A friend of mine, Stacey, has been a landlord for several years with a number of units to rent.  Rentals are in high demand in her neighborhood.  When interviewing for new tenants she has a system where she schedules two solid days of interviews a half-hour apart and based on her experience of 10 or more applicants she makes her decision.

Several months ago, she had a unit for rent, had interviewed most of the applicants and decided to stop the interview process and make a selection.  Just as she was making her decision, she received a call from a friendly woman, Carole, who was persistent enough that Stacey decided to take the time to interview this last applicant.  After the interview, Stacey said that it was this woman’s presence that led to her almost immediate decision to accept this woman as a tenant. And, Carole has become the ideal tenant.

When I asked Stacey what she meant when she said Carole had presence, she said that Carole made her “feel at ease”…

Now isn’t that interesting!  This got me thinking as it relates to any situation where someone is being interviewed (for a job, for instance).  You would think that the interviewer would be the one most at ease and that the interviewee would need the reassurance. The fact, that in this case, the interviewer, who wasn’t feeling particularly anxious before the interview, responded so positively to this kind of presence is telling.