Men Interviewing Badly

By Bill Hurme

I’m 66 years old. I run a successful small company in the real estate business. I’ve been in business a long time, and I know a lot of people in my town. Because we’re a sales operation, we’re constantly interviewing and hiring people.

© The New Yorker Collection 2005 Bruce Eric Kaplan from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve seen quite a few older men recently, coming in to talk about working for our company—like, maybe, fifteen or sixteen guys over 50 in the past couple of years.

These are good people who’ve accomplished a lot, who had good jobs that, for one reason or another, ended. They got downsized, their companies were sold, lots of reasons—and they’re not ready to hang it up.

They’ve come to ask me for work, and they interview terribly. Not just badly. Rotten. In my company we use 1-to-20 scales a lot. You know, “Right now you’re about a 12. What can we do to get you to 20?” At interviewing, these guys are fives.

Instead of maybe asking a couple of questions about our company, he dives right in, trying to sell himself. Badly. Within a few minutes, a guy will tell me ten to twelve ways how old he is. Not just this age in years—that he’s old. One guy did it so much I wanted to grab him and yell, “Enough already. I get it. You’re old.”

Why didn’t I do that? People will tell you I’m usually fairly outspoken. I guess I’m just stunned, how bad these guys are at presenting themselves.

Why do people with plenty of success in their résumés sell their negatives best? Are these guys who know me, letting their hair down and telling me their sad stories? No. This always happens, even with people I never heard of. They walk in and present themselves old and defeated. In sales terms, they don’t do “discovery,” then they do a crappy selling job, and they exhibit no confidence. Worst of all, in two years only one guy has called me after an interview to follow up.

What’s going on here? I understand, as you get older, you might lose some of your self-confidence, maybe feeling the natural symptoms of aging. If you’ve lived beyond 50, you’ve experienced failures, loss, heartache. It can make you cautious. Can it make you defeat yourself? From what I’ve seen lately, it sure can.

I’ve lived through some scary, depressing stuff myself. Somehow, I kept going and got stronger. I don’t remember going out and presenting my depression so effectively to people I wanted to work for.

I probably should have grabbed all these guys by the lapels and shook them. I was too polite. I can’t go back, but I can give you some tips to keep you from making the same mistakes:

1. Do a little research on the company you’re interviewing with, and the business it’s in. Just doing this could get you out of yourself for a while.

2. At the interview, first, ask questions. Get the interviewer talking about his/her business. Listen. You’ll learn stuff. Use it immediately.

3. Don’t go in with preconceived notions of where you’ll fit. See #2.

4. Don’t talk about your age. It’s obvious, stupid.

5. Leave your bruised ego at home.

6. Quiet confidence is the preferred demeanor. Do #1 through #5 and you might develop it.

7. Don’t forget to follow up.

You know this stuff, right?

I love and respect age and experience. I work with a business consultant who’s now 78 years old. I want to tell you how he got me to hire him. Yes, he had a slight advantage—he was working for my boss. Just listen to this.

He called me up and said, “Hey, Bill. It’s a great day, and I’m coming over to see you.”

When he sat down in my office he said, after hellos, “I’m gonna be your consultant. This is how much you’re gonna pay me. I’m gonna earn my keep. And I’m gonna start today.”

I said, “Welcome aboard.”

He earns his keep, and I don’t know how I’d run the business without him.

Plus, he followed up.

Bill Hurme is President of TeamBuilder/JLS, Bellevue, Washington.