Top 10 Job Hunting Mistakes: Not understanding your interviewer

In the first of the series, we explore the importance of judging your interviewers character (though this can be applied to any relationship, both at work and at home) and how that affects the answers that you give.

This post is inspired by a great book by James Borg called ‘The Art of Influencing People’. The book is well worth a read and goes into detail about how to interact with different personalities in many different scenarios to get the best results.

It struck me that exploring and understanding the personality of your interviewer could be key to your success. You spend your whole life (subconsciously) assessing people’s characters, and then changing the way you behave to suit the person and situation. Often however, this goes out of the window as soon as you are in an interview situation. You can get a good idea about the interviewer’s personality and style when they greet you or when walking to the interview room. Being able to work out their personality type will help you respond appropriately and win them over – as personality defines attitudes, perceptions and beliefs.

Although there is a huge amount of research into personalities, in order to keep this advice practical, I will group people into four types from which you decide how to deal with the various types. People can largely be grouped into:

1. Senser
2. Intuiter
3. Thinker
4. Feeler

The first two, Senser and Intuiter, relate to how your interviewer will ‘take in’ information. The Senser will like facts. When taking in information, they tend to be practical, observant and skilful in remembering facts and processing them i.e. they are methodical. The Intuiter pays attention to the vision of what could be. They rely on imagination and are constantly on the lookout for new ideas and stimulating projects. They like new and different experiences.

The second two, Thinker and Feeler, relate to how your interviewer will make decisions. The Thinker relies on intellectual processes to make decisions – based on logic. They will decide impersonally. They might be oblivious to the feelings of other people. For a Feeler, logic may not play a significant part and instead they will rely on emotion. Decisions will be made on personal values and what pleases them - they tend to show a lot of empathy.

Your interviewer is likely to be a combination of the Senser / Intuiter and Thinker / Feeler. The way you should communicate with them should change depending on these combinations.

If they are a Senser – Thinker they will want facts, stability and will make practical decisions:

• Tell them what can be achieved in the short term
• Use facts/ data if you have it
• Conduct yourself in a detached, business like manner
• Don’t waffle in your answers – be concise

If they are a Senser – Feeler they will want verifiable facts, believes in loyalty and trust and being friendly and helpful:

• Use all your natural empathy and conduct things on a personal basis where appropriate (i.e. talking about personal life etc)
• Try and find a shared interest
• Listen intently to what they say and do not interrupt
• Answer questions in a methodical manner

If they are an Intuiter- Feeler they will decide if they like you based on weighing up personal values. They are enthusiastic and value personal relationships, teamwork, cooperation and new ideas:

• Ask a lot of questions and listen carefully
• Show your natural friendliness
• Don’t inundate this person with detail
• Highlight the things that will be new/ may change if you were to work there

If they are an Intuiter – Thinker they will make decisions based on impersonal analysis. They like to analyse and look for logic. They look at the big picture and focus on the long term:

• Concentrate on business and leave ‘personal’ conversation (if there is any) till the end
• Let them have their own time to speak
• Accept that this person may bombard you with criticism. They are just trying to judge your competence. Don’t take it personally
• Be logical and emphasis cause and effect what you have achieved in the past
• Be punctual and well organised

If you use the above as a guide and tailor your answers based on their character you will go a long way to winning the person over. After all, that’s what you (subconsciously) do every day of your life.

Remember however, you still need to be yourself. You have to fit the style of the company too. Don’t simply act as you think they want you to – you are the one who is going to have to work there. Make sure you are a good fit to the company as well.

Good luck!

P.S. Watch out for the next post in the series Top 10 Job Hunting Mistakes to avoid... 'No.2 Not keeping track of your accomplishments.'