I recently ran into a friend at a local pizza shop. Or should I say, he ran into me, and finally got my attention after several failed attempts. We caught up quickly, updating each other on holidays and developments, before we parted ways. As I walked home with my pizza, I realized that the conversation moved in mostly one direction; he had asked a majority of the questions and I had given a majority of the answers. I wasn’t sure about what had just happened except for a vague understanding that I had felt a little uncomfortable in a setting where he had obviously felt at home.
This idea of being at home, one that applies mostly to social settings, has infiltrated the way fans think about sports. The idea of ‘home field advantage’ suggests that the host is more likely to win. There is no set explanation for why this is the case but it’s a commonly accepted phenomenon and one supported by outcomes; broadly speaking, teams play better at home than they do away. I think this happened during my recent pizza store conversation. There were multiple factors involved - I had just walked in out of the cold while my friend had been comfortably seated, it was just my third time in the place whereas my friend seemed to know everyone there, and so on. The fact that I was doing takeout while he was dining in perhaps says it all. He was comfortable enough to notice when I walked in while I remained unable to even comprehend the sound of my own name. In short, I was away, he was at home, and this determined the quality of our respective contributions to the conversation.
I'm sure the next time we'll have a better conversation. I’ve learned that experience in new environments or settings helps me navigate the home and away aspect. But perhaps we were just a couple more minutes away from reaching the same ideal. One interesting aspect I’ve noticed about ‘home and away’ in the sports context is how things tend to even out during the game. A home team often has the early edge but it’s less relevant later in the game. Again, in sports as in life: the start of some interactions feels like an insurmountable obstacle to a pleasant time. But once the ‘away’ party gets comfortable, everyone enjoys their time together. Is it a coincidence that hosts often tell their guests to ‘make themselves at home’?
It’s likely that ‘home and away’ has ramifications beyond your Saturday night dinner party. Job interviews seem to meet the basic criteria – a candidate shows up (away) to meet a team of interviewers (home). Obviously, the home team should help the candidate feel comfortable (most HR professionals will stress this point) but I think it's important to consider whether the open job is going to have an obvious ‘home’ or ‘away’ tendency. Most jobs are ‘home’ – same desk, same colleagues, same schedule – and these interviews work best with a comfortable candidate (1). But if the job is ‘away’ – perhaps a role with a variable work environment – then I think keeping the candidate uncomfortable might give a better indication of future performance. In other words, if you could recreate the situation I faced in the pizza shop, you could see how a candidate operated within a changing environment, and eliminate people like me from accidentally getting ‘away’ jobs.
This might explain why I struggled to find a new job. In hindsight, I see how a lot of interviews treat ‘home’ openings like ‘away’ jobs, a design decision that would have hurt my candidacy. I've collected examples from others that seem too silly to be true. I have a friend who once included ‘Chinese language’ on his resume. During his interview, a man suddenly interrupted the conversation and started asking questions in Chinese. My friend got the job but nothing like this ever happened during his tenure – if the job required a Chinese conversation, he had time to prepare, perhaps by enlisting a colleague’s assistance.
Helping a candidate feel ‘at home’ probably works a lot like it does in a social setting. The ‘home’ role comes naturally to most people – they ask simple questions or use easily repeated expressions that get ‘away’ parties talking. If the ‘away’ side doesn’t quite settle with small talk, the ‘home’ side could try some stalling tactics and buy time. Just as a host could offer to show you the new patio furniture or make introductions to the other guests, a hiring manager could suggest an office tour or take a few minutes to describe certain aspects of the organization.
The ‘away’ role of being a candidate is a little more challenging. The only effective tool I know of is experience so I suggest candidates take as many interviews as possible, even going so far as to apply for positions just for the purposes of having interviews. Over time, we accumulate successes and learn that we have the skills to meet any challenge - it works the same way in job interviews. A candidate with no interview experience is beyond nervous; even a seasoned professional must adapt to a new environment among unfamiliar people. I consider experience a subset of preparation so planning ahead is an appropriate substitute for those unable to attend 'practice' interviews (but telling candidates to prepare isn’t groundbreaking advice).
One idea I'm still working out is where being ‘away’ means giving the host enough time to come out of ‘home’ mode. I notice this whenever a guest arrives with a gift. The host has to do a whole slew of tasks related to the gift – accept, unwrap, store, and of course, “you shouldn’t have!”. This whole process buys time, perhaps enough of it to overcome that sense of ‘home and away’, and I think a candidate can use the same basic idea. Instead of answering those generic opening questions with the safest possible answer, throw a question or two in there – I did find the place OK, but is there always construction by that coffee shop? And is the coffee there any good? In a sense, playing ‘away’ means waiting long enough until the other party is done playing ‘home’ because one doesn’t happen without the other. As soon as the distinction is gone, everyone can relax and get to the real point of the conversation.
Footnotes / job interview tactics
1. By email, a day or two before the interview
One strategy I’m mulling over is revealing the first question or two to the candidate prior to the interview as a way of making someone more comfortable about meeting the team.
