I’ve started reading “Unreasonable Hospitality” by Will Guidara this week. I committed to a mentor and friend I would read at least a chapter a week and post my learning and reflections on my blog and social media. He’s going to fine me an as yet un-agreed upon sum if I don’t. In the interest of keeping my money and maybe helping some other folks along the way, here goes.
Here’s one thing that really jumped out at me from chapter 1:
I now believe the best interview technique is no technique at all: you simply have enough of a conversation that you can get to know the person a little bit. Do they seem curious and passionate about what we’re trying to build? Do they have integrity; are they someone I can respect? Is this someone I can imagine myself—and my team—happily spending a lot of time with?” – Guidara, Will. Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect (The Unreasonable Hospitality Collection) (pp. 4-5). (Function). Kindle Edition.
I really resonate with this – especially after my recent foray into job hunting for over a year. I had some ‘by the book’ interviews with the standard strengths/weakness questions, situations and role plays. I also had some bizarre interviews with questions like “Coke or Pepsi?” My hardline Texan answer on that one was easy: “Dr. Pepper.” The best interviews though were just like Will describes. They were conversations. And I’ll be honest, they didn’t lead to me getting hired because I was focused on finding a job, not on finding something I loved doing. Nothing wrong with that. At some point you need to set the higher order items on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs aside to address the basics and pay the bills.
I get a sense that this book is going to scratch an AI itch that’s been bugging me for a while. This comment about Interviewing seems to be just a taste. In my job search I found AI pretty helpful in saving me time identifying the key requirements of a particular job. Digging through any given job description on my own would have taken me 5-10 minutes – a task that took an AI agent seconds. And the same appears to be true on the recruiting side – matching a candidate’s resume to the requirements takes hardly anytime at all vs. minutes for a human recruiter. But we are losing something really core in this new and evolving process. Humanity. Look back at Will’s quote. Notice that conspicuously absent is the question that job descriptions and resumes are designed to address: “Can this person do this job?” Instead Will’s interview focuses on whether or not the person is someone he and his team will be happy spending time with. Are they curious and passionate about what is being built? NOT can they do the work, but are they interested in it?
That’s what finally put me over the top in my job hunt. The work of the company I was interviewing for was fascinating. And my curiosity and interest was clearly on display in my interviews. I didn’t even get hired for the initial job I interviewed for – but the hiring manager saw in me someone who was interested in the company and what they were doing and he found a place for me. I’m lucky. That’s rare. And I think that’s something we are missing in the job seeking/job posting process. Ultimately we should not be treating human beings like machines. The AI boom is revelatory in this regard. If what companies are really looking for is a machine that can tick a bunch of boxes faster and more efficiently, then they should hire a machine.
But machines don’t find your company fascinating. They aren’t excited about working with you to accomplish things that have meaning and make a difference. And they don’t enjoy celebrating when you make that big push, win that big account and make a huge impact.