Understanding The Judges That Judge You - Jaya Deshmukh

Introduction:
In a few weeks time, a very lucky group of people will be facing an incredibly tough time – GDs and Interviews to high profile institutes! Clearing them is their ticket to nirvana. A lot has been written about how to prepare for interviews, body language, writing resumes, etc. But the most crucial thing is to know how evaluators judge you.

Over the years, having sat in many panels that evaluate candidates, I have discovered that panel members take on distinct personalities. And they evaluate candidates through those personalities. Let me give you an example to explain this. In one of the interview panels I sat in, there was this top-notch army guy and an HR professional along with me. The army guy took on the personality of a strict uncle and would only look at the negatives in the candidate’s answers or resume. The HR professional took on the personality of a career guidance consultant and instead of asking questions simply doled out advice to the candidate. I, unfortunately, being from the Market Research profession, ended up asking questions without actually listening to the answers! So, if the candidate “paid respect” to the strict uncle or “asked advice” to the career guidance consultant or was patient with the market researcher he or she intended to impress the panel and was on most occasions “in”.

So what does this mean? If the candidate can recognise the personality of each panel member he or she can channelise the flow and crack the interview!
So How Do We Crack The Personality Code?
Take the first few minutes to become aware of the following:

a.   Who is the leader of the panel? Here are some indicators:

• This person usually sits in the center of the panel.
  
• This person could be the eldest in the panel.
  
• This person usually begins the questioning.
  
• In some cases, if the other panel members are all women, the person tends to be a male.
  
• In some cases, if the panel members are all female, the woman in the sari tends to be the leader.
  

Once you identify the leader, give him/her maximum eye contact. Turn your body slightly towards him/her.

b.   Is the leader a natural leader? Check to see whether whenever the leader talks:

• Someone else butts in?
  
• Someone has a hostile expression?
  
• Someone has a bored expression?

If the answer is no to all three, the leader is a natural leader, so give him/her all your attention. If the answer is yes to any of the questions, divide your attention between the two.

c.   What is the leader’s role? Is he the “good cop” or the “bad cop”?

• A good cop is someone who will ask you to sit down, ask you whether you want a glass of water or whether you are comfortable.
  
• A bad cop is someone who will immediately pounce on your weakest point in the resume and begin to grill you. Even though, the rule is that the candidate is not to be attacked rather his academic record, many times the candidate gets attacked by this person.
  

If the leader is a bad cop, you know you are in trouble, try and remain calm. If the leader is a good cop, don’t relax, but know you are going to have an easier time.

d.   What are the roles taken by the other panel members?

• Who is sympathetic?
  
• Who is disinterested?

Try minimising the number of times you get addressed by the disinterested panel members. The way to do this is to give longer answers to the questions by the sympathetic panel member. The disinterested panel member is a minefield as he/she can turn into an aggressive one!

e.   What personalities do the panel members adopt?

• What is each panel member’s background? Usually, the panel members introduce themselves. This will give you a hang of what each one does. When answering questions try and give answers that include examples from their field. Taking the earlier example, when answering the army guy, give an example from the army. This creates sympathy and a natural affiliation. 4    How is each panel member dressed? More casual the dress, typically the more casual the attitude.

Depending upon your personality type choose the panel member you want to address. For example if you are a more formal person address the panel member who is more formally dressed. This way you are likely to pick on someone with a similar mindset.

Understanding your panel is half the battle done as you can turn yourself into a personality type more in tune to the panel you get. Some of you might believe that it is better to be the person you are and let the panel judge you for that instead of trying to figure out what the panel is. Let’s leave the discussion on this to the next issue!