What nobody tells you about job interviews...

... is that they are a conversation! While it's an evaluation process (on both sides, we'll get back to this point), the essence of these meetings is the authenticity with which they can be carried out. I was thinking about this while pouring myself some mate and wondering if it would be okay to have it during an interview.

Tips & Tricks

There's a lot of information circulating on different channels with tips and recommendations for job interviews. I encourage reading them, and in many cases, following them. But that's not what I want to discuss today (I'll leave that as a topic for another article). Instead, I want to go over what is talked about the least when thinking about a job interview. At its core, a job interview might feel like just another chat, but it's really a deep conversation between two people who've never met yet have so much to share.

Plain truth

When embarking on the process of job interviews, the conversation's dynamics can be rather predictable. On the interviewer's side, the focus will be on talking about the company and the position. While on the candidate's side, there will be stories to share about their experience, their journey, and mainly where they want to take their next career step. The risk is if we focus only on fitting all that job experience into a job description. It's not about ticking off a checklist, but about being open-minded, open to listening and genuinely getting to know the person on the other side. By sharing their personal journeys, candidates can help interviewers envision how they'd fit into the company culture, contribute to team projects, and tackle challenges that the role might throw their way. When companies focus solely on matching a candidate's experiences with a list of job requirements, they risk missing out on a potential hire's broader set of skills and experiences that might be beneficial in unforeseen ways. And of course, even if they are not a fit, many times I've seen how expanding your network can bring results in the least expected moments. A casual conversation today could lead to a partnership, recommendation, or collaboration tomorrow.

You can't always get what you want...

In the corporate world, the immediate needs of a role can sometimes overshadow the long-term potential of a candidate. But someone who isn't the right fit today could be in the future if we use the interview to get to know the person and find out where they'll feel fulfilled and can add value to the role. The person interviewed won't always be the one who ultimately fills the role, but wonderful things can come out of that encounter. Individuals are not static. They grow, evolve, acquire new skills, and adapt to different environments. What seems like a misfit today could well become the perfect fit tomorrow, depending on how the candidate's journey unfolds. Some candidates might be more suited for roles that emerge later, or they might evolve in ways that align them perfectly with the company's future needs.

P.S. I decided to have mate, not without first explaining to the person I was interviewing about this deeply rooted custom in my country, and how important cultural diversity is to me and the company, as well as the curiosity we have about learning more about other regional customs. And maybe I will expand on the subject of interviewing different cultures on another article, so stay tuned.