Almost everyone has heard one of Aesop’s Fables. You may know the story of the Tortoise and the Hare: The Hare challenges a slow moving Tortoise to a race. After boasting to the Tortoise, the Hare starts out too quickly and must take a nap before he finishes the race. The Tortoise ends up passing the Hare and winning by walking slowly and steadily. Moral of the story: Sometimes slow and steady does win the race! (Also- don’t be overly confident in competition!)
Recently I heard a job interview fable that the COO of a large investment firm shared with me. The owners of his firm were interviewing candidates for a senior analyst role. An out-of-state applicant had made the first cut, and was invited back for a second interview in New York City.
When they asked him where he would like to eat, he said that he would like to go to a steak house because he eats so much fish where he lives. Although the owners of the firm do not like steak, they wanted to accommodate the interviewee, and took him to a nice steak house in the city. When they ordered their dinner, the interviewee ordered fish!
The owners of the firm were boggled and slightly offended! Between the candidate’s dinner order and a few interview questions that did not go so well, they decided not to extend a job offer.
The moral of the story is…you are always being observed!
Stephanie Urban
Interactive Resources
