Idiot Needs Advice

billyshake

I moved to India just over three weeks ago. I know little of the social mores I’m suddenly confronted with – worse, I’m worried there are some unknown underpinnings to every interaction and that I’ll accidentally and horribly offend.

But headlong I go and today I began interviewing candidates for two positions at my film company. Now, I’ve hired people on numerous occasions but today I was, to say the least, ill prepared for what I was about to hear. I’ve never had a potential employee bless me before. I’ve never before been reassured that, “My husband is much smarter than I am and could do this job very well but he is in Dubai and you must be taking me instead.” One young man called me “sir” no less than three times within every single sentence he uttered. Another young woman (we interviewed only ‘freshers’ for the job… another term I’m new to) went into great detail – minutia, really -- about the work history of each and every member of her extended family. I had no idea how to respond.

To be fair, none of the candidates knew beforehand they’d be interviewed by a tattooed white guy with a shaved head; a badly dressed fella slamming Red Bulls and talking a mile a minute. So they were understandably nervous.

But I have to ask, is there a method to interviewing in India which I’m unaware of? Is there a construct which I should at least try to understand and follow? I want very much to behave properly, to conduct myself in a way that’s agreeable with the people around me in this new environment. But I’m a bit thick headed and I need advice.

capt_mahajan

In my limited experience, and which probably goes for all meetings, control the agenda.

You are interviewing, so in your place I would only encourage talk about what is relevant to the job. Interrupt if neccessary, unless you have time to waste. "Sorry, I am a little rushed today so..."


Also, in India, generally speaking

-garrulousness/garrulity is sometimes used to imply eagerness. All eager people are not neccessarily efficient.

- People calling you sir will continue unless you want to put a stop to it. Frankly, it may be worthwhile doing so at the workplace, but at an interview....

-Your tattoos etc may be confusing some, but overall you may come under the 'all foreigners are crazy' heading so I wouldnt worry about it too much.

-Besides being nervous, people may genuinely not know how to react to a foreigner. If so, I would give them a minute or two to get used to me, else I may miss out on a good possibility for recruitment

-Usually, more time is wasted at Indian interviews and meetings than is in the West. Cultural thing.


Did this help? Probably not.

But I would still control the agenda

billyshake

Actually, Capt., that does help. It seemed small talk was the order of the day, mostly about families. In fact, several candidates asked me if I was married and about children, etc.

Control the agenda. Come Monday, that's my new mantra.

capt_mahajan

That mantra works for me.

One can always start with a thirty second small talk, relevant issues being

-how far from possible work is this person living
-if a female, and if applicable, how many and how old are her kids (safe assumption, she will be doing much more in the house than her husband)

and stuff like that, before rubbing ones hands and getting down to brass tacks


PS: Asking the interviwer personal questions is a no no in India too, but maybe these were young folk....

ks_bluechip

Did this help? Probably not ...
But I would still control the agenda ..... Good advise!

I would also suggest a pre-screening or joint-interviewing by/with an Indian Interviewer, if possible. Latter may help billshake learn some *Indian* interviewing.

billyshake

The three staff I currently have are helping me out but they're also very young. I think what Capt said helps a lot -- I couldn't articulate what my concerns were earlier, but now I know that I was worried about interrupting the interviewee during their monologues about one thing or another. I thought maybe that's just how it is and I should let them talk ad nauseam. I'll politely interrupt should it happen again.

And now that I finally understand that the sideways headshake, doesn't mean "you're a jackass," I'm a lot more comfortable.

rmur

sideways handshake?

sannna

head waggle...

Can mean negative things too though ;-) But most probably not in an interview situation. :-)

machadinha

Just sympathizing. Best of luck with it, you'll get the hang of it

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

psy_ko

smart candidates will try to lead you where they feel comfortable...and nothing is more comfortable than personal chat

ur job, is too keep it on track
tattoos or not

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PeakXV

Certainly a filtering process beginning with the proper verbage(be very, very precise and ask only for the best in specific qualifications) in the most appropriate advertising medium that can be used to solicit them -> to prescreening by inhouse Indian employees -> & finally to the applicants who remain, a one-on-one chat with the 'big paneer-western boss' would be one process/sequence that might alleviate much of the uneasiness cum culture shock.

__________________
We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

ronsaik

Start by asking them to compute the cubic root of a nine digit number. That should shake anyone up.

triliana

In India, business meetings do not start with "let's get down to business." They start with small talk, and business does not start until the formalities are taken care of. Don't think of it as wasting time, think of it more as putting each other at ease. India is a very relationship-oriented country, and going straight into business can be a little off-putting - they don't know you yet! Usually family is a big part of these get-to-know-you discussions; if someone doesn't know how many brothers/sisters/children you have by five minutes in, the conversation won't really get started

Also remember that English is often not the language of choice for a lot of these people (yes, even college-educated people prefer to speak in Hindi or whatever the local language is) so sometimes responses can be long-winded. Hindi sometimes takes a lot more words to express what English says in a few. It's okay to interrupt and direct the interview to find out those things you really need to know.

ronsaik

That would be true of business meetings, but not - I would think - of interviews. That is, at least, my experience!

Cardamom

SO TRUE!!!! I've been doing business with some folks in India for over 14 or so months now and I had to learn this very quickly when traveling to India for business. I am such a freakin' New Yorker that I just want to sit down and get things done five minutes before the meeting even started. This, my friends, does not work in India

Billy - best of luck with your interviews. Seriously, I have enough of a hard time interviewing people here in the states. I think every one here has had great advice - it will get better for sure.


-C

PS: looking FWD to hearing about more of your adventures here on IM!