During my hospitality career, I have interviewed over 7000 candidates on four continents personally. From the early years as manager, I learned how important it is to have the right people on your team. Not just based on skills and knowledge but also on adaptability, personality and ambition. Today I want to talk about the first reason why people get rejected in interviews.
Human Resources professionals usually do an excellent job pre-selecting candidates, but often they miss a diamond in the raw. They have good analytical processes, but experience is one tool that is not easily replaced with even the best ATS or systems and processes. I have seen excellent interviewers combining analysis with experience in an almost virtuous way. However, as reliance on automation and ATS software is ever increasing, and older recruiters are replaced by younger, less experienced professionals. They rely more and more on productivity tools like ATS and their own skill set is less developed than it used to be.
I made it a habit long ago to interview two candidates daily, regardless of position or rank. H.R. did not like it very much, but for me, as a Hotel General Manager, it was vital not only to know each employee personally but also to have a feel of personality, suitability, adaptability, and, very importantly, the sleeping potential of each candidate. Equally important was it, to have potential candidates for a position as a back up in case this position would eventually become vacant. It was a great strategy, because we never had labor shortages in my hotels.
Modern H.R. personnel in hospitality is frequently not even familiar with the the skill set required for a particular position, which is one of the reasons why they fail to a certain extent to find the right talent for a job. I made it my habit to see five resumes daily and personally interview at least one candidate daily. I scan thru the resumes and, here and there, picked up on one which stood out due to simplistic and informative clarity. I asked H.R. to invite the person for an interview in addition to those they had preselected for me.
Over the years, I discovered that there were several critical reasons for rejection. And these rejection triggers existed at all levels, junior level, supervisory, mid-management level, and senior management level. And here are these four fundamental reasons why applicants fail in a job interview:
1. No Focus
2. Absence of a structured and clear-thinking process.
3. Ability to provide substance to specific questions
4. Inability to understand the interviewer
So, no matter at what level in your career journey, mastering these four critical areas is crucial and will dramatically increase your chances of closing the job offer. Rejection happens not because you do not bring the required skill set to the table but 95% of the time for these 4 key reasons. In this blog I will write about the critical ability for candidates to maintain “FOCUS” throughout the interview.
1. Lack of Focus:
All applicants frequently arrive for the interview full of enthusiasm and hope, especially the younger applicants with a keen sense of entitlement.
Enthusiasm is excellent at making a good first impression. It brings up the energy of the interview and the engagement. At the junior level, many come out of the discussion feeling like they just hit the jackpot and that the company, let’s say, the interviewer liked them because they were enthusiastic, optimistic, and positive.
However, many applicants fall into a deep trap when answering questions like, “Why do you want to work for this company?” “Why this role?” “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Junior candidates often fail to remain focused during the interview process, often trying to “read between the lines”. That is frequently a mistake. The interviewer is trying to help by asking straight forward questions. Just answer with a focus and if you do not understand, request the person across the table to explain the question one more time.
At the higher level, this happens as well. Healthy optimism, positive energy and excitement is great, but especially at a higher level not enough. A clear and transparent vision about the future and how to get there is a “must have” even at a higher level. It is vital for the interviewer to evaluate your long-term suitability and potential for the role.
They are actually not so curious about skills but are more curious about your personality, objectives, and goals. If you do not present a clear thought as to why this role is the best next step in your career and why this role is proper for you and fits your five-year vision, the interviewer will give you low grades. A company wants to be something other than the testing ground for your aspirations.
They are seeking someone who will be with them for a while and take advantage of the opportunities the company may provide. As a hotelier, candidates want to climb the ladder quickly, and you must be able to present and communicate your short or mid-term plan convincingly to your interviewer. You need to know these questions are not trick questions or a trap. These questions are the ones the interviewer provides you with a path to describe what really drives you and maybe is your motivation. Use this path properly.
I will give you an example: Once upon a time in my career, a young lady applied for the front office asst. manager position in one of my hotels. Her resume looked good, the format was traditional, and her work history seemed OK, except that she had climbed the ladder unusually fast from my perspective. She had started her career with a six months internship in a well known hotel; she left this hotel and worked as a receptionist in another 5-star hotel for eight months. She was quickly promoted to shift leader in the same hotel even though other candidates with more experience were available. Shortly after, she sent her resume to our hotel and applied for the open position of front office asst. manager. The H.R. manager was impressed and passed her resume to the front office manager, who found her to be a good fit based personality and skills. I was curious and asked them to send the candidate to me for a final OK.
