The Right Card
What a board game can teach us about applying for a job.
Our family has recently fallen in love with a board game called Apples to Apples.
The concept is very simple, it starts with each player being dealt a series of cards with nouns on them. We play the kids version so these nouns are words like toothbrush, a dollar, girlfriends, rollercoasters, and hospitals.
When play begins, one player called the judge draws a “description” card. Words like smelly, valuable, shy, and energetic appear on these description cards. All players except the judge then choose one of their noun cards that they feel best matches the judge’s description card and they place that noun card (face down) in front of the judge.
Once all the players’ chosen noun cards are in, the judge reads out the various noun cards and then selects one that they feel best matches the description card. For example if the description card was valuable, and I had the noun card toothbrush, I may choose to play that card in the hopes that it gets selected by the judge. Once the judge selects their preferred noun card, that player wins the round and then a new player becomes the judge.
The crux of this game is that it all comes down to the judge’s choice. They may be fairly literal and choose the best logical match with description and noun, or they may choose the noun card that feels funniest to them (as I often like to do). As author and adman Rory Sutherland would say, this game isn’t about logic, so much as it is about psycho-logic.
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Why did I just spend four paragraphs telling you about how a peculiar board game works?
Because I think it can teach us everything we need to know about applying for a job.
The thing about playing Apples to Apples is, sometimes when a certain description card comes up and you know a lot about the psychology of the judge, you can easily think that you have the best noun card to match. You often feel really good about throwing that noun card into the pile. You are almost certain that you will win the round.
Then you hear the other noun cards being read out loud, and you instantly know you’re going to lose.
There’s just a better noun card in the pile, and you are certain that the judge is going to choose it over your own.
Importantly, this had nothing to do with your choice. You played the best card from the ones you were dealt. Someone else just happened to have the right card for that judge in that turn.
When applying for a job, there is so much within your control except two important things:
The other candidates.
The employer’s final choice.
If you keep playing long enough, in one turn you will have the right card.
