and affect their perception upon themselves. This is not an objective field of view, it is a current intensively affected field of view upon themselves, that weaves their self esteem at that moment.

Regarding the second question and meaning ’’What is the main role and essence of the interviews?’’, the hiring process of any professional field and sector includes interviewing in order to select the most suitable and relevant applicant for the specific position. The main role of the interview is that, it gives to the recruiters the chance to meet the applicants physically or digitally, in order to understand better their biographical background, their skills, their intentions and their attitude based on their resume. In addition, the interview’s invitation to the applicant, represents that the recruiters are interested in them based on the applied curriculum vitae (CV). The recruiters reach out to them, providing a next stage into the process. The stage of interview is the most crucial point, while it corresponds the biographical background of the applicant with his verbal skills and body language upon the information he provided in his application. This stage, actually, determines, if the applicant is suitable for professional cooperation with the company/organization. The essence of the interview is beyond the curriculum vitae (CV). During the interview, the applicants have been called to prove some aspects of their personality and mentality. The way through which applicants express themselves, introduce themselves and describe their experiences, reveals their intentions, goals, targets, future plans and life expectations. The interview’s stage is deeply emotional. It is a first green light.

The interview should reveal if this person has deeply understood the details in the description of the job announcement, the identity and the services of the company/organization. Interview is a space where the applicant proves that his background and his personality can be connected with the company. It is a chance of connection, which will be successful through his skills of self introduction, past choices, actions, reactions and expectations about future. If the applicant is not able to describe in details and essentially his past and his future, he will not be selected for the next, most of the times, final stage. Even if an applicant meets all the required qualifications, his attitude and his shared mentality during the interview, are the elements that will determine his performance. Most of the times, during the interviews, recruiters seek for the one who will stand out from others. They seek for the applicant who will impress them, most of all other applicants, through his motivating and inspiring attitude. The one who is willing to make the extra mile for this position and attracts it. That means, embodiment, eyes, voice and body language.

CLOSING

To conclude, the interview process has been more about personality and mindset, intentions and feelings, which lead to a confirmation of real results on the job by an applicant. There are cases where applicants were focused on a different professional field from their career path so far, having the least or zero experience, and still taking the job offer because of their attitude, will, mindset and energy. These are rare cases comparing to the most common ones. But, a special and extraordinary applicant has the chance to rise and shine during the interview, filling all the faceless spots that might exist.

Sources

• The Muse Editor. (2021, May 14). Your Ultimate Guide to Answering the Most Common Interview Questions. The Muse. https://www.themuse.com/advice/interview-questions-and-answers

• Bika, N. (2021, June 16). HR interview questions: The top 10 questions asked in the HR interview. Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better. https://resources.workable.com/tutorial/hr-interview-questions

• 3 Concepts From Anthropology HR Leaders Can Use. (2020, August 24). Spark. https://www.adp.com/spark/articles/2017/07/3-concepts-from-anthropology-hr-leaders-can-use.aspx