Here is a Short Story , which tells us how we form “Opinions” on or about someone.
Just imagine , that you are lost in an unknown territory , and have been walking for quite some time.
You are thus feeling very Thirsty , but unfortunately , there is no availability of water. You stand to rest under a Tree……
(A) Suddenly, a window of a house on the first floorof an apartment building, opens, and your eyes meet someone’s .That person immediately guesses , the state you are in, and asks by , gesturing , if you need some water.You NOD in a BIG “YES “, and start walking towards the apartment building.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS PERSON??— THIS IS YOUR FIRST OPINION
(B) The person gestures with a sign of coming down , and closes the window.
It is 15 minutes that you are standing there, but the door to the apartment building doesn’t open.
(C) You are about to move, and finally the door opens. The person is standing there with a jug, and says politely:
“ So sorry for the delay , but looking at your condition , I thought it would do you good ,if I prepared some “Nimbu Paani”/” Lemonade” for you”.
NOW HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS PERSON-?? — THIS IS YOUR THIRD OPINION.
(D) A glass is filled and handed over to you. You take a sip , and realise that it has NO SUGAR ,in it.
WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS NOW ABOUT THIS PERSON—????—?????????????????????
Given this simple situation of the above STORY, we see how our Opinions keep changing.
This leads us to a very crucial question: “How correct can we be , while giving an Opinion on anybody, more so a STRANGER” In a nut shell, the moral of the story is, if the person’s behaviour falls into the boundary of our “Expectations”, he is “Good” otherwise not. !!!!!
Translating this to the Corporate world : For any HR Manager , choosing a right person for a job, is a challenge. Going through the sheer number of resume’, shortlisting them according to set criteria, can be overwhelming. While going through the resumes, we (HR managers) try to predict , which candidate will do well in a given job role, and which won’t .
Even after all this hard work, we are still left with “limited Choices” , who fall into our “Expectations” and are thus invited for “Interview”
While taking interviews, we are mostly meeting “Strangers”,and in all likelihood , we will start forming Opinions about him or her , the moment they enter the room, by their clothes, behaviour, body language , spoken language etc etc.
Hey——Hold your horses, Mr./Ms. HR — THINK AGAIN- This isn’t a personal matter.
YOU are A RESPONSIBLE OFFICER and recruiting for a company……… You need to Master the Techniques of Taking a Successful Interview . Isn’t it?
Write to me with your experiences of FINE/GOOD/ BAD Interviews at nisha@uhr.co.in
yoUrs in HR ……UHR