HR Snaphot #22: Recruiting Best Practice: 5 Signs you are Interviewing a Confident Candidate
Posted on 15th May 2020 at 15:51
Warning: This article does not contain interview tips! There are thousands of pages out there if you are looking for a job. Nope. This 5-minute read is for the day the tables are turned - and you become the interviewer for the first time. Daunting? Yeap. It's no walk in the park to shoulder the responsibility of hiring.
Here are some of the tips I've learned over 20 years of interviews, on behalf on businesses large and small, for spotting the best candidates quickly, starting with the one attribute I've been asked for the most - self-confidence. It's often quoted in job descriptions as "confident", "self-assured" or "self-starter" even. What does it mean?
Well, in my experience it means a candidate who knows their stuff - but isn't arrogant. Someone who is confident - but not necessarily loud or outgoing. Self-confidence, according to the dictionary, is "a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and judgement". No wonder it is so often requested - who wouldn't want a new hire that behaves in a self confident way (regardless of the role you are hiring into)?
Here are 5 signs that you are interviewing a self-confident candidate:
1, They don't apologise for their career histories. Self-confident candidates give the facts, without being defensive. They talk through their career history and CV with ease - no apologies necessary.
2. They don't apologise when they don't have a ready answer to the interviewer's question.
3. They stay calm and relaxed no matter how the interview goes - because no matter how much they want the job, self-confident candidates know that this is a two-way process.
4. If they hear something that they don't agree with or like, they don't take it personally. They don't react defensively, no matter what is said in the interview.
5. They listen carefully, and ask insightful questions. They don't decide in advance that they'd better not ask the interviewer a particular question because the interviewer might not like it. They have a question they want to ask, so they ask it.
With a bit of practice, you'll soon be a pro at spotting these - even during video-interview, or over the phone, the signs are there. Look out for them, and listen carefully to the language and tone your potential hire uses in interview.
Smart interviewers know that great businesses hire for attitude, and train for skills.
As we plan ahead to re-set our businesses and our teams in 2020, this will be more important than ever.
Share this post: