Before you arrive at an interview, the hiring manager and the company are watching you. From the way you interact with others to the way you portray yourself online, these kinds of spies are everywhere. And in light of the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, we decided to identify these spies for you and show you how to best handle them.
The Decoy: the receptionist
The smiling face you see when you first enter the building represents your first mission. Remember that if you are hired you will be seeing the receptionist every morning, so this impression counts. While you want them to like you, Vault Blogs calls attention to the mistakes that can be made by being too friendly. You could give the impression that if hired you would become an employee who “has no respect for their time.” US News MONEY says that “many interviewers will ask the receptionist what they think of you,” and while they won’t have fancy spy gadgets like Bond’s ring camera to prove anything, you’ll still want their answer to be positive.
The Undercover Agent: your web presence
Your web presence is under scrutiny. Lucky for you Q (Quartermaster/gadget supplier) can’t help the hiring manager learn everything about you. But Forbes does say that “the number one reason job candidates are rejected these days is for posting unprofessional and inappropriate photos.” With that knowledge, you should definitely be re-checking your privacy settings to ensure that you’re following Forbe’s golden rule: “what would grandma do?’ a rule that reminds you not to post anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see.
The Heartthrob: the restaurant server
They say an interviewer can tell a lot about you by the way you treat a restaurant server. USA Today says employers focus on the general rule of, “a person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.” Follow this rule closely when on a lunch or mealtime interview, the hiring manager is probably watching your interactions. CEO Richard Olson says hiring managers are watching out for people “who can turn their charm on and off,” instead of someone who gets along with people and would make a good co-worker. And even though we categorized the server as the heartthrob, don’t get too friendly with them either, you’re probably not as suave as Bond, and the hiring manager will notice if you’ve made your server uncomfortable by being too friendly.
And while you might not be driving custom-made Aston Martin’s like Daniel Craig or Sean Connery, you will impress your interviewer by winning over these so-called spies. Show the hiring manager the modern gadgets you can work on, like Java or .Net development. They will be impressed with your skills, which are more practical than Bond’s jetpack and more useful if they do choose to hire you. But we’d recommend waiting until after the offer to start implementing code names.
