Interviews Are Often Decided by Order, Rather Than by What Is Said
The cause of stumbling in a performance review or a one-on-one is, not infrequently, not in the content to be conveyed itself, but in the order. Whether you state the conclusion first, or speak from the course of events. How far you listen to the other person before placing your own judgment. The way this order is taken is where habits by sign tend to appear.
In this article, we read an interview not only as a "place to decide," but as a "place to design the order." The central judgment is deciding what to place first and what to put off until later. We organize that way of deciding, using the qualities of the signs as a clue.
The Fire and Earth Qualities — The Position Where the Conclusion Is Placed Differs
For the fire quality of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, a way of proceeding that enters from the conclusion is natural. In an interview as well, if you place the main points briefly first, the other person can move more easily. On the other hand, if you hurry the conclusion too much, there can be no room left for the other person to explain the course of events. For a person of the fire quality, a form where you show the conclusion first, and then set aside a bounded time for listening to the course of events, fits well.
For the earth quality of Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, the way of proceeding is to build up grounds and the course of events, and then advance to the conclusion. If you hurry to ask for only the conclusion at the beginning of an interview, it can easily feel as though the discussion is proceeding while checking is insufficient. For a person of the earth quality, an order where you line up numbers and records first, and place the evaluation and the next steps afterwards, is stable. Even when your own side is of the earth quality, if you are aware of your own habit of placing the conclusion last, it becomes easier to swap the order to match the other person.
The Air and Water Qualities — How the Overall Picture and Circumstances Are Placed Differs
For the air quality of Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, this is a type where discussion tends to proceed more easily if the overall picture and options are shared first. In an interview, a form where, before entering the talk of evaluation, you line up and show the positioning of the current term and the ways forward that can be chosen next, fits well. If you hand over only the conclusion without showing options, the material for being convinced can easily be insufficient.
For the water quality of Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, the way of proceeding is to receive not only conditions, but also background and circumstances. If you convey only the result briefly in an interview, the intent may not be fully conveyed. Ways of proceeding such as adding a word about the background, or listening to the other person's situation first, change how the discussion is received. However, a line needs to be drawn on the scope of listening to circumstances as well. If you decide in advance that you will listen only up to the scope that relates to the conditions of work, the interview will not drag on too long.
Three Orders to Decide Before an Interview
Building on the differences between signs, the orders it is good to decide before an interview are common.
The first is the order in which to place facts. In a performance review, if you place records and numbers first, and listen to how they are received afterwards, the discussion is less likely to become a matter of impressions.
The second is how to divide what is to be decided from what is to be taken away. If you try to decide everything in the interview itself, conclusions can come out while checking is still insufficient. Dividing the scope to be decided on the spot from the scope to be answered after checking prevents later misunderstandings.
The third is how to place the closing. If you end in a form where the next action and the deadline are confirmed in words at the end, the content of the interview connects to the work that follows. For example, in a half-year performance review, in practical terms what works is, more than the explanation of the evaluation itself, lining up at the end the assignment for the next term and the date and time for checking. This is the concrete work example placed in this article.
The Order Can Be Used in Interviews Where You Are the One Being Received, Too
An interview is not only something you proceed with from a boss's position. In cases where you are on the side receiving an evaluation, or speaking one-on-one with an executive or a business partner, the idea of order can be used in the same way. If you know which quality you are close to, when the other person speaks in a different order, you are less likely to become lost in the middle of the discussion.
If the other person's way of proceeding enters from the conclusion, shorten your own explanation of the course of events as well and place the conclusion first. If the other person's way of proceeding builds up grounds, hand over records first and then add your own thinking. Not changing the content, but matching the order in which it is placed to the other person is the adjustment that works in an interview setting.
The qualities of the signs are not for pinning the other person down. Please use them as a clue for designing, in the short setting of an interview, where to start speaking and where to decide. When the order is in place, even with the same content, the feel of an interview changes.