An End To The Interview Minefield?




Claire Deeley - Senior Marketing Manager

I specialise in maternity contracts for marketing roles. And even though my tenure is typically a year or less, the recruitment and selection process is no less detailed than if I were a permanent member of staff.

Before I accepted my role at Capp I went through some howlers of interviews. Situations so unrealistic and jaw dropping in hindsight I wonder what sort of candidate would have persevered?
There was the housing company who recreated Dragon’s Den. My product to ‘sell’ was light up in the dark toilet paper. Standing up in front of the CEO, senior team and competitor candidates talking about potential markets and investment for luminous toilet paper didn’t tell me anything (positive) about the company, nor the sector they operated in. And I certainly don’t think it gave me the chance to show what I could do for them given a brief and some knowledge.

Or the company whose heating had broken, and we all conducted the interview in winter coats, scarves and gloves. I managed the briefest of responses through chattering teeth to questions about stakeholders and process.

Or the company who rejected my competency-based responses because they focused on my last, and not current job role.

My interview at Capp got me talking about what I was good at. What I enjoyed doing and how often I did it. My strengths. Capp learned that I have drive and passion for marketing and in putting clients’ business first. I learned that my first strength is Narrator –creating stories to make things more easily understood is what I do, and like doing best.

The Strengths-based methodology developed by Capp more than a decade ago aims to match the world with their perfect job. Identifying strengths in employees and making the most of them has a proven positive effect on engagement, confidence, resilience and performance. And happier employees mean a more productive workforce.

I will be working with Capp until 2019, creating stories about the company, its world-renowned clients and its proven assessment and development methodologies through events, awards, social media and collateral.

I hope my next prospective employers have adopted Strengths-based selection by then.

Comments