unintentional walking red-flags
“And then he turns to me and says: ‘We’re busy and fast-paced,’” Alex snorted. “As if I don’t know what that means.” Alex was telling me about an interview he’d just had.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Don’t you know that’s code for ‘poorly managed and disorganized’?” Alex laughed. “Always busy and fast-paced because nobody bothers to think ahead and everyone is scrambling last-minute to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.”
Yes. I had seen that.
“Your poor planning has now become my emergency.” He shook his head. “I’m too old for this s**t now.” [sidebar: Alex is my vintage, not old by any other metric]
I laughed. But Alex wasn’t done.
“Plus, [the interview panel] kept interrupting each other. Do they not realize they’re just a walking red-flag?”
Communication is key, not just in job interviews.
Every time we communicate, we transit multiple messages. Sometimes the message we intend to communicate isn’t the one that others receive. Usually it’s better to pause, ask questions, and listen, than to try to impress people and end up doing the opposite.
And if you’re wondering what question to ask someone else, try asking yourself this: “what question can I ask that, no matter what they answer, I’ll be interested to hear it?”
Interest is hard to feign, and people pretty much always appreciate when you're interested in what they have to say.
Plus, there's always the side-benefit that you might just be that much more impressive when you learn all the things that others are teaching you.
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