One Of My Favorite Interviewees

Recently I did a post about education indicating where I think the issues are and why some groups suffer for it. After publishing, I went through scenarios to see if I am wrong in my assessment. Some questioning here and some questioning there. I looked at my data and concluded my post was right. Then I remembered one of the most liked people we ever interviewed.

We had an opening for a position where we received a lot of new graduates. One young man seemed to fit the position. His major fit the position. His grades were great and a little search on him showed he was a great outgoing person that was worth bringing in for an interview. We expected to hire him, and our initial impressions did not change that.

First, his dress was impeccable. This young man was stylish from head to toe. Well groomed, a great smile, and great personality. We liked him immediately. That is what we saw when we met him. The fact his skin color was dark or that he was male had no bearing on our impression. He was just likeable and you wanted to be around him. We all liked him.

Second, his resume was well done and professional, though there were hints of things to come. In this type of work, you expect internship work or outside of education work that was relatable. He didn’t have this, and most everyone missed this sign. His personality was the cause of us ignoring the warning sign.

Our first line of questions were to put him at ease, but we need not bother. However, the questions led to other questions because he was very interesting. Finally, questions about his ability had to be asked. We began the process of discussing his education and the type of work he did. He failed miserably here much to our disappointment. He was not equipped to do what he was getting his degree in. The small liberal arts school failed him. He was a great activist and community person, but he couldn’t do what his degree said he would be able to do and the courses he took should’ve prepared something but it didn’t translate.

We were left wondering what was wrong. Surely, we were asking the wrong questions, but each question about what he should be familiar with left us saddened. He was failing his interview on the very subject he should be familiar with. Yet, we still liked this young man and wanted desperately to hire him, but his answers and knowledge told us that he wouldn’t be able to help us within the first year and likely not within the two years after. We couldn’t afford to wait two to three years in the hopes he could pick it up and be productive. We needed things done now. Our group was prepared to carry a new person for a few months but not six and definitly not twelve months. The more we asked and talked with him the more it became evident that social justice was his focus at the university and not his education. He spent all of his free time on being an activist and not honing the skills he would get a degree for. The work he did at the university was very lacking.

He never got the job. I sometimes think about him and believe he went into politics which is likely a better fit for him. Not sure I’d trust him if he did go into politics. Universities today are doing a poor job with their students. Real world scenario work is nice, but foundational education is more important. Had the young man had an understanding of what his degree was, he would have been working for us or even be our boss.