Maybe I won't judge a book by it's cover

[MerryRaven]

I was interviewing at work today and one of the younger candidates (she was around 20) came to the interview wearing kind of faded jeans and a pink hoody. 

My first impression was that she wasn't dressed right for an interview. 

I gave her the skill test and she did alright.  She messed up the instructions a bit, but she is not the only candidate to ever do that and she corrected it perfectly.  The content was correct she just wrote out answers instead of indicating the letter for the answer.

Then we get to the interview.  Now going in she was not the top candidate.  She doesn't have some experience and education that other candidates have.

But after the interview I wanted to hire her.

Why?

She was bright and cheery.  She was enthusiastic and interested.  This job was not the job she had originally applied for but she was interested in it anyway.  She was polite. 

She indicated, unlike her other interviewees, that if she didn't know something she would ask and find out the proper policy (correct answer by the way).  I think she was young enough not to expect she would have all the answers to every situation.

She has some rough spots in the way she uses language (not a native English speaker) but not horrible.
And she wants to learn.

The main thing though is I could she would be an excellent customer service person.  I am glad this is a kind of temp position and I can hire more than one person.  Because I would really like to have this young lady on the staff. 

Some people just sparkle with potential even if everything is not perfect. 

It's funny how first impressions can be blown away. 

Not an etiquette question but maybe a good reminder for me to look beyond the obvious.

[melodrama]

I encounter the same thing in interviews, MerryRaven.

Sometimes a candidate with a great resume has the personality of wallpaper paste.  You know they can do the job, but in terms of customer service and working with the rest of the staff, you need to hire someone with some personality.  I feel bad, and I do everything I can to open someone up, but sometimes gettimg more than a one word answer is like getting blood from a stone.

Last year we interviewed this great girl.  Super resume, really good experience, she'd worked at some really good companies but she was such a little mouse in her interview.  She was so nervous she could hardly form sentances.  We did hire her because she was really well qualified, but we had bets going on how long it would be before she ended up in the bathroom crying. 

It took her a few weeks to get comfortable, but she did open up eventually (and I think made it through the year without crying in the bathroom...or maybe she did and no one ever told me!)

[Venus193]

My last Anglo ad agency moved from midtown to downtown in 1999.  We had a candidate for my department come in from out of town, but he called to say he got switched to a later flight and wouldn't have time to change clothes before coming into from the airport so could we schedule his appointment to a little later?  He was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

The department head said to just come right in as the corporate culture was "casual unless meeting with clients or dining with reps."  The guy was nerdy-looking at a time when that was fashionable and he had excellent writing skills, so he was hired.

The point being that he had the good sense to call about this.

[Bethczar]

Last year we interviewed this great girl.  Super resume, really good experience, she'd worked at some really good companies but she was such a little mouse in her interview.  She was so nervous she could hardly form sentances.

Wait - I didn't apply anywhere last year....

I'm shy and interview badly, like I have no personality at all. I loosen up considerably once I get to know people, though. Fortunatly I have good experience and references or I'd never get a job.