While job-hunting years ago I developed a simple theory. If you are in a job interview and you believe you have an excellent chance of getting the job, you might get it but then again you might not.
There is far more certainty on the flip-side. If you are in an interview and you sense right from the start that your chances are zip, you are correct.
This ties in with a general observation which I've written about before: our senses are far better at spotting danger than opportunity. We can tell when something doesn't ring true. Think back to your dating days. You often knew five minutes into the date whether the evening was going to go well. There may be something to speed-dating after all.
Despite the signals we finish the interview or go out on the date because that is the protocol. We may even tell ourselves there is a chance that our instincts are poor. [They rarely are.]
What we need to be most on guard for, of course, is when there is a chance of genuine danger. In those instances, it is time to leave the room or cross the street or find some other way of gaining safety.
Our senses whisper that the jungle is not as far away as we'd like.
2 comments:
During my working life I only had three employers, but I interviewed several places looking for alternatives. Two stand out in my memory that underscore your point. I knew half way through the interview that I would not be a good "job fit" for those places, and I was glad to be finished with those interviews. Sometimes the interview is all it takes to let you know the grass over there isn't as green as you thought.
John,
I've had similar experiences. Looking back at a few, I should have said, "Let's just go get a cup of coffee because you and I know this isn't going to work."
Michael
Post a Comment