Saturday, May 4, 2019

Recession and Job Interview

Last time when I started with the cliché “one thing that is certain in life is death”, I forgot to mention “recession”.

The theory behind recession is complicated, although we all can figure out few of the events that makes it happen. I am told that the economists can bring in recession by repeatedly warning the population about the onset of one.  The possibility of losing income frightens the daylight out of the population's spending habit. Evaporation of liquidity from the market creates a dominoes effect on the greater economy and actual recession soon sets in. Some argue the phenomenon is visible in US economy as consumers are increasingly losing confidence despite economic KPIs looking good otherwise.

After the global economic crash of 2008, the world economy has remained largely uncertain, as social and political unpredictability added to their already troubled economic counterpart. The psychological impact of too many wars coupled with political turmoil, Brexit propaganda, trade wars, political sanctions etc. are creating havoc.

The job loses has been rampant forcing many face frequent  job interviews during the past decade. The reason could have been varied such as disruptive technologies, cost cutting, internal restructuring, and lack of projects among others but the impact on an individual's moral has been the same, nevertheless.

The most stressful subject to answer while sitting at the interview table is justifying frequent job losses. These are some of the expert advice that I put together for reference:
  • It is important to establish that the reason was not your capability.
  • The safest argument maybe due to the position being eliminated during a consolidation or downsizing.
  • It could be due to change in higher management
  • Falling out of bosses favor due to personal ego.
  • A definite No-No is bad-mouthing the earlier bosses.
  • Using same reason too many times will not be convincing.
  • While it is safer to stay within the vicinity of the truth but do not feel compelled to tell the full truth.
  • People tend to explain a lot but this seldom works favorably. In a situation like this the mantra is “less is more”.

The core job knowledge will remain a determining criteria and so will the attitude. Therefore the brain has to be programmed with a positive mindset well in advance. This will have positive impact on the nonverbal communication too.

Remember, the best interview can only be given with the "yes I can” mindset!

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4 comments:

  1. The last point is extremely relevant Suman. I've been out of a redundancy recently, it was really difficult to explain my situation in the first few interviews. I did the mistake of over explaining - which sounds way too defensive. Thankfully I didn't try pushing the blame on a single person - that seldom works too. But over time, I figured out the right way to address this question. It is tough to answer some questions during an interview, but when it comes to changes in the market, there is very little an individual can do..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many thanks for stopping by.
      The trouble is when the pressure builds up and employment is the only means of sustenance.

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