A Guide for Human Resource Professionals | Page 20

The Business Case to Hire Experience

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INTERVIEWING EXPERIENCE
DISCOVER THE REAL PERSON BEHIND THE RESUME
Traditional Techniques May Overlook the Best Candidates

R

egardless of age, when a person
loses their job, they may also lose
their sense of identity, purpose
and self-worth. They question their ability
to return to the workforce. There is often a
feeling of devastation and loss, not only for
the job but for their work family too. These
feelings are amplified the longer a person
has been with their former employer.
Sometimes these feelings and
doubts come with the candidate to the
job interview.

from our five-year plan to the meaning of
life. There are often valid reasons for these
questions, but maybe it’s time to re-evaluate
the traditional interview process.
For some candidates it is hard to answer
questions correctly when they are thinking
about putting food on the table and avoiding
mortgage foreclosure. At that moment,
it’s less about the right job and more
about survival.
For ‘third quarter’ candidates — many of
whom haven’t been on an interview in 20 or
more years — the boardroom interview can
be an especially daunting experience. They
read conflicting information about what to
expect or how to answer tough questions
only to face an entirely different
interview experience.

Projecting a positive and self-confident
impression can be difficult when your selfesteem has been battered. Losing your job
in the ‘third quarter’ of life creates a new set
of worries and stresses: fear of losing your
home, paying your bills, and providing for
your family. Combine those stresses with the
reality of applying for job after job and never
Regardless of the wealth of work and
hearing back and that can further erode self- life experience and transferable skills, this
esteem and confidence.
group comes to the table already feeling
disadvantaged because of their age. Or
At one time or another, all of us have been perhaps, after spending their entire work life
on the other side of the interview table. No
at one company, they have never been in
one likes sitting in a boardroom with a panel an interview situation.
of strangers who read from a pre-arranged
script and then grill us on almost everything