American Idol

Yes, I watch American Idol. Why? I find it entertaining, funny, and it shows the psychology of the way people think, act, and how others respond to them.

It is great to watch the judges and their initial response to people auditioning. Let us look at the bikini girl, which is all over the news and internet. If you watch Simon, he already had her picked to be “in”. She didn’t have to even sing, and Simon seemed to like what he saw.

If you watch the judges, they respond to the contestants based on how the dress, how they walk in. Do they have the right attitude, confidence? How do they address and impress the judges all on the few seconds up to them saying hello.

Then they tell a short story. The judges ask “Tell me about yourself”, or “Why are you here”, and “Are you the next American Idol?”

That’s funny! These are very similar questions that are asked by hiring managers when they are judging you for a new position.

So at this point either you are winning them over, have lost them or are neutral.

Now comes to the singing, their skill, their craft, what they do. If they are winning a good to great performance might get them to move forward. If the are neutral chances are less. If they start off losing the judges, only a great performance might sway them to have the singer to move on.

When you watch the show, of course for TV entertainment, your only seeing the really good and the really bad.

What happens to the other ten’s of thousands? Well, they get prescreened, they never make it to the final judges, the never get the chance.

Taking out the entertainment value of seeing the bad performers. This is similar to the hiring process. We filter people, screen them, then the final few make it to see the hiring managers.

Just realize that your initial presentation is setting the tone and direction for the rest of the hiring process.