Job Interviews and “Pick a Flight, any Flight”
In my mind, job interviews are a most curious of beast. In many regards they are like a subtle battle, or perhaps even a dance of deception. This may seem a bit odd, but hear (read?) me out.
On the one side, you have the potential hire. He/she’s primary objective will be to convince the hirer that he/she is the proverbial “cat’s ass” that your company simply can’t do without – well at least from his/her perspective. Naturally, throughout the interview he/she will be focused on emphasizing their relevant strengths and hiding all facets of weakness. The ideal image to portray is someone that understands the need at hand, will hit the ground running, and won’t eff up the systems and teams already in place.
On the other side, you have the company doing the hiring. Their role in the process is not unlike walking through a minefield, although in this case, they are trying to find the mines, not avoid them. The mines, of course, are red flags in the potential hire. After all, this is your last chance to find them in advance of the hiring. Questions of the kind listed below dominate a hirer’s thoughts during the interview process:
· Will this person flip out while on the job?
· Can this person meet our needs?
· Will they disrupt our team chemistry?
· Are they here temporarily or for the long haul?
In my mind, the employer is clearly at a disadvantage is this battle/dance. For starters, they can’t ask the questions they want to ask. Wouldn’t it be nice to simply say “will you eff up my company”? Sadly, laws are such that you can’t ask that question, and anyway, what kind of fool would answer that question with anything but “absolutely not!”, or “of course not”, or something similar. And so the dance continues. The employer is further disadvantaged, in general, by the fact that they have little time to prepare for battle. In most organizations, even those with dedicated HR teams, many potential hires are interviewed, and ultimately interviewing is likely to be something that sits on the side of most peoples’ desk. That is to say, it is just one of many, many, things a manager is expected to do. As such, they have little time to dedicate to the process.
In light of the above, it is a wonder that successful matches happen as often as they do. At the end of the day, it is almost as though a company, in hiring a new employee, is voting to elect a politician inasmuch as a clear best choice may not be apparent, but rather you zero in on one who appears to be less of two (or more) evils – in the case of politicians, the least corrupt, and in the case of hiring, the person with the least red flags.
Interesting you may say, or perhaps not, but what in H-E double hockey sticks does this have to do with picking a flight? Well, I have done my share of interviewing over the years – sometimes successfully, other times, not so much. In my experience, I always look for that differentiating quality, that special something that shows you the person has something unique to offer. Given that they can prepare for the interview until the cows come home, I like to throw something completely out of left field at them. One of my favourites is simply this:
“If I were to offer to buy you an airline ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you go? The ticket is round trip and you will be there for two weeks”I am not looking for anything too specific, but I am always looking for a quick answer with some good logic behind it. I want to know how much the person is in tune with what they want from a travel perspective.
So, tonight I wanted to ask myself this very question. Through ironic circumstances, it just so happens that I am staying at a hotel adjacent to my city’s airport. As such, I am facing the flight board in the international terminal building. So, my options are listed below. It is now 10:30pm. Where shall I go?
Phillipine Air - Manila - 23:45
Air Canada - Sydney - 23:45
Mexicana - Mexico City - 23:59
China Airlines - Taipei - 1:15
Air Canada - Taipei - 00:45
Eva Airways - Taipei - 00:45
Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong - 2:00
Somines Airlines - Varadero - 07:00
China Eastern - Shanghai - 11:30
Air Canada - Shanghai - 11:30
Air Canada - Tokyo - 12:20
Singapore Airlines - Singapore - 12:30
Singapore Airlines - Seoul - 12:30
Air Canada - Beijing - 12:50
So, given how much there is to see in the world, I am not the biggest fan of visiting the same place twice. In my case, that means no to Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Beijing. No offence to my Mexican friends out there, but Mexico City and Varadero aren’t high on my “must see” list. Sydney would be nice, and possibly the biggest bang for my buck given the distance, but I’m gonna give it a pass mate. That leaves Singapore, Seoul, and Taipei. Singapore would be great as I have only seen the airport. But, two weeks is too much time in Singapore from what I hear, and I am afraid of the cane (joking). So, down to Seoul or Taipei. Wow, tough call. In the end, I choose Taipei. Why? For these reasons:
· Taipei 101 would be wicked to see.
· I could work on my Mandarin while travelling.
· I would know what to order at restaurants J
· Because I admire the Taiwainese for the way they redefined and turned around their economy – a truly amazing story.
So, for this trip, Taipei wins. But, be sure, I will see Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Mexico City, and Veradero before I call an end to my travels!
Those are my Two Cents for today.
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