Beyond investigating technical skills and experience, they generally combine with subtle and unexpected tactics to observe behaviors, detect patterns and, ultimately, reveal the true nature of the candidates. According to a study by Harvard Business Review, more than 60% of recruiters consider that nonverbal responses and spontaneous reactions of candidates are more revealing than prepared responses. This is no accident. The labor market is increasingly competitive, and a great qualified talent crisis is spoken daily. Therefore, interviewers resort to methods outside the conventional to differentiate those who have simply prepared from those who have an authenticity and adaptability that make them highlight.
7 unexpected tactics
Here are seven tricks, traps and unexpected shortcuts that use the best recruiters of large companies. You will also know what they mean and what they seek to discover from you. Remember that everything depends on the contexts, the candidates and the positions to occupy, and, of course, the skill of who interviews you.
✅ 1 – The glass of water: A simple gesture or a complete psychological test? Placing a glass of water in front of the candidate might seem a courtesy, although for many recruiters it is a conduct microscope. They evaluate if you accept it, how much you drink and at what time. In other cases, they place a jug of water closer to you, with two glasses; They can request or incite you to serve you water, and it will be evaluated if you serve you only for you, for both, the firmness with which you take the jug, and even drink timidly or cling to water as if you were in the Sahara. This little act can reveal your level of nervousness, self -control, empathy with the other, internal security and attention to the most trivial details.
✅ 2 – The “A minute, now I come back.” In the middle of the conversation, the recruiter rises unexpectedly and leaves you alone in a few minutes. This apparently casual pause is proof of patience and management of uncertainty. They observe if you leave papers, consult the mobile or simply wait calmly. Each reaction counts. Even when the person returns, they will be attentive to your reaction: do you ask if everything is right? Does you predispones to continue with the interview naturally? Have you changed your personal objects or papers?, Among other behaviors.
✅ 3 – Unexpected coffee. Another tactic is that a recruiter can offer you coffee in the midst of a complex question or just before a change of topic. This abrupt movement is designed to evaluate how you handle interruptions or distractions, something key in high pressure environments. Sometimes, if you are advancing well in your interview, you can invite you to go a coffee together. This will help you to have a paneo of the company and its “backstage”, and, in that tour, to be able to better analyze how you behave, in what details you look, what comments you make, and even how you greet a person with whom they cross.
✅ 4 – The awkward silence. After answering a question, the recruiter keeps silent and stares at you, extending the moment more than necessary. This void, calculated to the millimeter, serves to measure your safety, self -control and ability to maintain composure. This silence is accentuated with your eyes fixed on your eyes, because most people are uncomfortable when they are questioned in this way. Observable aspects can be if you stay still, if you move, if you look down, if you don’t know what to do with your hands, or if you start talking by filling the silence.
✅ 5 – The introduction to chaos: a messy desk. Some interviewers deliberately organize their work space as if a storm had just passed. This environment can affect methodical candidates, testing their ability to concentrate on chaotic or unexpected conditions.
✅ 6 – The change of unexpected role. The interviewer suddenly adopts a critical or distant posture, questioning each of your answers. It can even be annoying, without losing kindness -although there are recruiters who leave much to be desired at this point. This dramatic turn is not personal; It is a method to evaluate how you respond to adversity and handle criticism.
✅ 7 – The group’s test: an “intruder” in the room. On some occasions, a recruiter’s colleague appears unexpectedly to observe or ask questions. The dynamic changes abruptly, evaluating your ability to handle surprises and adapt to new energies in the room.
A variant is that they anticipate that you can get to the interview who would be your direct leader. When time passes, a person appears, that you intuit that that person could be. However, it is not: it is a subordinate to the manager, or someone else of recruitment. In this situation your temperance is evaluated, if you show more enthusiasm when the alleged boss arrives, and your behavior in that changing scenario.
Labor interviews are a mirror that reflects more than we want to show. That is why being prepared for the unexpected is the best way to have more chances of success in the art complex of the modern labor interview.
*Daniel Colombo is Master Coach Executive of CEOs and Senior Management. Speaker and custom design conferences that motivate and teach
By Daniel Colombo
