First Impression

First impressions, they say, matter a lot. Sometime ago, I invited three candidates for a job interview. The interview was scheduled to start at 10 am (WAT). One of the candidates, a male, arrived two hours late with a rumpled shirt, while the other two, a male and a female, arrived early and were neatly dressed. My team was not happy with the candidate who arrived late and suggested we cancel his interview.

To them, first impressions matter a lot. Why would a candidate come so late to an interview with all the pre-interview preparations and reminders? Why this, why that? In all of these puzzles begging for a solution, I beckoned to them and pleaded for a second chance for this candidate. At least let us know the reasons he came late and grant him access for his scheduled interview.

No, the one at my left erupted, we can’t interview him, think of it, he is just an applicant. To the right, another panellist uttered: No, we can’t, we can always invite other candidates, raising a hand as if to disrupt the process.

They continued in their outbursts and body language, indicating that they had already written the candidate off. They went further to state that the candidate would be a policy breaker, an unserious employee if he becomes successful at the interview and all sorts. I remained focused on the interview process and avoided being biased.

According to the first-come, first-served rule, the other two candidates who arrived early were interviewed. One after the other, they left, leaving the candidate who came late. At this point, my team looked reluctant and had lost interest in the interview. However, I proceeded with the process and called up the candidate.
I threw the first question to the candidate, and boom… the game changed. This young man came prepared with his Apple laptop, MiFi and graphic tools for a live demo. As things unfolded, he requested permission to put his feedback in the technical drawing format, which I gladly gave. Meanwhile, technical drawing is a required and preferred competency that the other candidates do not possess.

With that simple but calculated move, my team adjusted their relaxed seats, one of them pulled off her eyeglasses, and the other stood up and came closer. The rest is history…. The candidate wowed us, got the job and was successfully onboarded to our organisation. He did not eventually become a policy breaker or unserious employee; in fact, he became the pre-press manager of our packaging department and has continued to add value to our organisation.

Although a negative first impression of a person might affect how I interact with them, they are not my major determinant. I stay back and watch, give a second chance and allow some time before I make conclusions. This is because there might be sincere reasons for that first impression, whether positive or negative. To be safe, I need to allow time to evaluate appropriately before conclusions.

A few months ago, my friend @Ivyann informed me about the #ecency and #hive platform. I wasn’t comfortable with the impression of online blogging because of my negative experience with some platforms I have explored in the past. Instantly, the idea of online blogging put me off. However, at my quiet time, I replayed all her voice notes, did more research, and with the details I collated, I decided to join the platform. I would have made a wrong decision, assuming I concluded during the first discussion that #hive and #ecency are not real.

Conclusively, I will opine that I do not throw people under the bus or accept them completely at their first impression, because some positive first impression might be lip service, while some negative first impression might be out of a sincere occurrence. Time is the greatest architect of reality and the revealer of all things.

Therefore, to make a healthy, fair and unbiased decision after a first impression from an individual, whether negative or positive, I allow time for reflection and deeper understanding.

Thank you all for the anticipated support. It has been an exciting journey on this #ecency platform. What about you?