8 Steps to Interview Anyone for Any Job
Here's
how to conduct a job interview that allows you to hire the best people--versus
just the best people you know.
Ever
know top performers who still had hiring managers judge them as complete
failures and misfits within minutes during a job interview?
The
sad irony is that you're incompetent until proven job-worthy when interviewing
for a job with someone you don't know. And if you are the business owner
doing the actual hiring, guess what? You very well could be turning away top
talent--and shooting yourself in the foot in the process.
Maybe
your personal network links you to all the talent you will ever possibly
need. But I doubt it.
After
about five years of trial and error, I developed the parameters for
a "Performance-based Interview" that levels the
playing field for everyone.
Combine
this with job descriptions that specify actual objectives
("Learn the product line and achieve quota within six months.")
versus rote lists of experience and skills ("Have two to three years
selling cloud-based applications to C-level executives to mid-sized companies.").
And you've got a hiring process that actually brings in the best.
Here's
a summary of the eight things you need to do through an interview in order to
effectively judge an applicant's fit for a job:
1. Make an introduction.
The
purpose of the introduction is to take control of the conversation and find out
the candidate's true motivation for looking for another job. You need to zero
in on the best people who see the job as a potential career move. The
"why" is more important than the "what."
So
give a one to two minute overview of the job, and then ask the candidate to
give you a quick overview of what he or she has done that's most comparable. Be
sure to ask what the person is looking for in a new job and why those factors
are important.
2. Force yourself to remain objective.
Whether
the person's a stranger or a former co-worker, don't start the interview with
any assumption about competency. Clear your mind, because more errors are made
in the first 30 minutes of the interview due to bias, the impact of first
impressions, and lack of understanding of real job needs. (This post describes how to eliminate most of these types
of errors.)
3. Spend 30 minutes on a work-history review,
looking for an achiever pattern.
The
whole point is to find an "achiever pattern." Find out why
the person changed jobs and if the move proved worthy. Within each company,
look for successes and areas where the person has been recognized for strong
performance. Was this person given more challenging assignments, assigned to
important teams, and promoted into bigger roles?
4. Ask about the person's major accomplishments.
Ask
the "most
significant accomplishment" question to fully understand the person's major
successes in each past position. A core part of the performance-based assessment is comparing the person's major
accomplishments to those described in the performance-based job description. Do
these two things click together? The trend of performance and growth of these
accomplishments over time is a strong indicator of ability and potential.
5. Ask
the problem-solving question.
Ask the candidate how he or she
would solve a realistic job-related problem. Then get into a give-and-take
discussion with the objective of understanding the process the person would use
to solve the problem.
The answer itself is less important
that the process the person uses to solve the problem. The best people in any
job function have the ability to visualize a solution to a problem before they
begin implementing it.
Please avoid brain teasers,
hypotheticals and trick questions. They are not predictive of success.
6.
Give the job candidate a chance to ask questions.
Candidate questions asked early in
the interview are typically rehearsed. Spontaneous questions asked after the
candidate knows the requirements of the job are better indicators of insight,
ability and interest.
7.
Does this represent a career move?
So now you're thinking about what
you've gotten out of the interview. You don't want someone who is merely
changing jobs for more money. You want someone who is seeking to grow and
stretch--who sees your job as an opportunity to accomplish more than what was
possible in the previous job. Is there a gap between what your job offers and
what the candidate has accomplished? The size of the gap represents the size of
the career move.
8.
Measure first impressions again.
Even if first impressions are
important to job success, don't let them affect your judgment. Keep an open
mind at the start of the interview. Instead, assess first impressions at the
end of interview by determining if the person's first impression will help or
hinder job success. With this forced delay, you'll discover about a third of
the people aren't nearly as good as you first thought, and another third aren't
as bad.
BY Lou Adler
http://www.inc.com/lou-adler/8-steps-to-interview-anyone-for-any-job.html?cid=em01016week24e
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