When going on job interviews, regardless of the level of the position, presenting yourself as authentic is essential. Over-inflating your accomplishments or presenting an untrue depiction of your true self often backfires.
Shane Parrish, writing for Quora, offers several valuable insights on this topic. How can a potential employer determine if an applicant is actually intelligent and not just a blowhard?
“I’ve been collecting little heuristics over the years. Here are a few that will get you thinking:
- Sorting Those Who Know from Those Who Act Like They Know.
- Elon Musk on How to Tell if People Are Lying.
- Consider the time-scales they operate under. The shorter the axis they work on, the more likely they are a mimic.
- The ability to delay gratification (drugs, sex, etc.).
- The ability to simplify and deep dive.
- The ability to walk you through things step by step, without requiring great leaps.
- They spent a lot of time reading.
- Intelligent people normally get excited when you ask them why or how, whereas mimics normally get frustrated.
- Who do they hang around with.
- They can argue the other side of an idea better than the people that disagree with them.
- They know how to focus and typically create large chunks of time.
- They don’t waste a lot of time.
- They’ve failed.”
Now, take a a look at this short video clip from Inc. And click here to read more from Inc.
There is no doubt that Elon Musk is of superior intelligence but just being smart is not enough. Musk can be described as authentic, trustworthy, highly respected, charismatic, ethical, curious, and ready to face challenges, pacesetting and a visionary. I believe one of his true gifts is his emotional intelligence and his ability to move one’s own and others’ emotions. His ability to truly read an interviewee is more than his ability to read the other person but to connect with them. Musk like Steve Jobs, has that special attraction to people, to make them work harder than they have ever worked before.
Both these men are able to integrate their drive and creativity with a molten charm which is their charisma. These men analogous to the Ubermensch or the ideal superior man of the future who could rise above conventional Christian morality. Person of this caliber make their individual accomplishments in comparison to a normal person seem supernatural or robotic but perhaps they are may actually be even more human than the rest of us mere humans because they are in touch with something that we are not.
I think the attributes that the video are looking for are true and appropriate when interviewing for those positions of a more senior-level. When interviewing for entry-level positions it is more difficult to ascertain what the applicant finds to be important because for these positions you are looking more for work processes to be accomplished and to help grow the candidate in their education and career. It is not planned that these people will be with the company long term.
I feel this is more relevant when you are interviewing an experienced hire vs a right out of college. A lot of kids are exploring and don’t even know if they want to do this job, let alone the setting goals. The market is cut throat these days to be we focused, everyone is running for themselves.