What do people think about you but don’t say? (interview question #18)
At Movinhand, as part of our research on Behavioral Interviewing, we interviewed Tereza from Norway for a position of Hotel Manager in Italy. We asked her to take pen to paper and answer the above question in 5–10'. She gave what we consider to be an answer that stands out:
“So on the positive side, I believe they think I’m pretty honest and straightforward. I also believe they think that in spite of not being cynical I’m a survivor. I’ve been able to get by in life, build a great family and career. I’ve had a number of setbacks -but generally I keep a smile on my face and keep going.
On the negative side, they might say I’m too practical and serious. Maybe even too much so for my own sake. They would say that my life decisions have always been based on facts, that I don’t have enough emotion and intuition.
I believe being practical has made me self-confident. But it’s true that I haven’t experimented in life. Adventure and uncertainty don’t intrigue me, what can I say. I like knowing where I am and where I’m going next. For example, I was promoted to a position of regional recruiter a while back and I failed miserably; I couldn’t see how different people and attitudes would fit together in a customer service department.
In front line roles or managerial roles I’ve been successful and feel much more confident.”
Probing further: What would you like them to say but don’t?
“I’m fine with all of what I’ve said. The one thing I’d like people to think but I don’t believe they do is that I can be relaxed, that I am well in my soul. The reality is that I’m wound up pretty tight. I live more in the future than in the present and become too preoccupied by ‘what ifs’.”
Why we love this answer:
In some positions grit and perseverance go further than imagination or charisma.
This candidate gave our client a sense of quiet confidence and deep toughness that is uncommon. She gave the impression that, if things get tough, she isn’t going to fall apart. She will be able to respond to emergency situations in a stable and calm way (these are all too common in the hotel industry). Our customer would rather hire somebody who’s maybe not a charismatic manager, but will dig in on her assignment. They’d rather have grit than almost any other quality.
And what we mean by ‘grit’ is far more than simply gritting our teeth and trying to push ourselves forward. We mean a person who devotedly pursues far-off goals, who approaches life as a ‘marathon, not a sprint’, who is more likely to push through their individual failures because they understand that failure is temporary.
On a different note, an additional insight from the interview is that she fully owns the question. She takes on the challenge 100% and doesn’t answer in a standard cookie-cutter manner. She plainly exhibits her true self while acknowledging certain stereotypes that fit her personality. She then moves on to discuss how these character traits would fit into her professional role.
This is part of our “Art of Behavioural Interviewing” series. For more, check out this… or interview question #34.
