The Empowered Job Seeker Series, v.16 - How Listening Skills were Consequential to Raj’s Interview Experience

As we are all aware, job interviews generally revolve around a series of questions and answers to a specific set of questions.  Preparing our outplacement program candidates for a variety of questions is just one way we help them to prepare for the interview process.  Helping them to be aware of the very subtle personal chemistry that can develop during a job interview is also key to our candidates’ success.

Take Raj for example.  Raj was a senior level finance professional who had a lead on a very intriguing job at an organization he had long wanted to join.  By the third interview he was invited to meet the CEO who would make the final decision on who they hired.

When the CEO had suggested lunch, Raj kindly offered to drive to the restaurant.  Raj drove a brand new, luxury sedan and the CEO commented on the vehicle-and its value as they drove. The lunch and meeting seemed to go well but Raj was not offered the position and he couldn’t understand what had happened.

However, if he could have seen the bigger picture, if he knew the CEO better and had he listened more closely to the CEOs previous comments during their conference room meeting about his disdain for “wasting money” on “over-priced”, “unnecessary” products and services, things may have turned out differently for Raj. If he had become more aware of the CEOs frugal nature, Raj may have taken the opportunity to explain that the vehicle he drove that day was a loner while his own car was at the dealership for repair.

Unfortunately for Raj, that very innocent moment in time communicated to the CEO that he was a lavish spender - a value the CEO didn’t think matched what his organization was looking for in a Finance Director.

 In everyday life, the dynamics of interviews are not natural to communication between two people. They can be off putting and nerve wracking and many lose their footing when it comes to truly listening to the interviewer.  Utilizing good listening skills provides opportunity to learn about the interviewer as a person, their values and what is important to them.

Helping candidates like Raj to develop their awareness around the importance of strong listening skills - and the personal chemistry that can develop or deteriorate in a matter of seconds, as a result - is important to their success.

Throughout the course of the CMS outplacement program, our Program Coaches teach our job search candidates to be aware of the importance of strong listening skills to help them avoid making innocent mistakes that can dramatically change the course of their job search.