Imagine you have gone through several interviews for a job with a new company. At the end of the last interview, which has gone as well as possible, one of the interview panel says, “How about we get a few people from the team together and have a few drinks so you can get to know everyone?”<\/p>\n
Do you see it as confirmation you have the job and an opportunity to let off steam with a beverage or 10? Or do you feel stressed at the prospect of meeting new people and worry you will blow your chances?<\/p>\n
It’s not unusual for employers to ask potential recruits out for a drink as the final step in recruitment. How they behave in a social setting can make or break their chances, says recruitment firm Robert Walters managing director James Nicholson.<\/p>\n
The biggest mistake job applicants make when asked out for a drink is assuming it’s a sign they have the job.<\/p>\n
“It’s still part of an interview process and there is no formal offer there,” Nicholson says.<\/p>\n
Meet-and-greets are typically used for people applying for sales positions or roles that require the person to deal with several stakeholders within the company.<\/p>\n
“If someone is going to be part of a big and important team they will be looking to see how they interact with that team, their communication skills, and maybe how they react to a little informal pressure,” he says.<\/p>\n
While some people would think a chat over a drink is much easier than fielding questions from a panel of interviewers, others won’t.<\/p>\n
“Some people view an informal drink with three or four people they have not met before as a fairly pressured situation. Often they are the people who struggle with it and that’s what you are trying to ascertain,” Nicholson says.<\/p>\n
“You are taking people out of their comfort zone and you are asking them to make a bit of intelligent small talk to engage people.”<\/p>\n
Nicholson says he has seen people stumble and fall at the final hurdle.<\/p>\n
“We will make decisions based on some of those [mistakes],” he says. “You are 80 or 90 per cent through your recruitment process, so you are obviously thought of highly.<\/p>\n
“But people can misjudge the situation and we are looking for people to be able to read the situation around them.”<\/p>\n
It is a fine line between relaxing, showing some personality or becoming too familiar.<\/p>\n
“I have been at one where two or three drinks in, someone has asked about the sexuality of a member of the team they are out for a drink with,” he says.<\/p>\n
“It was ludicrous. You immediately spot that the person is going to be a liability in front of clients who they don’t know.”<\/p>\n
Employers also don’t like hearing the potential employer gossip.<\/p>\n
“Gossiping about their current employer and turning it into a negative or vitriolic attack on where they currently are [employed] because they think they almost have the job — I don’t think that is something people perceive particularly well,” he says.<\/p>\n
Etiquette expert June Dally-Watkins says people who find social drinks nerve-racking should be wary of drinking too much.<\/p>\n
“Because that person is nervous they might think the only way they can relax is by having another drink and that would be the big mistake,” Dally-Watkins says.
\nEye contact is simple way of bonding.<\/p>\n
“Have a nice firm handshake and don’t forget to smile because that relaxes a person and makes you look warm and friendly,” Dally-Watkins says.<\/p>\n
“Just be the person you are because that is what the prospective employer is looking for.”<\/p>\n
Being asked to go for a drink to finalise the recruitment process is all well and good, but what if you don’t drink?<\/p>\n
Robert Walters, managing director James Nicholson, says non-drinkers shouldn’t worry about letting their potential employer know.<\/p>\n
“No one I know would take exception to that,” Nicholson says.<\/p>\n
If concerned, you can always play the designated driver card.<\/p>\n
“You could always say, `I hope you don’t mind, I only have a few hours because I have to pick someone up’, or whatever the case may be,” he says.
\nLight drinkers shouldn’t be concerned.<\/p>\n
“If the goal is to get slaughtered, you have to question the value of it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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