Recruitment: A Taxi Driver's Anecdote

On my way to a meeting yesterday, I got talking to a taxi driver (an elderly gentleman) who, despite his politeness, is not one for easy 'back of the cab' conversation. He is renowned around town for hitting the hard subjects, which - whether you're on the way to an urgent appointment, or are simply a little tipsy coming back from a night out - are not always what you want to have to deal with. This is the same taxi driver who has tried to sell me his religion on numerous occasions, so I was braced for a less than relaxing conversation. However, I was pleasantly surprised when he asked me what I did, and then proceeded to talk quite eloquently about the pitfalls of trying to recruit specialists within a particular area. I told him he must have had some experience along the line, as he certainly sounded as though he knew his stuff. To this he replied yes, and told me about his time in the army - where his role was to recruit soldiers and figure out who he could put forward for promotions to higher ranks. The problems arose when he was 100% certain he had found the right person, only for them to fail miserably at the task in hand. On paper, he said, people can look great - but when they are called to action they can't live up to what they have promised. He told me all people are actors, particularly in interviews, and can fake whatever is needed to get where they want. He told me about one instance where a deaf man had managed to pass a physical examination, by responding to prompts to complete tasks and answer questions. It was only later on that they figured out he was deaf and had to ask him to leave for his own safety.

I'd like to think that in the professional design world, something like this (or the equivalent) just wouldn't be able to happen. Interview and vetting processes are stringent, whilst design tasks, challenges and presentations are set in order to ensure candidates can back up the technical skills they have professed to on their CVs. It's a given that you will sell yourself to the utmost degree, and perhaps emphasize a little more than is truthful about certain areas of expertise. But completely faking it until you make it... I don't think that could be possible in the UX design industry!