Alex had an impressive CV!
He had excellent grades at school, a series of technical projects that earned him some recognition and led to concrete results in his first two jobs. However, when he was seen in an interview for a recruitment for a new job in high technology, the company rejected him and those even if he had successfully passed the tests he had been given. Alex had passed the logic and aptitude tests, Aptitudes Premium and had demonstrated many talents. Fortunately for Alex, he learned the reason for his rejection from an unofficial source, a former colleague who did not agree with the decision. It turned out that the interviewers thought Alex lacked passion in his work. He was silent, did not specify how he had contributed to projects in his resume and did not display the effusiveness that the company was used to seeing in "good candidates".
Alex had grown up in Hong Kong, where he had learned to downplay his accomplishments and direct his efforts towards concrete results. Unfortunately, the company he was interviewing was located in the South of France. The interviewers had a bias in their analysis: they thought that passionate candidates would speak loudly and at length about their achievements. Alex needed to find a way to communicate his enthusiasm and commitment in interviews without fundamentally changing his personality and cultural ways of being. While the demonstration of passion is not the only predictor of an excellent candidate for a job, it is often referred to by recruitment managers in their interview comments.
To be successful in your next job interview, you need to find a way to communicate what matters most to you.
Here's how.
Start with your why. Most resumes and interview responses are a long list of "what someone has done... without asking why". Rather than telling recruitment managers what you have done, start by explaining your motivation - why you chose this activity - and the impact it has had on your work.
Alex liked to create software applications because he believed that technology could help everyone have access to a better life. His parents had made many sacrifices to send him to an elite school, including the purchase of expensive books and supplies, which could have been reduced through technology. Alex's motivation to pursue coding was very personal, which fuelled his passion. Discuss where you invest your time more than normal. For most positions, a suitable candidate must be intelligent, invested, have the personality and behaviours expected and get results.
An exceptional candidate explains to interviewers when and where he or she went beyond expectations, beyond what is usually seen. During his final year at university, Alex would hide under the table in the computer lab when it closed so that he could stay after closing time and continue coding. His hard work and overtime paid off. The system administrator at his university used a program written by Alex to help him run the lab more efficiently.
Share your hobbies.
When you are passionate about something, it tends to affect other aspects of your life. Alex liked to build things. He created computer programs at school, at work and at home. One such project was the construction and programming of a beer recovery robot. In his next interview, Alex showed videos of the robots he had built in his spare time, projects that showed his enthusiasm and deep commitment to robotics.
Talk about where you worked for free. Passion and conviction can lead you to work on something even if it is not part of your job or your hobby. In the next interview, Alex talked about how he helps to feed homeless people in a shelter. Because of the limited space, the shelter could feed about 100 people at a time and then he organised a 2e service to accommodate a second group of guests each evening. It was difficult to feed everyone in the time allotted.
Alex noticed that problems were caused by errors in order taking for the content of the two menus and their accurate delivery. He coded a program displaying the seating plan and the selected menu content. The program increased service efficiency by 17 minutes and reduced errors and frustration.
After using these techniques in interviews, Alex was hired by a competitor of the company who turned him down. In his new job, he worked hard, obtained five patents and produced many programs.
Don't be effaced at your next job interview, because, like many candidates, you may not exhibit the kind of exuberant behaviour that companies usually associate with passion. Help employers see the commitment behind your actions and words. Show them that passion comes in many forms and produces impressive results - the kind of results I'm sure you've already achieved.