Irrespective of the number of training sessions, books, websites, blogs, or any other sources advocating the prominence of listening skills, we incessantly choose to ignore them. The main culprit is our reduced concentration span. We are always in a hurry to speak our minds, as our thoughts multiply and race more quickly than we can handle. 81 percent of respondents in my survey strongly believed in the contribution of the interviewer's listening skills towards successful results. Conversely, 67 percent felt that during one of the telephone interviews they faced, the attention of the recruiter was divided; that is, there was no active listening.
Several irritating distractions during the interview process were cited by the interviewees: the interviewer attending to their cell phone, talking to or being interrupted by another colleague, cell phone network disturbances, and munching or chewing were the most common culprits. Lack of planning has the same result, as it...
