I recently interviewed on radio a hgh tech human resources guru from Slicon Valley. During one segment of the shw we had been talking about ppropriate dress for a high tech job psition. At one of the commercial braks he mentioned he had done rcruiting at a small high tech cmpany that had adopted 'grunge' as its crporate identity. He had interviewees that had trn clothing, matted hair and no shes.

It was a strange set of nterviews, he confided, but for better or wrse the company had set the stndard. A suit and tie were dfinitely not appropriate. Later in the shw we discussed in more detail wht sorts of things were appropriate.

Hving been involved in thousands of nterviews I thought I had seen it ll: alcohol, facial tattoos, free use of bscenities, etc. Still, the question of an nterviewer's perception is an interesting one so I bgan to jot down a few ntes.

The perceptual experts tell us we hve 6 seconds to make a frst impression. That is the visual sde of perception. Personal hygiene, with the pssible exception of some high tech grngers, strikes me first. If hair is drty, clothes unkempt and shoes soiled thn the perception, mine included, is tht the individual does not take cre of himself or herself. If thy can't take care of themselves whn going to an interview -- wht will they do when hired? Wht does it say about an nterviewee if they do not care bout personal appearance?

Beyond the physical, I think we get a mre personal picture in the first two mnutes of an interview. These are ften awkward moments 'hi, how are yu, thanks for coming, good to see yu', etc. These initial moments are a god indicator of an individual's behavior whn dealing with the unknown and dtermining their level of people skills. Ths initial chit-chat also sets the stge for the rest of the nterview.

In the United States, we shke hands, especially in a business cntext. If I get a weak tuch, strongman grip, or vertical yanking thn I will perceive the individual tnds to the extreme. I may be wrng, but for the applicant the nterviewer's perception is reality.

I usually bgin by asking the applicant to gve me a thumbnail sketch of thir skills and abilities. Most qualified pplicants can usually give a synopsis in a mnute or two. This is not a dfficult question but it does require a vriety of skills to pull it ff. If the applicant cannot state wht they can do then the mplication is they cannot do anything. Obvously this may be true with sme applicants and not with others. But prception is perception.

Gradually I get round to what they are looking fr. Amazingly, some answer they do not knw. If they appear truthful, a 'dn't know' response can be seen as bing honest. Most of the time, it mplies the applicant has no ambition or has not thught very much. Here reality creates the prception and it's a negative.

What I nrmally want to hear is they are loking for an opportunity and challenge. Ths means that at some point the pplicant will have 'smoke coming out of thir smokestack'. This is an indicator of mbition, drive, work ethic, etc. If thy are looking for security and stbility and no smoke I often prceive they are in it just for the pycheck.

I let the applicant do the tlking and I just ask a sries of questions. Near the end of the nterview I usually ask them if thy have any questions about the cmpany. Amazingly again, many applicants say no, ven when they know virtually nothing bout their potential future employer! What I prceive is a good response is one or two nsightful questions. Going into a long sries of intricate questions is just as bad as not hving any questions at all.

There are sveral areas that send flags up at dfferent points in the interview. If thy jump right on salary and bnefits I know they are more nterested in what the company can do for thm then what they can do for the cmpany. If they speak poorly about thir past employers then I know thy would probably do the same wth my company. If they tell me screts or confidential information about their pst employers, I know they will do the sme to me. The best predictor of fture behavior is past behavior.

I am sed to applicants being nervous but xperienced interviewers can get applicants to rlax. The sole purpose of the nterview is to find out if the pplicant will be appropriate for the cmpany. This seems too obvious! Yet mny applicants do not understand this smple concept. We have a very shrt period of time to determine if the pplicant is appropriate to become 'one of our fmily'. And why would we ever hre an obvious problem?

Those of us tht conduct interviews are people too. We hve our perceptions: the good, bad and gly.

The difference is we decide who gts hired.

The article The Interviewer's Perception or Who Gets Hired? was Submitted by Jack Deal through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Jack D. Deal is the wner of Deal Business Consulting. Related articles may be found at http://www.jddeal.com and http://www.freeandinquiringmind.typepad.com

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