My Dream Job Applicant
By Marion Marking
Marion Marking is editor in chief at ChinaBusiness-Philippines magazine, which publishes monthly in English and Chinese and is available at National Bookstore, Powerbooks, Fully Booked, and leading newsstands nationwide. She can be reached at m.marking@fairnewsmedia.com.
Our company has currently undergone a run of hiring and I've noticed there are basically three types of applicants: competent, unprepared, and no-shows.
If I had to give a job applicant just one piece of advice it would be to respect the time of the person or company hiring you. Not showing up for an interview with little or no notice is terribly unprofessional (unless you're physically unable to do anything about it, that is).
If you think the consequences of standing up your interviewer will be isolated within the company you applied to, think again. Recruiters talk. HR managers exchange experiences. Execs and supervisors who use similar online recruitment sites, such as JobsDB, talk among themselves. Being a no-show will bite you in the end.
Coming to an interview unprepared is another way to waste your interviewer's time. One of the answers I hate when I ask an applicant why he/she applied for an opening in our company is “Wala po, try ko lang.” [I just thought I'd try it.]
Taking on a job is not like trying out the latest flavor of ice cream! You're committing yourself to a job for the next few years or, at least, months of your life. Being so careless about a career decision shows just how little you think of the value of time; not only your interviewer's time but YOURS as well!
The best way to show respect for your interviewer—or, for that matter, anyone you deal with in life—is to always come prepared. Ample preparation sends out the message that you're thoroughly professional. Not being prepared, on the other hand, says “I'm slipshod, disorganized, and I just want to get this over with because I'd rather be somewhere else!”
My dream job applicant (someone I'd likely hire on the spot—as I have)
1) Shows up on time;
2) Has researched our company and its products/projects/history;
3) Is presentable (looks clean, breath smells okay, doesn't reek of cigarette smoke);
4) Greets other people in the office with a smile (not just the interviewer);
5) Is focused 100 percent on the interview (Would you believe one girl had her hand in her bag hiding a cellphone, texting while I was asking her a question?! I ended the interview right that second!);
6) Doesn't say anything negative about a previous boss;
7) Shows enthusiasm for the job, but answers briefly and to the point
The number of skilled, fellow applicants competing for the same job you are may be enormous. So your best bet at landing the job you want is to arm yourself with these things very few people—based on my recent experience at least—care about.
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