Misplaced expectations are the cause of a failed probation

“The truth is that a leading cause of failure to pass the probationary period is misplaced expectations or too well “sold” a position or candidate. Social psychologist Ron Friedman analyzed the market and stated that 81% of job applicants “lie” during interviews. It’s usually about exaggerating achievements and promises of “dedication” and “hard work”, but so is the case of employers who need to sell their positions as exciting and attractive.“, shares Mario Peshev, who is also the next guest of Biser Kunchev in the column “HR Guest“.

Who is he?

I’m Mario Peshev and I’m CEO at Devrix, a top 20 global consulting agency specializing in WordPress. I have been in the tech world since 1999 with the creation of my first website. For the past 16 years, I have been actively involved in project and team management, digital and business consulting, as well as training for organizations such as CERN, Saudi Aramco, SAP, VMware, Software AG. Personal and professional development is a huge passion of mine. I regularly create business strategy content and digital presence for magazines such as Entrepreneur, Forbes, Inc. Besides Devrix, I work as a business consultant and external C-level for organizations in Europe and North America.

Are there awkward and mandatory questions during an interview and what duration is the criteria for showing interest in the candidate?

Inconvenient are questions that may fall into a discriminatory category. In the West, clear boundaries have been set on the subject, but in Bulgaria there is still no clearly established protocol in small and medium-sized businesses. And regarding mandatory questions – apart from professional skills, I strongly emphasize motivation. The questions target the interest and desire to develop in the specific role, industry, type of company, as well as the specific company. It is important to have a logical and consistent path to steer the collaboration in the right direction. Sometimes there are clear discrepancies – for example, a desire for corporate development when applying to a startup or applying for marketing/sales when there is a vacancy and a sincere motivation for development in product management.

What is the most valuable advice you would give to a person going into an interview? Do you think an approach is possible where you send your advice online to the candidates in advance about the most important and during the interview itself you can see how he really prepared?

Apart from the real practical experience (“hard” skills), the main part of the interviews is about the so-called fit with the organization’s culture. Besides basic business ethics and competent communication in the hiring process, as well as arriving on time for the interview, my advice to candidates is to research the organization as much as possible: vision, goals, culture; interviews with the management team or other employees, posts on social networks such as LinkedIn. If there is a strong discrepancy between values, communication style, workplace dynamics, this can manifest itself in the interview – or turn into a conflict in the first months of the job.

How important is the first impression when you see a candidate, even before you’ve asked any questions, and which candidates do you prefer: more aggressive or more relaxed in approach? How do you take into account the momentary factor of your and the candidate’s mood and how this is reflected in the process of conducting an interview and the conclusions from it?

The truth is that a leading cause of failure to pass the probationary period is misplaced expectations or too well “sold” a position or candidate. Social psychologist Ron Friedman analyzed the market and stated that 81% of job applicants “lie” during interviews. Usually it’s about exaggerating achievements, as well as promises of “dedication” and “hard work”, but similar is the case of employers who need to sell their positions as exciting and attractive. For this reason, it is difficult to do a complete analysis within minutes – and often even over the course of several interviews. If there is no repeated negative experience – rude behavior, escalation of conflicts (or aggression), obvious lies, we usually give the interview a chance to develop and continue to the end. There is also an element of interview anxiety that runs through the first 10 to 15 minutes.

Which has prevailed so far in your experience when choosing a candidate – the remuneration or the desire to develop in the company? Would you hire a candidate if he doesn’t meet many of your criteria, but you see serious potential to catch up and develop what’s missing?

Over the years – and in different companies – we have actively focused on training and internships, as well as retraining of personnel. Motivation plays a major role, but it must be backed by a foundation on which to build. For example – an apparent lack of attention to detail and weak logical thinking would be a dangerous transition into accounting or data analysis. There are other economic factors to consider. How long does it take to train an inexperienced candidate to help? What is the average length of time for the job position? What market hunger exists?

Some positions have no equivalent or are too niche to hire experienced staff. There, trainings are the only possible way. Other positions – especially in IT – are in high demand, staffing is short, and recruitment agencies aggressively target any candidate with more or less experience for a job change. Investing in such an environment can be risky and of low added value.

What does the ideal job candidate look like in your eyes and understanding? What are the three most valuable qualities that would impress you? What corporate values ​​do you educate your employees in??

Hungry for knowledge and experience, motivated for professional development, loyal. These are practically 3 of Devrix’s 5 values. The other two (loosely translated) are teamwork and responsibility/autonomy.

What are your impressions of the internship programs at your company? Do you manage to find enough talents to take their first career steps in it? What do you think about the new wave of young people coming out of universities??

I have also taught in schools and universities and my experience there is similar to our internship programs. In every course or collective, there are some students who sincerely want to develop, actively ask questions, invest in homework, gather for team projects. There are others who try to get by with less effort to target a more relaxed and monotonous job without much development but also with free time. Our goal is to identify more young people of the first type, some of whom have been with us for more than 5 years.

Tell us in a few words the most important highlights of your first steps in your career. If you could go back in time, would you change anything? What is the most important moment that determines your career?

I am grateful for the opportunities I had in my early years that helped me develop early in one of the most prosperous industries. My mother had the foresight to prioritize high and invested in a home computer back in 1996, when many schools still didn’t have classrooms. In the following years I had access to some experts in computer systems and programming who served as inspiration. We photocopied textbooks from abroad, as there was no equivalent in Bulgaria. We downloaded lessons from the Internet from computer clubs on floppy disks and shared with each other. This combativeness and hunger for information also led to opportunities for “piecemeal” work, in computer clubs, then maintenance of Internet sites, translations of software or news from foreign languages, to the first projects of making sites and professional development after that. There have been enough memorable moments over the years that I am grateful for – and are probably the main reason I continue to teach, consult, present at events, participate in webinars and produce free content online.

Has your criteria for evaluating the performance of current and prospective employees changed in the context of Covid? What policies do you have for teamwork and a positive working atmosphere?

The company culture is highly team oriented and different departments work together on site in different configurations on a daily basis. We followed the measures for remote work with the mandatory requirements in 2020, but even then people came to the office who focus better, work collaboratively or do not have a suitable work environment at home. Although a negative for some applicants, we have had specific inquiries for on-site work in a team creative environment over the past 2 years. This model has also made it possible to maintain a social environment in recent years, as well as to build closer relationships between colleagues given reduced activities outside of work.

Which work model does your company prefer – working in an office, at home or depending on the commitments of each one? Do you expect the standard workplace to look different in 2-3 years??

Although the company has 90% of the team on site, this is not necessarily the norm for every business. First, it started as an entirely remote company in 2010, while we started spending more time in the office in 2014-2015. remote because the work model makes it possible. Trends go to extremes until the golden mean is found. Working entirely on location has so far limited top talent – especially outside the big cities, as well as reducing opportunities for young parents. The negatives of early and fixed working hours contribute to stress, lack of sleep, logistical difficulties with schools and kindergartens. Fully remote work carries other risks, from a lack of brand loyalty, reduced productivity and efficiency, to tens of thousands of instances of employees working in multiple locations at the same time. Remote work does not predispose to effective training of personnel, which affects extremely many students and inexperienced personnel who do not have enough experience in the market. Revealing the weaknesses of the extremes leads to a wider range of solutions – a hybrid work model, virtual management styles, more opportunities for freelancers and consultants in remote companies. The work model will evolve more and more, which will lead to opportunities for the development of young personnel.