Every week I have about 10 screening calls with job candidates. Often, I have more than one screening for the same job in the same week. On Fridays when I sit down to write updates to employers, I have to look back at my notes for each candidate to remember their answers to my questions, their story of themself, what questions they had for me. But every few weeks, there’ll be one candidate who sticks out in my mind because of their screening. With this person, I don’t have to refer as closely to my notes; I remember their background, what makes them a good fit for the position, and what I want to highlight to the employer about them.
Last week I had a first round screening with a candidate for an organizing job. The screening questions for this job are simple: I ask them to tell me about themselves and why they want to do this work, any relevant experience they have, and then we do a roleplay. There aren’t really any wrong answers, they’re just telling me a story about themselves. A lot of candidates have the same answers to questions, tell me similar stories, and that’s totally okay. Many of them were radicalized by big political moments, started out working in field and moved to organizing, and want to do this work because, fundamentally, it’s important.
But this candidate stood out in my mind, not because he was very different from all of the other candidates, but because of how he came across in the screening, and he took actionable steps that could make you stand out in your next interview, too.
The first thing this candidate did was come prepared. He did his research on the organization that was hiring: their issue areas and campaigns, their history, and some of the recent political wins they helped drive, so he was ready to talk about himself in a way that was catered to this organization. He had clearly practiced his story of himself, but it was also clear that he hadn’t written it down and was reading it word for word. In this work, that’s critical. You have to be able to tell the story of your own radicalization and introduction to the movement.
During the screening, there are a couple of points at which I ask candidates a question and tell them that they can take a minute to think about their responses. This candidate took advantage of that time. He gave the questions real thought and took notes on his answers, which meant his responses sounded well put together; they flowed.
The last bit of the screening is the roleplay. The scenario is simple, just a cold outreach conversation, and what I look for in candidates is not that they’re perfect the first go around. I look for their ability to take the feedback that I give them and incorporate it into the second time we run through it. This candidate took my feedback seriously and adjusted his side of the conversation based on what I said.
Once I get through all of my questions, candidates have a chance to ask any questions they have for me before I tell them about the rest of the hiring process. This candidate asked me for more feedback, specifically about his roleplay. He told me that he wanted to improve his organizing skills in general and asked if there were any overall organizing tips I could give him.
After I gave him some, he asked what he could do to prepare for the next interview. He said that he wanted to learn more about the organization and organizing and asked if I had any book, movie/tv, or podcast recommendations that would help him in that goal. I love giving media recommendations (see my first Hack the Movement post from February), so I was excited to give him a few because he seemed genuinely interested not just in this job, but in the movement as a whole.
After this screening, I messaged my coworkers and told them that I had a great candidate who gave a great screening. He was the person who stood out the most to me of the screenings I did that week because he was engaged in the screening, enthusiastic about the organization, and invested in the work.
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