Easy Ways to not ruin that Interview...

In my career as a search consultant I have seen many deserving candidates miss out on top jobs because of screw ups in the interview room... sometimes even before the interview has started! Here are some common (!!) blunders top team aspirants should avoid like the plague....

1. Polka Dot shirts and ties with elephant motifs: One can never overestimate the importance of looking well groomed for an interview. To get the job , one first needs to look the part. I once had a candidate who was placed top of the pile for a project head role and seemed to be the perfect choice; on paper. When he turned up for the interview in worn sandals and a crushed shirt; the meeting lasted all of seven minutes. Another time a CEO role aspirant turned up in a pair of jeans for a board level meeting. The fact that the candidate was the boss of a jeans company failed to impress the board members.

It is critical to be pre-informed on the dress code and culture of the company one is interviewing for. While walking into the room with a pink shirt and jackie O glasses may be applauded at MTV; Bankers would settle for nothing less than a crisp pinstriped suit.

2. Backslapping the interviewer: "Familiarity breeds contempt" takes on a whole new meaning here... and this is particularly true of peer level interviews. It is of course always reccomended to create a good rapport with the interviewer, however, too casual a demeanour may not be taken to kindly, especially in a company with a formal working culture. It helps to keep in mind that the person across the table is judging every move.

3. Lousy Handshake: I know this has been done to death but I still fail to understand why people aspiring to be CEO's do not develop a strong handshake... we all know that the handshke is the most initimate (!) impression one will get to leave, that it is taken as a first indication on many things like energy, assertion, ambition, etc..... yet, I meet a finace head of a company who shakes my hand like its diseased (which it is not!) ... and inspite of all his qualification... 'm just not convinced he'll be able to turnaound my client's business...

And I must mention... I'm yet to meet a CEO with a bad handshake ... :)

4. Yadayadayadayadayadayadayadayadayadayadayadayadayadayada: One thing no one can stand is a guy who loves to tlk about himself... and what wonderful things he has done with his life. The interviewer is keen to know about your professional evolution ... in brief... and it helps to be able to highlight in detail only the parts relevant to the role. A lot of candidates loose out because interviewers loose interest halfway through the meeting and haven't been able to capture the most critical parts of your experience. Many times the only feedback we've got from clients is.. "bahut bolta hai".. (he just talks a lot!). Sometimes we have to coach particularly talkative candidates on the importace of brevity... So the next time your consultant tells you..

"the client gives particular importance to the art of listening", you know what s/he means.. :)

To be continued... :)

Madwoman in the cubical...

"Indra Nooyi earns 81 times more compensation than Warren Buffett"
screams a New York Times headline... and we tout that the Indian woman has arrived on the world's business map... While numbers belie all the time on how miserable a representation we have in the top management given the increasing number of women in offices today.
Indian companies seem to be only "testing-the-waters" to see if senior women executives are able to perform to the companies’ needs — without a real commitment in bringing them quickly into the mainstream of top-management positions. There is a continuous glass ceiling that keeps women away from core business driving roles in a company. We are beginning to see some programmes in place for identifying women on the corporate ladder in Indian companies, but there are no discernible results that companies have understood this as a true business need. As a result, the number of women in high positions has not improved substantially over the years. While some functions which are considered "Soft" - like HR, Corporate Communication, PR - have a large female workforce, male candidates are still preferred for top roles.
Inspite of the growing trend of have a dedicated "diversity" HR specialist there is little increase in participation of women at the board and leadership levels. Women account for barely 5% of Board positions in India, and initiatives are limited to policies which instruct hiring partners on ensuring that 25% of all candidate recommendations should be women. There is no effort to encourage women friendly work policies (like flexi - timings, childcare facilities etc) which would ensure that women continue to contribute effectively to the company.
Most women at the leadership level would agree that they have had to work much harder and prove their commitment to a long term career repeatedly while men are seen to naturally take their jobs seriously. I have come across many instances when companies have been apprehensive on hiring deserving woman candidates as many men are uncomfortable reporting into a female Boss. Women bosses are often labeled "cranky" and "frustrated" (if divorced or single) and termed "poor managers" if they are hard task masters. The single most important barrier in developing women in leadership roles seems to be the "stereotypes" and preconceptions of women’s roles and abilities in the company – especially when it comes to core functions like finance, audit, legal, economics, business security and technology.

Companies that aspire to gain the competitive advantage will need to leverage the tremendous and virtually untapped resource of smart women executives and look beyond narrowly- defined "high-potentials" in the organization in the search for globally inclusive leadership teams.
The best global companies are also recognizing that recruiting, retaining and advancing women is no longer a matter of social responsibility. Successful corporations have understood the strategic and economic significance of women as executives, investors, customers and clients in the global economy, and make a clear "business case" for diversity and inclusiveness in the organization

First Timer

Ok... So under a lot of peer pressure.. (you know... Amir and Amitabh...) I finally succumbed to the lure of immortalizing my thoughts and telling anyone who cares a hoot on what I'm doing, thinking, reading, eating, wearing, selling, ... :)... You get the picture...

Being my very firstest post.. :) I have been under a lot of stress to come up with something dazzling... but after months of deliberatng, I found that everything I wanted to write about has already been there and been done by someone else... So I finally decided to just go write.. more for myself than anybody else.
A bit about myself before I get along... a quater of a century old, I live a completely regular predictable life. There are, of course, sporadic days of activity and movement.. but on the whole I'd say fairly sedate.. but not entirely unremarkable... :)
I work as an executive search consultant or head hunter in regular parlance... (lots of exciting stories there).. and that's where the name of this blog also comes from.. Artemis... Goddess of HUNT.. pretty cheesy I know... But what the hck I say... :)