by Mark Stevens


All of the characteristics HR looks for in a job candidate are the polar opposite of what enlightened leaders seek in new talent. While HR is tediously focused on making certain that candidates "play well in the sandbox," strong managers want those who don't venture near the proverbial box. Which creates a conundrum and a paradox: to get to the latter you need to lie to the former. As well you should. Why be held hostage to a broken system?

Case in point: the HR person will likely ask you if
you work well with others? Well, many of the
smartest and most innovative people on the planet
simply don't. Not that they are trouble makers or in
any way venal but they simply prefer to work alone, creating marvels of software, mathematical
formulas or extraordinary feats of creativity. But can they tell HR:
"No. I don't really like working with others. I guess
you can say I do my best work by myself. My
professors at MIT used to call me a 'loner.'"
HR's universal reaction to this honest response
would be "Next." Einstein and Newton would have
failed their test.

For years, my firm worked with a hedge fund that
invests capital based on quantitative strategies,
developed by their team of math and physics
brainiacs. None even pretend to enjoy the social
aspects of the work environment. For them, it is all
about hibernation, concentration and introspection.
They never stepped into a sandbox as kids and
they aren't about to start now.
Over the course of an intense year when we
examined and adjusted many of the practices of
the fund, management came to recognize that the
caliber of the candidates coming to them for
second-stage interviews was way down below the
quality hierarchy. On closer examination, we
discovered the HR filter was turning the best and
the brightest away before they could be seen by
senior fund managers -- all geeks and loners in their
own right. The solution was simple: HR was limited
to managing the fund's employee benefits and
policies and completely removed from the hiring
process.

Another HR question that demands a lie goes like
this:
"So tell me why you want to work for our company."
In many cases, the honest answer would be:
"I think this is the best place to make a fortune
before I'm 35. I really want a chunk of those stock
options."
But to the HR paint-by-numbers gang, that would
lead to a fast dismissal out the fire exit. To get to
the next-stage interview you have to lie, waxing
poetic about the company's innovative culture or
lionizing it's irreverent founder (who, by the way, is
eager to have brilliant wealth-seeking hot shots on
the team).
The old adage "Just be yourself," is a fool's game
when it comes to the hiring process. Instead, at the
outset, you need to be what HR wants you to be.
And in most cases, you need to (and very well
should) lie to win a pass to see the real players in
the company. The ones with a 180 degree different
(from HR) perspective on life/business/success and
how to get what you want in your career.

Look, I don't believe in making lying a way of life--in
fact, I appreciate blunt and honest people and think
of myself in this way. But when a system is stacked
against the truth, dance around it.

No. Just say the bleeping truth!