Before coming into the office this morning, I volunteered at my daughter's middle school for its "A.P.T. to Succeed" program. The A.P.T. stands for achievement, personal management and teamwork. My job as a volunteer was to interview 8th-grade students as if they were applying for a job, using A.P.T. as criteria to critique their performance.
I was very impressed with the students. One of them spoke three languages, was an athlete, played a musical instrument and had an all-A average. Hopefully I can recruit him to Stewart Title in about 8 years! Others were artists, activists and generally well-rounded, nice kids as well.
One aspect about the process that threw me, but was interesting, was that none of the students asked any questions. They were all exceedingly polite. However, they were there to be interviewed- They must have either been nervous or felt it would have been against protocol to ask me anything about myself or my role in the world of commercial title insurance. I've interviewed and hired a fair number of people over the years and that's never happened to me before. It was odd to have a conversation with a stranger- even a 13-year-old stranger- that was completely one-way.
The experience highlighted two issues to me: First, while helpful, I'm not sure the format made for the most realistic trial run for the students. In any sales conversation (and a job interview is indeed "selling" one's attributes), questions must go both ways. To be effective, information has to be exchanged, not just given or just received. So, the students might have been better served if some back-and-forth had been built into the format, or if they had been given a list of stock questions to ask. That way they could have practiced more than just responding to queries. And asking helps develop the all-important art of listening, as well.
Second, the experience reinforced how cognizant I need to be of maintaining a balance in my own interactions with prospects. After 16 years in the business, I think I'm fairly polished, but today's adventure was a reminder to make sure I'm not either hogging a conversation or being too passive. I guess you're never too old to go learn something at school! :)
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