I’ve noticed 10 underlying assumptions (through my work with human resources executives who transitioned sectors including to digital shops, top-five consulting firms, and financial services multinationals i.e. services companies) that interviewers make about human resources job candidates.

When you’ve spent a majority of your career in human resources, the good assumptions are:

• You have strong interpersonal skills.

• You are an effective trainer / teacher.

• You know how to play by the rules.

• You are a strategic negotiator.

• You are a planner.

Alternatively, the not-so-good assumptions are:

• Your job is to serve as a roadblock.

• You create unnecessary bureaucratic policies and procedures.

• You are a cost center. You couldn’t convincingly tie your talent-related efforts to sales data if you tried.

• Your core competency is dealing with the touchy-feely non-essential psychological stuff.

• You are naive about what it takes to manage a “real” P&L.

Please hit that ‘forward e-mail’ icon and share this with your human resources friends.

Ask them if they ever lost a job offer because they missed the opportunity to proactively address any of these assumptions.

In the meantime,  learn more about the Interview-Strategy Playbook for Corporate Olympians that even the savviest HR professionals have turned to in order to transform their job interview approach.

-Melissa

CEO / Founder of Career Outcomes Matter

Did I miss any human resources assumptions?

Post your feedback in the comments and I’ll offer you more specific tips.