3 October 2011
Today we interviewed six candidates for an office administration position. Candidate #1: very shy, nervous, and was not able to relate his skills to the position. Candidate #2: similar to #1 with a little more experience as an admin. Candidate #3: a big man with an infectious laugh (I’ve always wanted to use that phrase) and all the right experiences, he even interviewed well, a likely candidate. Candidate #4: my personal favorite of the lot. An energetic lad who was the first to score high marks in the category of interest in the organization, he asked questions relevant to this org and had an answer for the question if you were to retire today, what would you do? A farmer. Many others said they would do “business” if they could retire today. They either didn’t understand the question or business means something else over here. Candidate #5: I just don’t think he was a good fit for this position, in his last post he ran an branch office for the NGO, he was overqualified. And Candidate #6...sort of a Willie Lowman character, an older man who showed up with certificates from being employee of the month and winning a cash award for hard work at an organization 15 years ago. He also looked off in the distance or down when answering questions. I felt sorry for him. He was the last interview of the day, so I didn’t feel that sorry when it was all over.
The next day…. Candidate #3 vs Candidate #4.
The other two people on the interview panel favored Candidate #3. He had all the qualifications. His salary range was right where we would like it to be, but he maybe seemed a bit overqualified. In my mind, he basically took himself out of the running when he had a chance to ask questions about the NGO. The first question was regarding timing for notification about the position, the second, was about financial compensation for travel (he did come from outside Kampala and we said we would compensate accordingly). However, he did not ask any other questions, and wasted an opportunity to show his interest in the org and what he already knows about it.
Candidate #4 seemed genuinely excited about the position, he is currently working for an NGO that was similar in some aspects (his program lost funding which is why he is job hunting), and he has the proper experience. He also had the great proposal that we should put literature about our org in the lobby area. And to take the cake, he had questions about who the donors are, the organizations other field offices, and other specifics which showed he did his homework. His only mistake was in not delivering a letter inviting our NGO to an event/workshop held by the NGO he currently works for. The circumstances surrounding this instance were that he was asked to deliver the letter, seemingly as a favor. After being unable to find our office he returned the letter to the person. When asked if he knew whether we received the invite or not, he imagined we did not!... Ooops. But he was honest, and in this country honesty goes a long way, at least that’s how I spun it when speaking to my colleagues in my effort to convince them to choose this man. His excitement about the position was a big plus and I used that as well: “you want someone who will grow with the organization.” And lastly, he mentioned some examples of his tech savvy-ness which I liked since I am planning a lot of computer oriented templates.
One sticking point for the other candidate was his salary. I responded that this is not a criteria of selection, but helpful in negotiation. If a selected candidate cannot agree to the salary terms then we must go to our number two. I think this argument was new to them and helped put things in perspective for my colleagues.
I was able to get them to see that this guy was the better candidate. I called his references—one of which noted he is a “casual dresser”—and they were all positive, so we are extending an offer on Monday. I hope this guy works out. This was the first move I made here that will actually have a larger impact. I certainly imposed my will on the situation, but did so in a way that explained my point of view and I was successful in convincing my colleagues. I think it was a matter of the other people on the panel viewing the candidates with the proper lens. I was the optometrist to fit them with the right style.
