Poverty and the Job Hiring Process

I was chatting to someone recently about the job hiring process. She mentioned that she sees many candidates for interviews who are nervous, and she wishes they weren't. And I mused about how selective employers can be in even calling someone in for an interview. Hundreds of resumes (CVs) might be received, and most are immediately excluded because they do not fulfil the basic requirements of the job. And I mentioned how fleeting I think an interview is, and what a terrible basis this is to make a job hiring decision, as people are hired based on the short period of time they have to impress, not necessarily how well the person might perform over a long period of time. Yet, as the person pointed out to me, the main criteria to do well at a job are behavioural skills, and this is what is mainly evident in an interview: is the person friendly, able to manage pressure, able to answer questions posted on the fly? For her, the main character traits that are important are things like team work and building relationship, and technical skills can often be learnt, but behavioural traits can take a long time to acquire and change.

I did know all this, as I worked for many years in the office environment of big organisations, but still, it certainly made me see the job hiring process from a slightly different angle, as well as basic requirements of a job, and why so much stress is placed on behavioural aspects. Then I pondered on people who I have seen, and know of, who might not know the silent behavioural rules of office society; often people who desperately need a job. Imagine a person who has been in poverty all of his or her life, and knows nothing else than to voice his or her displeasure at perceived slights, and to lash out by punching, as this was a necessary skill to survive growing up--if you didn't fight your friends with your fists, you were likely to be the one knocked down to the ground, or the person might have had loud slanging matches with parents and siblings. If this person even gets into the office environment, the person might take offense when excluded from meetings, and unlike most people in an office who know to keep quiet, or to politely discuss the matter, this person might punch someone, or shout loudly and try to provoke an argument. The person might be totally justified in his or her anger, but does not know the social norms expected, and will not last long in this job; perhaps any job. And would it make a difference if an employer understood the person's background? Probably not, as an employer wants people to get along and will not appreciate this recruit's conflict management style. An employer might understand once, but not if this is the norm. And the sad thing is that the person is not wilfully being argumentative and trying to cause a fuss, the person's cultural and behavioural norms are different to that of office society. How does one make a difference to this person? How is the person given feedback on what needs to change, and how is the person helped to change? Will the person be able to change ingrained habits acquired over a lifetime? How does society mesh people like this into the social fabric? How are situations like this turned around? Might education help, like social skills training? I have seen how eager people are to help people on the other side of the world dig themselves out of poverty, yet there are silent masses of hopeless people all around us, perhaps living next to you and me. They don't know what they are doing wrong. They are just being themselves the only way they know how to be. What is the answer?