Photo by HeavenlyDivine (license CC BY-SA 3.0)
I want you to picture this scenario. You’re job searching and have responded to 1,000+ advertisements. You’ve even managed to score a couple of interviews. Congratulations! On the day of the interview, you make the usual pre-interview preparations: Comb your hair, put on your good shirt (after you iron it of course), and wear your nice shoes. Wait a minute, what job did you apply for again? You’ve applied for so many, you can’t remember which one gave you this interview. Better make sure you don’t prepare for the wrong interview.
You check the advertisement, read up on the company, and mentally prepare yourself for the types of questions you will be asked. Alright. Now we’re ready! You arrive for the interview and throw everything you have into making a killer first impression. You stand straight, smile confidently, give a strong handshake. Everything is going well.
Now the interview proper begins. You answer every question about the job and the industry. You demonstrate to your potential employers you have the skills, qualifications, and relevant experience to get the job done. You impress them with your knowledge of the company, its history, and its practices. You make them laugh. You have them eating out of the palm of your hand. You’re in charge of this interview. Until……they catch you off guard with these questions:
“What do you do in your spare time?” Who cares what I do in my spare time? Work is work. My private life shouldn’t matter to these people. As long as I can get the job done, my “hobbies and interests” (or lack thereof) shouldn’t matter to anyone!”
“So what are your hobbies and interests? What do you do in your spare time?”
Ladies and gentlemen, I swear, one day I am going to give an honest answer to these questions. One like this:
“I’m going to be real with you mate… I have no hobbies, NOTHING interests me. If I had infinite dollars and an infinite amount of time to enjoy it, I would drink wine, solve math problems, get into fights, drink scotch, and pick up chicks… THAT’S IT”
What ridiculous questions these are! “So what are your hobbies and interests? What do you do in your spare time?” Who cares what I do in my spare time? Work is work. My private life shouldn’t matter to these people. As long as I can get the job done, my “hobbies and interests” (or lack thereof) shouldn’t matter to anyone!
Well…… actually, they do matter.
On the surface it may seem pointless and irrelevant to the purpose of an interview (to get a job), but let’s give these seemingly ridiculous questions some context.
A normal person sleeps for about 8 hours a day, which leaves 16 hours left in your waking day. An office job normally runs between 9-5 (8 hours long), which means you’re spending at least half of your waking day at work with these people.
Would you want to spend half of your life with an uninteresting “square” who bores you to tears?
According to studies, team cohesion has a direct impact on work output. A cohesive work force is a productive work force, and work productivity has a direct correlation with job satisfaction. So for the sake of workplace productivity, job satisfaction, and a stable and continuous workforce, it is imperative that you prove to your potential employers that you are “one of the boys” (or girls).
I’ll confess that the story in the opening paragraphs is a personal experience. I was interviewed for a job and was unsuccessful, despite being matched in skills and experience with another candidate. The employer simply felt the other guy was “better suited” to the work team and culture (he must have had some serious charm to beat me, because I am down right charming).
So what lesson is the job seeker supposed to learn from my story? Just as you would tailor your resume to fit the kind of job you are applying for, so I recommend you must also tailor your first impression and persona to fit the job.
In the past, I’ve had to reinvent myself for the sake of finding employment. I’ve had to show I was gentle, patient, and caring, so that I may be able to work in the aged care industry. After 8 years of working in this female dominated industry, I did a 180, and went into commercial construction. Understandably, after having been immersed in estrogen and old people for so long, my “bro” skills were severely atrophied. I needed to prove I could fit in with a group of no-nonsense guys, many of whom began their careers working on the tools.
So what are you supposed to do when you’re applying for jobs? What are you to do when you have an interview at a nursing home on Monday, and then an interview at a construction company on Tuesday? You can’t be “all things to all people.” Well, the good news is, you don’t really need to be. It’s enough to simply have some answers prepared for the types of questions you’ll probably encounter.
For example, I hate watching sports. So when the “bros” ask me what team I barrack(support) for, I have a prepared answer. I tell them I’m a New South Welshman, and that my game is rugby, thus AFL confuses me. This also affords me the opportunity to make a joke. I tell these bros that the shame of constantly losing the the “State of Origin” (an annual best-of-three rugby tournament), is what forced me to move to Melbourne. This is always met with laughs, and the bros coming to the conclusion that I’m a good bloke, and that I’ll fit in just fine.
Most job advertisements list “teamwork” or “being a team player” as one of the characteristics of the person they’re looking to employ. However, being a team player runs so much deeper than just having the ability to work with others. What employers are really looking for is someone who can become a member of the work family.
Most of us can’t afford to be too picky when it comes to employment, so the next best thing is to be prepared. Who are your potential co-workers? What is their background? What is the company’s culture, ethos and direction? Appeal to these sensitivities and you will have a much greater chance in convincing others that you too can be a member of their cohesive team.
Harrison Stamoudis is a freelance writer from Melbourne, Australia. After a lifetime of being praised for his intellect and being told “you can do anything you want”, he was doomed to grow up without guidance and direction (it’s difficult to pick a door when they are all open for you). Aimlessly wandered from one job to the next, he struggled to pick a path and stick to it. Harrison often had to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet and the work history list on his resume is a little longer than he cares to mention. Harrison is currently in the process of completing higher education (for a third time) so that he may make his next major career change, this time civil engineering.