I’m back in the office for one day only today – conducting recruitment interviews for a role in the team – before returning to paternity leave for another week or so.
Preparing last night for the interviews lreminded me about when I was interviewed by my current full-time employer.
When I arrived for the interview I was met by a lady who walked me up several flights of stairs, along corridors and eventually to the interview room where the two interviewers were waiting.
She was very chatty and welcoming. I now know this lady is the Communication team’s office manager, and she’s always very friendly.
Several months later I was talking to my line manager about the day I had my interview.
She mentioned that the office manager had said, based on our informal chat as we walked to the interview room, that I’d made a positive impression with her and that what I’d said on the walk to the interview room tallied with what I’d said in the interview room.
Now I’m not suggesting that the walk to the interview room becomes a formal part of the recruitment process, but the lesson here for marketing and PR professionals is that every impression counts.
Every piece of communication, every conversation, every action you take on behalf of your business, brand or organisation needs to be consistent with the values that organisation holds.
Without that your audiences will see your organisation as fake and insincere, just as I would have appeared had I been offhand or inconsistent on that walk to the interview room.