Their experience and conduct speak volumes and you appreciate the intelligent answers coming from them!

From the chatty, overconfident and overzealous ones to nervous and underprepared candidates, a recruiter gets to interview a variety of interesting people!

As a recruiter, you screen thousands of profiles and finally shortlist a few who you then interview. When these candidates sit across the table with you they reveal their personality which until then was hidden behind their impressive CVs, qualifications, and degrees. It is then that you realize the kinds of people that exist! 

From the chatty, overconfident and overzealous ones to nervous and underprepared candidates, you meet them all! Do any of these figure in your list?  

The Silent Whisperer

This type likes to lay low and will speak sparingly. Even when they do dare voice an opinion or answer a question it’s largely under their breath. They love mumbling to themselves and make minimum to no eye contact. They aren’t much of a talker so if you ask them something they will prefer being on point. No fluff. No story-telling or diversions or fidgeting. You may be tempted to call them the ‘shy-type’ which might as well be their USP. Perhaps, offer a glass of water to them to wash down the lump in their throat? 

The Underprepared 

Yeah, they are underprepared in every sense. Aren’t dressed right, haven’t brought a copy of their CV, didn’t research about the company or read the job profile entirely. All of this obviously makes them inept at striking a conversation. They will appear uninterested, unbothered and just turn up for the interview because they applied for it (forgot about it) and got shortlisted. These are the kinds of candidates that leave you at your wits ends because you literally have no time to waste! It may not help but you will meet them at least a couple of times if not more!  

The Arrogant Talker 

Super-charged, can’t go a minute without bubbling around, this candidate literally annoys you the moment they make their grandiose talks. They are full of themselves and talk everything about their achievements even when that’s not being discussed. They will turn you off with their chattiness and a sense of humor only they understand! They will talk to you as if they’ve already got the job and go on and on about how they are a perfect fit for the role and that what a loss it will be for the organization if they aren’t hired! This kind of an attitude is quite overbearing but one’s got to be prepared to meet such types!

The Mover and Chaser

Lo and behold! This person will cling to you with their follow-ups. Wait. The thing is they drop hints of them being a chaser even before they leave the interview room. The final few words on their way out are: ‘I’ll wait to hear from you’. Little do you know that within a few minutes you are going to get an email from them saying, ‘It was a pleasure meeting you. Hope to hear from you about my selection asap’. Since you are courteous you respond to their email saying, ‘I will get back to you in a week’, but can that stop the storm brewing in their mind? NO! They will call, text and email and whatever it takes to get a response from you!

The Jargon 

Woah! They will fire jargons around the room and you will do your best to duck them all. They will tire you out with their ‘I know my work industry in an out’ kind of an attitude. Of course, you will be (or not!) floored with their knowledge but you will silently wish to have a normal conversation with them. You will wish them to stop with those heavy-duty words being volleyed right at you. But all you will get in response to your honest efforts is more buzzwords than you can handle! Not what you quite expected, eh?

The Question Mark Wearer

Someone who is curious will ask questions but there is something called asking the ‘right kind and number’ of questions. This candidate actually goes overboard doing both. The conversation mainly centers around their need-to-know-this-and-that. Goes without saying that such  interviews are extremely annoying. The best you can do is wear a façade of patience no matter the storm brewing underneath! Without sounding rude answer questions which you can and avoid the rest which seems inconsequential. 

The Crème de la crème 

Yeah, there you have it! You will certainly meet a candidate that you’ve been long searching for. This one exudes the right amount of confidence and control. They have crisp answers to all your questions, will watch their tone of voice as well as non-verbal gesture and know when to ask the right kind and amount of questions about the role they are going to play, company culture etc. Their experience and conduct speak volumes and you appreciate the intelligent answers coming from them! As soon as your discussion gets over you will want to drop a line to your client or manager saying that they are crème de la crème and worth considering!