Hobby Copy

"What is your Hobby?", I glance through the answer that any candidate would share for this question on the fag end of personal information list - specially formatted for university fresh students ready to enter industry. Apart from candidate's name, father's name, DOB, percentile , grades, address, rest of the personal information in the self introduction form carries similar data point in various order of presentation and at times look like a copy. One would wonder why scientists are breaking heads to create character clones. I have seen may during the mass recruitment hours.

Watching Movies , sports, reading books , singing , dancing , playing computer games are a bunch of common ones that you would notice. No nothing wrong till here. You would certainly expect the person to bring in at least one dimension of the subject which would have some passion and insight beyond the rest. This is were you can sense how hobby copy happens.

Interestingly in once such campus session I was over with fifteen candidates when I noticed a crazy hobby of the last candidate. It was distinctly scribed as - "Meeting my father's friends". I had my seventh sense pricking me. Moved on to the first page once more to check out another data point - which I generally overlook as an interviewer.Yes his father's name had a pretext - "Late".

His grades where little above average. I gave him a number game. While he was breaking the puzzle , noticed he mentioned only one strength of his - "Good Listener". Guessing the obvious I refrained to pick up any communication on hobbies and naturally turned towards his Strength - which was not the copy type.

-"You have a great Strength, but how did you evaluate?" - That was the last question for that day.

He said - "I was seven years when my father died in an accident. My father was a popular people's leader. I used to walk up to his friends. They keep speaking about him till date - small and big happenings."

For a while I was no more an interviewer. With no emotion in voice he continued - " I know my father from all that I heard from his friends. Their memories keep him alive in my life. Every word they say, I keenly paint them."

This single interview made my day.

Gyan # 16 - Hobby with passion can instill strength even in grief.