May 19, 2008
Many HR professionals will have come out of interviews saying the experience was pants, but how may of them would know that their interviewee was relying on undergarments to get the job?
Six out of 10 job candidates wear lucky underwear at an interview, according to 'research' by law firm Peninsula.
How this particular survey was carried out remains a mystery to Yours Truly. But apparently more than 3,000 workers were wedgied, or 'questioned' for the poll. Lucky photographs of boyfriends were also commonly taken in to job interviews, although whether they were contained within the pants or otherwise was not clear.
Elsewhere, almost three in four said checking their horoscope immediately before an interview indicated whether they would get the job or not. If their horoscope told them not to wear lucky pants, they'd be in one hell of a dilema.
But if you are in such a quandry, fear not. Peter Done, managing director of Peninsula, has some words of wisdom.
"Union-jack underwear is not guaranteed to get you the job," he pronounced.
"Get prepared, turn up early for the interview, dress smartly and sell yourself - leave the lucky underwear at home."
"Luck plays no part at a job interviews," he added. HR professionals prone to erratic mood swings owing to the weather and the delays to their journey to work, may disagree.
Comments (5)
Sitting on the HR side of the table you don't know about what pants people have on (or not!). You also don't know what is going on in their heads (not unless the skills of telepathy are more developed in the HR community than I was aware of).
When we run our Interviewing Skills course we teach candidates lots of mental preparation exercises involving visualisation etc. In one of these they think of an instance when they were feeleing really good and we anchor that as a good mental state for an interview.
When running the course in the Middle East we were surpirsed to learn afterwards that several of the delegates had chosen situations of feeling good that might have happened in a bedroom or somewhere similar. Others had imagined the feeling of being a bride, giving birth and catching a big fish!
So probably best not ask your candidates how they are feeling!
Posted by Sue Hewitt | May 21, 2008 9:07 PM
Posted on May 21, 2008 21:07
....and maybe the pants are connected with these particular good feelings....
Posted by Sue Hewitt | May 21, 2008 9:17 PM
Posted on May 21, 2008 21:17
Sitting on the HR side of the table you cannot see whether or not a candidate is wearing their lucky pants (unless more HR professionals than will admit it have x-ray vision!). You also cannot see what is going on in their heads, which is probably a good thing.....
On our interviewing skills programmes we teach candidates mental preparation techniques including fixing a good mental "state" for the interview. They do this by recalling a time in the past when they felt good. Recently several delegates volunteered that their good feeling had been generated by events that might take place between two people in a bedroom scene. I was even more suprised by the best mental state being generated by someone going fishing!
So next time you are sitting across from an apparently nervous candidate you might indeed wonder what's going on in their head. And maybe the pants and the bedroom scene are connected.....
Posted by Sue Hewitt | May 22, 2008 10:55 PM
Posted on May 22, 2008 22:55
Sitting on the HR side of the table you cannot see whether or not a candidate is wearing their lucky pants (unless more HR professionals than will admit it have x-ray vision!). You also cannot see what is going on in their heads, which is probably a good thing.....
On our interviewing skills programmes we teach candidates mental preparation techniques including fixing a good mental "state" for the interview. They do this by recalling a time in the past when they felt good. Recently several delegates volunteered that their good feeling had been generated by events that might take place between two people in a bedroom scene. I was even more suprised by the best mental state being generated by someone going fishing!
So next time you are sitting across from an apparently nervous candidate you might indeed wonder what's going on in their head. And maybe the pants and the bedroom scene are connected.....
Posted by Sue Hewitt | May 22, 2008 10:56 PM
Posted on May 22, 2008 22:56
Following B&Q's not too successful sing at your interview last year, maybe they will try this one... interviewing dancing stripped to your underwear
Posted by Disciple Neil | May 23, 2008 10:34 AM
Posted on May 23, 2008 10:34