Your future boss has fears – allay them!

When the conversation of job searches and employment comes up, much is said about the anxieties faced by the job seekers as they struggle to prepare the perfect CV, answer interview questions perfectly, make the perfect impression, and secure the perfect job. But, how about the fears of the prospective employer?

 
Making the right hiring decision has become tougher for the Nigerian employer. Yes – there are some that act like they are doing you a favour and utilise every opportunity during the recruitment period to treat job seekers poorly, demonstrating a high disregard for you and your time (You probably don’t want a job with them anyway). But for hiring managers that have openings for careers that will involve development, career progression and an all-round rewarding employee experience, selecting the right candidate is a complex process.

 
First, they put out an application, and when the entries come in, they have to filter through hundreds of applications with irrelevant experiences and qualifications to identify those with the right profile for the job. Lesson Number One: Please do not apply to openings that you don’t have the requisite qualification for. Your resume will just be one more time waster. And although companies rarely ever have the time to blacklist applications (they just toss them out), don’t underestimate the power of automated filtering technologies and vindictive HR personnel.

 
Next, after selecting those with the right profile, interviews will be conducted. Best practice during an interview process involves multiple interviews (between 3 and 5) with managers and directors the new employee will have to work with when hired. These senior staff have to make out time from their busy schedules – for some companies, this involves travelling out of their base to work with the recruitment timing – to interview. This is time that would have been utilised driving operations, growing the company’s sales or delivering profit to the company in some other way or form, but recruitments are also important. Some candidates may not show up (and fail to provide sufficient notice to reschedule), or show up completely unprepared, thus irritating these senior staff and thus blocking chances of getting hired. Lesson Number Two: If you have been scheduled for an interview and you cannot make it due to one reason or the other, provide notice of not less than 12 hours. If you are running late (a situation which you should avoid), send an apologetic text or put a call through so that your interviewers can plan appropriately.

 
During the interview process, one concern at the back of the interviewer’s mind is whether the candidate can do the job well. If the role is entry-level, the concerns are further heightened by the fact that the candidate probably has little experience. The interviewer is also thinking about how much (in terms of money and time) it will take to get the candidate up to the level of capability required to do the job, and wondering if this investment will be wasted if the candidate decides to leave the job shortly after gaining the requisite skills. One last (usually overlooked) consideration that is boggling the interviewer is what the impact of this hire will be to their work reputation. A bad hiring decision can be costly to the interviewer, as the company and their peers will question their judgement. This is clearly a risky endeavour for the interviewer.

 
So, what can you do as a candidate, to allay the fears of your future boss?

1. Be quick to demonstrate your capability through your past achievements – Do not answer interview questions on your abilities with simple, one-line “Yes I can sir/ma”. Follow up with an example of how you have done so in the past. Where you do not have actual experience, use a related example. Do your research on the capabilities required for your role in the company, and be prepared to talk about the education, experience, exposure you have that equips you to deliver well on that capability. Some of these capabilities are industry-based, and there are also standard capabilities such as Teamwork, Communication, Project Management, Problem Solving that you must be able to demonstrate your capacity to deliver in.
2. Show your boss how beneficial an investment you will be – If you have experiences that demonstrate how quick you are to pick up skills or how fast a learner you are, share them. If you have taken courses related to the skill in question or built skills related to the one you will be asked to demonstrate, let your interviewer know.
3. Let your boss know you are in this for the long haul – Use questions such as “What are your goals? / Where do you plan to be in 5-years’ time?” to show you understand what the growth trajectory of your focus role will be, and that you have a long-term view to this opportunity. Answers implying that you are not sure whether you really want to be in the role or that you are still feeling your way around will raise flags with your interviewer.
4. Convince your boss that you are valuable to their organisation – This is where your fact-finding and prior research about the organisation comes in handy. There is one type of job candidate an interviewer cannot resist, and that is one who can solve their pressing problems. Use informational interviews with people in the organisation/industry to understand the expectations of your role and the type of tasks you will be tackling, and share how you have handled similar tasks in the past. You don’t need very specific or confidential information about the company to demonstrate this – in fact, sharing too much about the company can be risky for you as the information might not be completely accurate, and you might come across as a busybody of sorts. If you are not able to get enough information about the kind of tasks you will be handling, you can showcase your mastery of a few hot skills that make you attractive to any kind of employer.