I met the applicant and came straight to the point: “You have been working in excellent hotels until now and were just promoted. Congratulations! Why do you want to work for us? You have been with your last company for only nine months, and they just promoted you. Why are you leaving? Things are looking good for you. What happened?”
“Well,” she replied, “I am very good at what I am doing, and I should have been promoted to Front Office Manager. I don’t want to be an assistant manager; it’s the same as a shift leader.”
“Interesting,” I said, “please give me two examples and describe what makes you so good?” “Well, I have been promoted, you know this, and you do not get promotions unless you are good.” “I see, of course, but give me the reasons, at least 2, why you were promoted?” “I have a lot of good comment cards and recommendations from guests; you know, I am very good with people.” “Excellent,” but what exactly makes you good with people? Just give me an example.” “I told you, the people like me, especially the guests.” She did not come up with anything else. Her inability to consider my questions but also her sense of entitlement irritated me somewhat. Those who know me, know how patient I am, but time is a valuable commodity. So I pressed on: “Tell me, where do you see yourself in this company three years from now?” She rolled her eyes, looked up in the upper left corner of the office, and said: “That depends. I usually do not plan so far ahead. But you know that I am very good with people.” “yes, you told me,” I replied. “It depends – on what…. And how about your colleagues? Do they like you too, like your guests?”
“Oh, I stay away from them. I do my work, and then I leave. Do not want to interact with them too much. I relate only to my superiors as it is good for my career.” I was not surprised about the answer and thanked her for her time. Even though I could have asked her more questions, I finished the meeting, called the H.R. manager and the front office manager and declined her recruitment.
In the hotel business, it is essential that you can interact with people all the time, not only the guests but also your colleagues. The dismissive way she described her relationship with her colleagues was disturbing. As a manager, you must work with your team; you are the driving force, the motivator, and the leader. Her reply indicated that she did not care about her potential colleagues. More disturbing was that she relates only to managers to foster her career growth.
Combine this with the length of her engagement in the other hotels, and you will identify an opportunistic and very ambitious personality who will walk over people in her future career if given a chance. A good relationship with your team is the foundation for quality operation and success in our business.
Ultimately her inability to describe her role three years later indicated that she would use her new position in our hotel only as a jumping board to another higher position. She had the basic skills; however, she needed more perspective for the company, reliability, and commitment and wanted to relate to her colleagues, only to her senior managers.
This is how a hotel H.R. person will look at you in an interview. They want information from you and hire you if you can provide a credible indication of loyalty, commitment, and a vision of how they will fit into the company’s long-term success.
Finding and identifying the best talent is a massive problem in the hotel industry today. At the same time, this labor shortage is your chance if you play your cards right. Even if you have a relatively short-term horizon for your career, please don’t tell the interviewer. Be smart instead and formulate your answer like this: “Three years from now, I see myself in a position with more responsibility; but for now, I want to prove myself in your company.” A recruiter will like this kind of response. A bit of humility and a smartly placed compliment for the recruiter will be one of the keys to unlocking the gate.
It is too big of a risk for a company to hire someone who, once into the job, realizes this is different from what they wanted or that they cannot get promoted quickly enough. Someone who does not relate with the team damages the morale at the workplace and will become a time and money drain when leaving. Therefore, you need to go into the interview clearly articulating why this is the next step in your vision.
In my book and in my various blog posts I talk a lot about “the vision” you must have for your career. If you do not have a career vision for yourself, I can help. I created a straightforward process that allows you to zero in on precisely what your next career step should be and then be able to articulate that to the employer clearly.
Some people spend their entire careers not ever finding that perfect job. They hitchhike through their employment, stick out their hand and wait to see which company comes and picks them up, and then that’s their job’s direction.
Because you are reading my blog, I know that you have already made that first step and decided that you will have a career in this fascinating industry. What you have to do is quite simple. Stay with me and keep reading the information I forward to You. I will continue to write about the many options available for hoteliers on a global and regional scale. My data is genuine and authentic, and specific to the hotel industry.
You will not have to wander around aimlessly; you do not have to ask yourself, “What’s next?”. In my book, “The Perfect Hotel Career,” I provide a simple and user-friendly questionnaire that requires little time to find out what you want next and in the long term and how to structure and plan your progress.I show you what skills you need for specific jobs and how to prepare your plan and transition into supervisory management, middle management, and senior management.
Tomorrow I will write on anther reason why applicants get rejected in interviews which is the absence of a structured and clear-thinking process.
Until then I wish You a productive day and ongoing success on your career journey.
Helmut H Meckelburg