Are you unwittingly squandering opportunities?

I was clearing some boxes over the weekend and chanced upon a random piece of paper. Curious, I stopped to read it. It appeared to be my handwritten notes from a client call after an interview with one of my applicants. It’s dated April 2003 and whilst I have no idea who the client is, nor the applicant, for ease of what’s to follow, let’s call him ‘John’.

What struck me, over 20 years later, was the proportion of the feedback which wasn’t directly related to ‘John’s’ experience or expertise, yet reinforced my client’s decision that ‘John’ didn’t have the calibre my client sought to succeed in their fairly senior sales role. It went like this:

“Very pleasant chap

Lots of good channel experience

Not enough sales gravitas and background

Didn’t feel he’d prepared

Only used the bits you’d told him about the company

No notes, nothing to write on

Didn’t delve deeper into the role and challenges or ask searching questions

Didn’t seek to understand what I was looking for

Others I’ve interviewed demonstrated that they’ve done some research, the role and their possible fit

They’ve come prepared; some have done a short presentation, demonstrating their investment in the process. I want to see commitment, interest, investment, a passion for the role and the potential”.

My client took ‘John’s’ interview behaviour as indicative of his behaviour when approaching a sales opportunity. This added weight to my client’s assessment that 'John' didn’t have enough sales gravitas compared to others in the process. Would my applicant have made it to second interview if he’d prepared and handled the interview better? Who knows.

Over 20 years ago the importance of interview skills proved vital. How much do you unwittingly risk or squander by not preparing enough?