Introduction
Searching for a new job is a challenging process that requires specific skills from the applicant. The employee must show positive character traits, including truthfulness, active position, and readiness to work. At the same time, people searching for a new job also evaluate the propositions during the interviews, making this process difficult for both sides. The job seeker must have a clear vision of the future career and present their strong characteristics during the interview.
Main body
Truthfulness is essential in finding a new job because it guarantees prolific cooperation. Cooper et al., (2020) describe how to reduce malingering and injuries at the workplace using overt integrity testing. The researchers claim that compensating the employees for their injuries is an essential part of expenses that the employer should pay. It is possible to reduce the number of malingering that supposes exaggerating injuries to receive more compensation using the integrity tests for the job applicants. The statistical data shows that screening applicants for integrity allow a return of more than 800 percent of investments into the workers. In addition, the integrity tests enable the employers to detect such negative traits of character as a tendency to theft, aggression, and substance abuse. All these qualities reduce workplace safety, leading to higher rates of injuries (Cooper et al., 2020). Therefore, integrity tests for job applicants allow the employees to find workers suitable for cooperation who will not show anti-social character traits and work according to the safety rules. It decreases the number of injuries, deliberate lies about the harm, and the need to pay compensations for the exaggerated cases.
It is critical to developing positive character and conduct traits to find a job and work on it successfully. Coviello et al., (2004) focus on the ways to acquire a job that shows effective results in the long-term perspective. One of the activities that increase the chances of employment is the ability to apply vocational problem-solving skills to job-seeking and supporting the overall motivation. The authors researched a group of methadone users who decided to change their lives after drug addiction. These people were chronically unemployed, so they needed to develop healthy behavioral patterns to find a job and not quit it.
The ability of the applicant to create the appropriate image in the eyes of the employer is a necessary skill in job-seeking. Gifford & Wilkinson (1985) claim a link between the interviewers’ judgments concerning the employment and the qualities the applicant actively shows. It shows that nonverbal cues are critical in employment interviews. The peculiar detail is that the way the person describes their motivation for employment is less important than the manifestation of developed social skills. The interviewers value such qualities as the ability to show initiative, responsibility, confidence, and assertiveness that they associate with higher professionalism (Gifford & Wilkinson, 1985). Even though these views are subjective and the applicant’s professional skills do not directly correlate with their social skills, they impact the hiring process significantly.
Showing positive character traits sincerely and without deliberate exaggeration is essential during the interview with the employee. Wingate & Bourdage (2019) support the hypothesis that personal impression is vital in job-seeking. The authors write that people make their first impression of another individual during the first two minutes of communication, and it is difficult to change this impression in the future. Lying about professional experience or biography is incredibly destructive for the first impression because the interviewers usually understand that the applicant is not truthful (Wingate & Bourdage, 2019). The critical point is that job applicant might not have the opportunity to change the first impression they make because they might not be employed after the negative first impression.
It is vital to remember that workers also have preferences when they search for a new job, and the qualities that the employers manifest are important in this process. For instance, the applicants evaluate the employers’ atmosphere and their readiness for cooperation. Those applicants who value flexibility in organizing their working hours ask about this opportunity during the interview and watch the reaction of the employers (Halvari et al., 2013). It is possible to state that the characteristics that the employers show during the interview are equally important as the applicants’. When people see that a particular position does not satisfy their needs, they do not continue their cooperation with the employer.
Conclusion
To conclude, the traits of character that people show during the interview are essential in creating the appropriate image. The first impression determines whether the company will hire the applicant and whether the job seeker will stay in this organization. People tend to use their first impression of another individual as the basis for their opinion, and it is problematic to change it in the future. In most cases, people do not have a second chance to alter the first impression. Therefore, it is vital to work on the effective presentation of own strong sides, including truthfulness, motivation, dynamic character, and flexibility during the interview.
References
Cooper, D. A., Slaughter, J. E., & Gilliland, S. W. (2021). Reducing injuries, malingering, and workers’ compensation costs by implementing overt integrity testing. Journal of Business and Psychology, 36, 495–512. Web.
Coviello, D. M.,Zanis, D. A., & Lynch, K. (2004). Effectiveness of vocational problem-solving skills on motivation and job-seeking action steps. Substance Use & Misuse, 39(13-14), 2309-2324. Web.
Gifford, R., Ng, C. F., & Wilkinson, M. (1985). Nonverbal cues in the employment interview: Links between applicant qualities and interviewer judgments. Journal of Applied Psychology, 70(4), 729-736. Web.
Halvari, H., Vansteenkiste, M., Brørby, S., & Karlsen, H. P. (2013). Examining antecedents and outcomes of part-time working nurses’ motives to search and not to search for a full-time position. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43, 1608–1623. Web.
Wingate, T. G., Bourdage, J. S. (2019). Liar at first sight? Early impressions and interviewer judgments, attributions, and false perceptions of faking. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 18(4), 177–188. Web.