You must charm and sell everyone you speak with, no matter how tangential they are to the hiring ... [+]
It used to be that a job applicant would interview with human resources, the hiring manager and maybe a senior-level manager to round out the interviewing process. Now, candidates are meeting with around six to 10 different people at a company, as organizations rely on a “decision-making by consensus” hiring model. You must charm and sell everyone you speak with, no matter how tangential they are to the hiring process.
Interviewing in today’s market entails meeting everybody at a firm, including human resources, the manager, the manager’s manager and that manager’s manager. Then, there's the janitor and the guy that waters the plants.
How To Win Over Everyone
To make a great first impression, you must have a good elevator pitch and slightly tweak it based on whomever you meet. In this instance, one size does not fit all. You can’t be the same person for each of these people. Everyone involved in the hiring process has their own self-centered interests.
For example, the human resources representative wants to hire a person who is a good corporate citizen and a cultural fit. The direct hiring manager wants to feel confident that the applicant can rise to the occasion, do a great job and exceed expectations. Meeting with peers calls for you to come across as a friendly, polite and well-mannered person, who everyone can get along with and not be afraid that you will take over their job or make them look bad in front of the boss. If you’re asked to speak with a junior person on the team, you want to make them feel comfortable, an integral part of the team and that you could be their potential ally.
As others are added to the interview schedule, always make sure to come across as a positive, upbeat, motivated and an overall excellent person to collaborate and interact with.
What Happens Behind The Scenes
After weeks or even months of interviews, the company will collect feedback from everyone involved in the process. In the past, the hiring manager would have the final say. Now, it's up to a consensus vote. In a challenging environment, everyone is afraid to make a lone decision. They don’t want to be the one to champion a candidate, only to later find out that they were a huge disappointment and caused a lot of trouble and dissent. Having everyone—or nearly everyone—agreeing on the hire spreads out the risk. There’s not one person to blame if everything goes south.
One of the reasons you may not receive a job offer is that there are one or two holdouts who didn’t recommend that you advance. This is why you will need everyone to love you throughout the hiring process and collectively agree they can work well alongside you. It pays off to be respectful to each individual you interact with. The kindness will pay off once it comes time to consider you for the job.
