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Business Rule #52:
First Impressions Count
January 7, 2007
(PAGE 2 of 2)
I was recently called upon to help a client interview candidates for a technical engineering job. The position to be filled required some very specific skills, including creative problem solving…but it also required a lot of client contact. The employer’s job posting resulted in an avalanche of resumes. Quickly the issue shifted from finding someone who was qualified to narrowing the field to just a handful of the best candidates. One of the primary considerations I took into account was whether I thought someone would work well with the rest of the team—just like Ivanka Trump did in the boardroom. If a candidate is asking me inappropriate questions in the job interview, what will he say to clients? I recommended candidates who already had the people skills and who could be trained on any lack in their technical knowledge.
Sure it’s a subjective judgment, but people like to work with people they like. If a candidate is irritating in the interview, or seems to be difficult to get along with, why wouldn’t an employer hire someone else?
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Martin was a thorn in Trump’s side once too often, which wasn’t easy considering how little contact they’d had. Was Martin canned because he asked to use the bathroom while The Donald and Ivanka were explaining the first task? Well, it certainly didn’t do Martin’s image any good. When filming a TV show, there’s a big crew of people working together to produce a single shot. We all have physical limitations, but the proof that Martin could have waited to use the potty is that, when asked to do so, he did. Martin came off as inconsiderate.
Martin claims that, although people are often put off by him at first and think he’s arrogant, once they get to know him, they realize he’s a warm-and-wonderful person. That may just well be true, but by alienating people, most folks won’t bother getting to know Martin well enough to find out. They’ll be too busy avoiding the pain in the butt he appears to be.
In the boardroom, it quickly became a showdown between Frank and Martin. Frank was so eager to work, so desperate to do a good job that he was afraid to take the time to put together a plan for his team. Sure, he made plenty of mistakes, like producing flyers rather than signs to attract the attention of passing motorists, but he did it with speed and vigor. In a choice between someone who is overeager and someone who appears to be a lazy bum, it’s no contest. Reward the one who wants to work. Donald Trump did just that when he kept Frank on and fired Martin.
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If a candidate is asking me inappropriate questions in the job interview, what will he say to clients?
