Great Answers to Tough Interview Questions

Fitting the bill

Being invited to an interview and hopefully being offered a job depends on the way you present yourself and the qualities that make you suitable. So obviously you should do your utmost to sell yourself as the best possible candidate. Well, no. The recruitment process is designed to achieve certain expectations - not exceed them. The recruiters have some expectations but that's not to say they expect you to be 29, brown-eyed and 6 feet tall. No. There will be certain factors that they would be surprised to find and other factors that they would not be surprised to find. It is safest to assume that recruiters are conservative creatures who probably don't favour surprises.

This is not to say that bringing extra qualities to their attention is necessarily a bad idea. But it is usually best to focus on fitting the bill. Imagine you are auditioning for a part in a play or movie. You are unlikely to be accepted unless specific qualities like age, voice, looks and so on come within a particular range - and probably the producer has someone quite specific in mind for the part. See Looking good, sounding right: style counselling which reports on a survey conducted by the Work Foundation (formerly the Industrial Society). Your chance of being selected depends on how close you are to that 'ideal' candidate.

Of course the qualities looked for in most jobs are different: skills, experience, etc. Well-organized recruiters may have a list of 'competences' covering these qualities and will rate you against that list by various methods.

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