We are following in real time the personal job odyssey of our friend Nicholas and seeing what we can learn from his story.  Last week, he almost blew his chances of being considered for a position at a company by being a little too pushy and persistent in his contact. But, by some deft damage control, Nicholas managed to survive his faux pas.

This is what has happened since then:

The telephone rang Friday morning.  The call was to invite Nicholas for a job interview.  “Yes!!” he thought.  His resume was ship-shape, he knew the story he wanted to tell about his career history, he rehearsed why his background is super-relevant to the position even though he has never actually performed the particular role for which he was interviewing, and he researched the company.  He was as ready as he could be, or so he thought.

The interview started well.  An HR representative (a contract hiring person, someone who did not know the organization really well) went through Nicholas’ resume and asked a list of standard questions:  Tell me about your last position; Tell me why you left your last two jobs; Describe what you looking for.  He fluently answered the questions and presented his strongest skills well.

Nicolas felt he made a strong case for himself.  And, indeed, he did.  When the interview with the HR person was finished, he breathed a sigh of relief and was ready to go home.  But, that was only the beginning of the process, not the end. That was the problem.

Before he knew it, Nicholas was being led into another office for round two of the interview, which was with the company’s hiring manager.  He was completely thrown.  Suddenly, all his carefully prepared stories left him, and his composure crumbled.  The interviewer had an erratic style of interviewing; the conversation moved like a ping pong ball from topic to topic never landing long enough for Nicholas to gather his thoughts and take charge of the direction of the conversation.

And then, another distraction emerged. Nicholas’ stomach rumbled.  This simple physiological event created havoc for him. As he wondered whether the rumbles were due to hunger or nerves, if the interviewer had heard them, and what he would do if his stomach rumbled again, he was thrown off track.  Shifting his concentration from effectively selling himself to his internal perceptions, Nicholas was unable to be fully present, to regroup his thoughts, and to present his best professional self.  He managed to make a few cogent points, so the interview was not a disaster, but he left feeling he could have more impressively performed had he not fallen into some classic interview traps.

So, what were these interview traps?

1. He did not find out ahead of time the likely interview process, so he was caught flat-footed during the second, more important, phase of the interview.
2. During the “warm-up” interview, he did not probe deeply enough about the organization, the needs to be filled, the hiring process, and the criteria for the successful candidate, so he had no hooks or “insider stories” for the hiring manager interview.
3. When taken off guard by the second unexpected interview, he allowed his surprise to throw him and did not fully recover his self-control instead of taking a deep breath and reminding himself of the key messages he wanted to convey.
4. He allowed his personal world to intrude into a professional situation, and the thought bubbles in his head hi-jacked his full attention on the interview.

What should he do now?

1. Do not panic or despair.  Things might not have gone as badly as feared.
2. Write a thank you note – hand-written card or email – and briefly reiterate why the job is a great match as well as communicate continued enthusiasm about the position.
3. Keep up the job search, and do not put all hopes on this one opportunity.

Let Nicholas’ story remind you to beware of the unexpected in any interview and to prepare yourself for curveballs that may come your way.  There will be more on Nicholas’ journey in a future blog.

Fredia Woolf, founder of Woolf Consulting, helps people to manage change and achieve positive results for their careers, teams and organizations.  As an organizational consultant and leadership coach, she works with clients to increase their effectiveness and impact, to manage transitions successfully, and to define and create a leadership legacy. She can be reached at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

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Last updated on January 21st, 2010 at 12:35 am