During my morning commute I listen to NPR’s
The Take Away. During today’s show Celeste Headlee stated that hiring managers are asking a new interview question. The question is,
if you had theme music and walked into a room what would people hear? My initial thought when I heard this question was why would that question be relevant? After some thought, I concluded, while I do not know their reasoning behind the question, while unorthodox, it does make sense to me. I believe how the person answers may provide insight into how they view and feel about themselves. An example would be if a person responds their theme music would be,
Pusherman by Curtis Mayfield. I would immediately think I may want to pass on this candidate because he/she my see themselves as a dealer or pimp. Which I would only view as a positive if I were hiring them for a pharmaceutical sales position, I jest. While this is an extreme example it does illustrate how the question can have relevance.
My next thought, what my response would be if the question were ever posed to me. The short answer is I do not know. You see, from my perspective the question asks what one song defines you. The issue is that no one song defines me. I really think that my theme song would change based on the situation. What do I mean you ask? If I walked into work my theme song would be different then if I walked into my home. Quite honestly, my theme music might vary based on the day of the week or time of day. I am after all made up of many layers and each of these layers can be represented by a different song. I am composed of many tempos. Sometimes I am instrumental others acapella or something in between. I have moments where I am Soul, and times where I am Classical but I am always House. There are moments when I am country and yet others where I am Rock and Roll yet always Gospel. So to pick a single song is impossible and would not do me justice. I could only say that I am always music.
I wonder how the hiring manager would analyze that response. Would they think I am being less than truthful? Would they try to back me in a corner and force me to answer? Would my inability to give them an answer disqualify me as a candidate? If you were interviewing me what would you think?
and…
If someone posed this question to you, what would your theme music be?
