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Matching between the candidate and the job

As stated, in an HR interview the interviewer is trying to learn about the personality and abilities of the candidate and to decide if it matches the job. Based on what the candidate says, his behavior and the impression he forms, the interviewer is suggesting different hypothesis about the candidate and examine it during the interview. This work is very similar to the work of a police investigator trying to find clues about the crime. In an interview the interviewer is asking the questions in 2 main aspects:

The “why” level- what are the motives imprinted in the candidate personality, what are his aspirations and desires? What is interesting and satisfying for him?

Questions for example: what do you find interesting in the designated job? What can disappoint you in the designated job? What parts of your current job do you like the most? If you had no constraints what profession or field of occupation would you choose?  Why did you leave your last job? Describe your ideal boss? et cetera

The “how” level- how is the employee functioning in practice?

Questions for example: tell me about your current job? How would you characterize your management style? Tell me about a dilemma that encountered you at work and how did you solve it? Describe a conflict with your boss/ colleague/ customer. How did you solve it? If you could change something in your character what would you change?

We have to remember that interviewers aren’t looking for the “right” answer, and for the best candidate for the job, but, they are looking for the suitable man for the specific job. For example: the emphasis of how much I’m good at working in a team (that is a characteristic that most people find positive) could even harm the chances for the candidate to get accepted if the designated job requires a great deal of independence and the ability to work alone.

Of course the matching will never be absolutely perfect but the interviewer asks himself: will the candidate performance will be satisfactory? If he has disadvantages, maybe the organization helps him in some way to forgo it.

 

The best way to prepare for an HR interview in high-tech companies

1.      collect data about the company and the designated job (via the Internet, people who work there and so on)

2.      By analyzing the data you have gathered try to deduce about the characteristics of the job and the organization (for instance: is it requires team work or is it soloist? What are the objectives of the job? What is the output?)

3.      From the characteristics as follows one should derive the personality characteristics that match and probably needed for the job.

4.      Then, you should see what of those you have and what of those you haven’t got.

5.      You have to remember that the interview is actually a chance for the candidate to “sell” himself to the interviewer. Thus, he should highlight the matching attribute and disguise his less fitting qualities.

6.       The last step is to think about examples for your advantages that you want to promote in the interview (it’s important to prepare, while at the same time in the interview you should keep a certain natural flow, and not to stick entirely to your plan).

 

The following is a table of examples of matching between the personality of the candidate and common functions in high-tech companies:

The title of the job	An example of a fitting motivation (the “why” level)	An example of a fitting abilities (the “how” level)
QA	The need to maintain a high quality work. The need to deepen and to research	Systematically thinking, thoroughness, pay attention to the little details, ability to work as a part of a team, persistence even in routine job
Software Programmer/Developer/Engineer	The aspiration to be significant via the creation of a product in the outside world, to build an innovative product that reflect myself and my creation	creativity, thinking “out of the box”, coping with ambiguousness, flexible mind, practical thinking, the ability to solve problems
Team Leader	Management motives: being important and in the center of things via the influence of people/outcomes	The ability to motive other people, persuading abilities, assertiveness, long term thinking and planning.
Help-Desk/Technical Support	The need to accept positive feedback via helping other people and help then solve problems in a practical way	Interpersonal ability, patience, mental strength, ability to solve problems in a practical effective way

In most of the High-tech companies, as a part of the selection process, it is acceptable to carry out a number of interviews. Those interviews are one of two kinds: Professional interviews conducted by professional managers, and HR interviews conducted by human resource members. While the Professional interview is structured and it is very clear how to succeed in it- this is due to the fact that it contains a knowledge test and/or logic test which have an unambiguous objective answers- the HR interview is fuzzy and unclear with no correct/wrong answers. For this reason, when we are applying for a job in a high-tech company, it will be useful to know how to be successful in this kind of interviews.

What are the HR interviewers looking for when they are interviewing for a job? (And I should know as a candidate)

Beyond the known elements of impression formation (for more details see: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Appsbodylang or http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewsnetworking/a/interviewimpres.htm), The interviewer is searching for a matching between the characteristics of the candidate and the properties of the organization, and between the personality and the abilities of the candidate and the quality of the designated job. To find out about the personality of the candidate, the interviewer is using the curriculum vitae (C.V) and a different set of questions as a part of a depth interview.

Matching between the candidate and the organization

The interviewer is trying to find out how the candidate will be integrated into the organizational surroundings: the organizational culture, the atmosphere of the appointed team, the character of the supervisor et cetera. For instance, if we are applying for a job in a small startup company, which has frequent changes, we should emphasize the ability to cope with those changes and even to want the challenge and excitement. On the other hand, if we are trying to be accepted into a large established organization, we should emphasize the aspiration for a job security and our ability to cope with the routine. As a candidate you probably don’t know much about these subjects, but try to do your best in achieving this information (for example: via the company web site or via acquaintance who work there). But more than likely, you would have some information and influence on the job characteristics (because it is easy to guess). Thus, the next article will explore the matching between the candidate and the job characteristics.

The writer is an organizational psychologist working at a large selection agency in Israel