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I, like most people, held a variety of jobs when I was younger. When I was 17, I landed a job as a shoe salesman (yes, those were the days when you could still say "salesman"). It was Noble shoe store in Jackson. That was an interesting interview. Now you have to picture this. I'm 17, I'm wearing this get-up that looks like an understudy for the lead role in GREASE, and I have this face that looks like Opie Taylor's younger brother. The manager says to me, "How are your hamstrings?" Of course, I had no idea what they are much less where they are, but I said, "Fine, sir". He said, "Squat down for me." I complied. He said, "A couple of more times, faster." I did, still too naive to feel embarrassed. Then he said, "Can you start on Sunday?" Well, it wasn't until Sunday afternoon about an hour before closing that I began to realize where my hamstrings are.
I had spent an entire day crouched down in front of a strange variety of customers lacing and unlacing, measuring and remeasuring, putting on and taking off. Most shoe "salespesons", I'm sure, spend their work days thinking to themselves, "I've got to get a real job". I remember one day I was cramming an 8 EE hoof into a 6B Hush Puppy on a customer whose peds were quite formidable. This person was droning on about an award won for exemplary job performance and would receive this award at the annual employee recognition banquet. As the customer was leaving the store with the undersized purchase, I said " . . . congratulations on your outstanding feat". It went completely unacknowledged. Not even a chuckle. I was so disappointed. I mean, ladies and gentlemen, at the age of 17 I thought that was one of the funniest things I had ever heard. I consoled myself by believing that the customer had gotten almost all the way home, got the joke, and split a gut as they were pulling into the driveway. Of course, I'll never know.
What does this have to do with interviewing? Not a lot, except for the obvious, "If the shoe fits . . ." analogy. Also, it illustrates how not to make a hire decision. When interviewing candidates, we should do so with the strategy that assumes that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, people who have succeeded in the past are most likely to succeed in the future, and never equate work experience with accomplishments. This assumes that we have done our homework prior to the interview. "Doing our homework" means reviewing exit interviews of previous incumbents, studying the performance appraisals of people who have been successful in the job, and interviewing the current supervisors to gain their perception of previous successful behavior. None of this, however, will ensure a "shoe-in" for a successful hire.
Three critical factors in selecting candidates are:
1. Does this candidate have the core skills to do the job?
2. Can this candidate thrive in our corporate culture?
3. Does the job and the culture meet the candidate's needs?
Approaching the job interview process realistically and without emotion is like buying a pair of shoes. It requires that you be honest with yourself. ("I'm not a 6B. I've never been a 6B. Please show me that sensible, open-toed 8EE I saw in the window.") We have to know what we are looking for and not talk ourselves into "purchasing" something that attracts us but isn't practical. Approaching the interview process in this methodical fashion increases the probability that we are being fair and consistent with our applicants. This should produce a better fit and keep us out of EEO compliance difficulties. I realize these are nifty ideas that are easy to recommend when you don't have department heads breathing down your neck for a "warm body". We must, nonetheless, resist the temptation. If you need to use a shoehorn to fill a vacancy, then something is wrong with this picture. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his friend, Elias Shipman, in which he said, "No duty the executive had to perform was so trying as to put the right man in the right place". I think Jefferson would have made a hell of a shoe salesman, but I'm sure he would have hated it.
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