INTERVIEW: YOU'RE NOT THE LEAST IN THE ROOM

_You're NOT the least in the room.

You've been invited for an interview. This means that the hiring manager(s) have looked at your CV/Profile and believes that your background, training and skills-set match their requirements for the role. The reason why they want to meet you for an interview is to interact with you and validate what you have put in your CV. Two, they want to meet the 'person' in you and understand your personality, your values, your character and how this blends with their organization's culture.

Sometimes we get into the interview room feeling as if we're down there and the interviewing panel is up there. That we're inferior and will survive at their mercy. This is a very wrong perception. Often, the feeling of inadequacy makes us overly nervous and eventually fail us in our interview.When invited for an interview understand this: That hiring managers spends excruciatingly enormous amount of time trying to land the right candidate for the job (we always talk of the 'right candidate' and not the 'best candidate' because the best is not always the right one). They're desperate to get the right person to hire. Interviewing is not their hobby. When you get in, they're silently praying that you'll be the right person. You need to seize that moment and sell yourself. Don't look at it from the failure side. The reason why the hiring managers invited you is because they're seeking more reasons why they should hire you and not why they should dismiss you. This is an eye-to-eye conversation and not a them-against-me moment as most candidates take it.

You're not the least in the room and therefore don't look for pity. These guys are looking for someone who can do the job not the one who needs the job.If you've ever sat in interview panels, you already know that interviewers view candidates as professionals in their area and not some sort of subordinates.Of course you'll be nervous. This is expected and is not personal to you. All of us suffer some level of nervousness. But there's a way to manage your nerves and build your confidence (I'll share this at a later post).Understanding that the interviewers could also be in distress to get the right person for the job will ease pressure and avoid the temptation to think lowly of yourself. They're already satisfied with your application and now is the moment to demonstrate that you have the right skills to competently do the job.

*********************************************************************** Mburugu Mukaria | Nairobi | 23rd December, 2019