Have you ever “relaxed” or taken a part of the interview process for granted, and it’s come back to “bite you”?
If so, then you understand the title of this blog post all too well. If not, then you need to pay heed to the information contained within it.
Have you ever been involved in an interview process where everything was going well, and the hiring manager said something similar to the following?
“We have one more person we’d like you to meet. We’re really impressed with you and would like you to come on board, but we just need Larry to sign off on you. So we’ll bring you back in one more time to meet Larry. Don’t worry, this will be a casual interview. We just need Larry’s ‘rubber stamp approval.’ This won’t be another formal interview.”
There is NO such thing as a casual interview or a “rubber stamp interview”!
That’s because every second that you spend with somebody from the company IS a formal part of the interview process. There are NO informal parts.
And why is that? Because company officials would not spend the time or the money to bring you back in if it was unimportant. Think about it. Would you spend time, energy, and money on something that you didn’t believe was important?
Look at it another way. Company officials like you and really want to hire you, but they’re not going to extend an offer until Larry has the opportunity to meet you. So apparently, what Larry thinks of you is extremely important.
Let’s take this to the next logical step, namely that Larry and Larry alone now has the power to deny you the job offer. Consequently, this is not a “rubber stamp interview.” The situation is quite the contrary. This is the most important part of the interview process to date!
As a result, you should not be casual about it. You should be making even more of a concerted effort to leave a favorable impression and brand yourself in the best way possible.
I’ve seen this scenario in action. I know one HR manager who purposefully acts in a casual manner during the interview to see if she can get the candidate to let down their guard and say or do something inappropriate. This is one way that she “tests” the candidate.
This is a very clever approach. Hiring managers want to make sure that they hire somebody who acts appropriately in all situations and circumstances, who conduct themselves with integrity at all times, and who’s always on their “A-game.”
There is no such thing as a “rubber stamp interview.” Every part of the interview process is a new opportunity for you to show company officials why they should hire you over all of the other candidates under consideration. So speak and act accordingly . . . no matter how formal or casual the situation seems to be.
From the time you arrive to the time you leave, you are being evaluated!
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