By ADESOLA AYO-ADERELE
A journalism training organisation hired me to review a set of applications and do a shortlist of candidates.
My task was to shortlist 30 candidates from a pool of approximately 1,549 applicants whose ages ranged from 19-54, with the majority in the 20-35 age bracket.
I trimmed down the list to nearly 50. I then started placing calls to the applicants one by one.
Everything went smoothly until I called this particular applicant. I identified myself and the organisation I represented.
Your interviewer is your dear? What could be ruder, eh?
“How are you, Adesola?” She fired back.
We got talking, but she was rather monosyllabic in her responses and I told her that I needed her to flesh up her answers to give me better insight into her candidacy.
It’s a media training programme and the class is going to comprise experienced professionals and students; so, I needed to know where an applicant works if employed. I asked my interviewee and she just kept on talking.
The call was to last about two minutes or less, but I’ve spent more minutes with this individual and I still wasn’t getting the right responses.
READ ALSO: Nigerian employers of labour should fear God, at least, once in a while
I told her that I wanted her to tell me where she worked and she told me that she already did. “May be you didn’t hear,” she added.
I told her that the response was rude, expecting her to apologise. She said, “I’m not rude. That’s my conversational tone.” Ha!
I then told her that I couldn’t continue the conversation because of her rudeness, waiting for her to at least say sorry so we could conclude in peace. She went silent and I ended the call and moved on to the next candidate.
First rule of thumb: Learn to answer your interview questions directly if you have nothing to hide.
If an interviewer accuses you of being rude, apologise in clear terms instead of justifying your action. You won’t die and it might make a difference between your success at the interview or rejection.
And this idea of first-name familiarity with someone you’ve not met or are meeting for the first time. How about the Mr/Madam tag except the person tells you to use their first name?
I had the unenviable duty of placing the calls to shortlisted candidates I had interviewed for a job alongside the senior management team of my then organisation.
Young people, especially, should not be carried away by all the so-called Gen Z non-existent characteristics that seem to attempt to blur the line between courtesy and rudeness.
After I had identified myself to a candidate, she asked, “How are you, my dear?” I was beyond shocked.
Your interviewer is your dear? What could be ruder, eh? She got the job because she was good, and I had expected the “My Dear” to continue after she came in. She knew better.
Young people, especially, should not be carried away by all the so-called Gen Z non-existent characteristics that seem to attempt to blur the line between courtesy and rudeness.
And when it comes to any interview whatsoever—whether for a job, scholarship or anything, you can’t do wrong by being courteous.
