Hiring is Casting

Sometimes you meet all the requirements, feel really good about the interviews, and then get told "we really liked you, but... we don't think it's the right fit." That was what happened to me in Toronto.

But what do they mean by "right fit"?

Before a new interview ... or after a good one ... I try to remember what I read in an article a while back. Companies, and the hiring manager, have in their head a mental picture of a person "doing" this job, whatever it is. A screenplay, if you will. When they interview, it's like a casting call. They're trying to find someone who can present naturally to the world what they imagine in their heads for this role.

So, you go in, give your background and experience, read a few lines, and wait for call-backs. You come in again, you read more, you get paired with other actors, you run scenes. More waiting. More call-backs, more grueling situations, a talk with the director. Then.. someone else gets the part. Why?

Because you weren't Meryl. You weren't Denzel.

Marcus Buckingham, co-author of the best-selling management book First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently says that "companies consistently make the mistake of hiring the most talented people but for the wrong job. Two nurses may be equally talented and credentialed coming out of nursing school. One might thrive as a pediatric nurse and the other might thrive as an emergency room nurse. But they could both fail if assigned to the other nursing job."

"Companies that raid the sales force at another company are always baffled when people fail at the same job in the same industry but in a different culture. One employee may feel micromanaged if the boss checks in once a month, another may feel ignored if the boss doesn't check in every day. "

"Hiring is casting. Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are great actors. Who gets the role depends less on their talent than the movie and the role."

In other words, your fit with their mental screenplay. If you are applying for a role and they want Winona Ryder, but you present as Amy Adams... oops. But if they don't have a Winona-type in their pool, and you come across as Keira Knightley, that could be close enough! They can coach the rest.

It's nothing personal, you know? Normal people usually do not get roles "written for them". You know are accomplished. You know are talented. But you are also... who you are.

Joe Pesci reads lines like.. Joe Pesci does. Not like Stanley Tucci does. Amy Adams is not Winona Ryder. George Clooney is not Tom Hanks. Read your lines the way YOU do.

And then leave it to the casting director. 'Cause that's what it is.