It’s easy to think that your job interview starts when you greet the person meeting with you. However, as the Wall Street Journal points out, everyone from the security guard to the receptionist is watching you, which means your performance is being monitored before you might be ready.
Photo by Anders Sandberg.
A big part of your job interview is figuring out if you’ll fit in with the culture of the workplace, and often a receptionist will watch your demeanour as you wait for an interview or when you’re dropping off a resume. In some cases, the chain of information goes even further. The Wall Street Journal explains:
Administrative assistants aren’t the only ones watching. Sometimes crucial impressions are formed even earlier than the first meeting, if an applicant has been communicating with administrative staff to make logistical arrangements for, say, an in-person meeting or a videoconference.
“Smart recruiters ask for feedback from the travel agent, the driver from the car service that picked you up at the airport, and the admin that walked you around all day,” says Rusty Rueff, who once headed HR at PepsiCo and Electronic Arts and now is a board director at workplace-review site Glassdoor.com.
The point is that whether you’re dropping off a resume or heading to an interview, make sure you’re presenting yourself well to everyone involved in the process. This might be as simple as politely chatting with a security guard or giving the receptionist a firm handshake.
The Receptionist Is Watching You [Wall Street Journal]
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