They are evaluating more than just your resume.

If you have been called for a job interview it is because, most likely, you already meet the technical and knowledge requirements that the position requires. In fact, that’s something recruiters are capable of doing. in less than six seconds, as long as your resume is organized in the right way to give more visibility to what really matters.

Job interviews are designed so that the person in charge of hiring you becomes aware an idea of ​​your personality and your values. For this they often resort to serious questions or even small “cheats” like the “chair test”. A strategy designed to reveal whether the candidate face the problems or just adapts to them.

A chair that limps

This test consists of developing a regular job interviewbut with the peculiarity that the chair in which the candidate will sit has a somewhat shorter leg, so the interviewee will be swaying and uncomfortable throughout the interview.

The key is that, right next to the candidate, there will be a second chair in perfect condition. What the interviewer basically wants to know is whether the candidate will remain in the lame chair throughout the interview, adapting to the problem on which he is sitting, or will he ask to change the chair for the one next to him. If you choose the second alternative, it will also be taken into account the way you ask for it.

Attend a job interview It is already a situation in which candidates come with a certain level of nervousness or uncertainty, which makes the reactions to this test genuine and spontaneous.

Let’s face it, the chair limps

The ultimate objective of the test is to evaluate the proactivity, the ability to adapt and react in the face of obvious discomfort in a delicate situation such as a job interview.

If the candidate continues the interview without complaining and tolerating the discomfort, it means that he has a great ability to concentrate and prioritize your goals well. Despite the discomfort of the environment, he manages to maintain his composure and continue with the interview against all odds.

If the candidate asks to change chairs, they will be showing initiative to improve the situation and proactivity to make it change, stopping the interview to change the chair. Thomas S. Bateman and J. Michael Crant analyzed in 1993 the relationship between proactive people and their environment, discovering that this type of personalities are more likely to make changes in their environment to improve your situation.

Furthermore, by taking the initiative and changing the chair, you will also be demonstrating courage and self-confidence when facing challenges in delicate situations.

The way in which the candidate stops the interview to change chairs is also important. If you do it naturally but decisively or if you politely ask permission to change it.

Studies carried out by Gary Yukl, professor at the University at Albany Business School, highlight some common traits in the behavior of leadership personalitiespointing out that these types of profiles tend to take immediate action when faced with problems, while more gregarious personalities wait for others to make decisions.

There is a third option that It is not the best rated by interviewers: make comments about the chair being limp, but stay in it. This option denotes a passive attitude of the candidate facing problems, diverting the priority objective (the interview) to their personal terrain (the chair).

The worst thing about this reaction is that it reveals all that, and highlights that the candidate points out the problem without taking a single initiative to change the situationsince you have not considered the option of changing chairs and will remain focused on your own discomfort.

In Xataka | It’s not enough to be good, you have to know how to tell it: this is how the STAR method works in job interviews

Image | Pexels (Mikhail Nilov)