It’s called a job interview, not an interrogation!

At first, I’m absolutely delighted. After sending out countless applications, it’s finally here: the invitation to the job interview.

What should I wear? How do I get to the interview? How can I avoid getting stuck in a traffic jam? What questions do I want to ask? What exactly does the company do again? As a committed candidate, you’ll want to prepare thoroughly for an interview.

You browse the company’s website, put together your application documents, prepare your questions and invest a lot of time. After all, you want to find your dream employer.

Interlocutor running late, nothing to drink

When the day of the job interview finally arrives, you’re bound to feel nervous – to a greater or lesser extent, depending on your personality – and full of eager anticipation. It’s all the more frustrating when the person on the other side doesn’t seem to feel the same way. An interviewer who makes you wait for 20 minutes before the interview, doesn’t even offer you a glass of water after you’ve travelled for an hour, sits down at the meeting table with their arms crossed, hasn’t brought the documents you submitted beforehand, and conducts an interrogation rather than a pleasant conversation.

After the interview, you’re no wiser about the exact duties, the team in the potential new job or what the employer has to offer. Instead, you feel as though you’re being scrutinised, just like during the police’s medical fitness test.

Do you think we’re exaggerating?

Unfortunately, no! Time and again, job applicants tell us how disrespectfully they are treated during interviews – as if they were supplicants who ought to be grateful that the interviewer is sacrificing their valuable time for them. These companies clearly haven’t yet recognised the signs of the times. The skills shortage hasn’t reached them yet(!).

Dear HR colleagues, here are our tips as recruitment experts:

• It’s not just the customer who’s king – the applicant is too!
• A job interview isn’t an interrogation, but a chance to get to know each other for the first time – almost like a date.
• Win over the candidate: Tell them about yourselves, introduce your company, and make them look forward to a future together!

After all, that is what a job interview is ultimately all about: planning a shared professional future with the candidate.

And, dear applicants:

Be confident enough to turn down jobs. If you don’t feel comfortable during the interview, it might simply not be the right fit.

On that note: here’s to a successful get-together!

… by the way, we’re happy to help – whether it’s with job interviews, job hunting or candidate management 😉