First off, I had to go out and get several lockboxes off doors before the signing of a lease and the closing of a sale. Yes, I had another soft landing of a closing, and hope all those to follow this year will be similar. The home that was closed was a lower-priced older two story which from the time I first viewed it, has always had a special place in my real estate “heart”. This morning, I said to the buyers, “I’ve always liked that home because I couldn’t see myself rattling around in a big two story, but the one you just purchased is a down-sized version which makes it not only charming, but comfortable.” This is the very reason I absolutely cannot understand how one or two people can live in today’s McMansions, and they still won’t stop building them. For sure they’re not being built for comfort, but rather just for show.
Please make sure to tell everyone about my open house tomorrow which is located at 122 – 11th St. SW here in Mason City. I’ll be there from 1:00 – 3:00 PM, and hopefully the weather will be even better than it was today. Anyone who’s planning on having a family, really must stop by because there’s more room inside than one would ever imagine. With having a main floor laundry with 1/2 bath, new oak kitchen, and a double garage, certainly places it at the top of homes in its price range that are currently on the market. I’m looking for it to be sold soon.
One of my dear clients stopped by today, and while visiting, she mentioned that she’ll be starting her new job next week. The thing she considered strange, was that there was no formal interview, but instead a 2 hour long dinner interview/meeting with her new employer. I couldn’t help but mention that back when I was a supervisor at a bank a very many years ago, I was often asked to join two other department heads to sit in on interviews.
Back in those days, our interviews were exceptionally casual to where it was more like a social visit with someone we’d met for the first time. We would take turns asking questions like, “What are your hobbies?”, or “What’s your favorite pastime?”, and even something like, “Can you see yourself comfortably working along-side a group of people?”.
Those questions may have sounded completely off-beat from what interviewing processes are like in these times, but in reality, it worked for us because we could pick up on nuances of a given person’s overall employment personality by what was said, and even more so, what was not. It may sound weird, but I believe personal interviews like those offered employers time to get the “feel” of a given applicant’s character. And please remember, character according to Warren Buffet, is prime.
The department in which we worked was very much time oriented. The employees were always under the clock to where their real pressures were their abilities to skillfully manage their time, along with being as accurate as possible. Errors were evil because they created all that more valuable time lost to correct.
After one of those interviews, a manager came to me and said, “Well, what do you think?” I casually shook my head and said, “I think we need to keep looking because the three of us just experienced a session with a classic chatterbox.” He was then reminded how employee chit-chat during critical work time, would invariably slow down the work chain which in the end, would create an even larger problem that would affect other departments.
It’s very interesting how times have changed with employment interviews, yet I still consider those old “bank” ways more effective in finding “good fits” for job openings. Now please, tell me what you think about the job interview process in these times.
