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Excuse the Mess

where can i get isotretinoin without a prescription by | Sep 23, 2015 | Adventures in Interviewing, Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates

http://vintagegoodness.com/vintage-goodness-on-etsy/ vacuum-cleaner-657719_1280Back in the 1950’s, many vacuum cleaners were sold door-to-door; in other words, a salesman would come to the home, be invited in, and he would stage a demonstration of the vacuum’s effectiveness. Usually, that demonstration involved dumping dirt and debris on the carpet and then using the vacuum to remove it.

But what happened if the vacuum didn’t suck up the dirt? The homeowners were left with a mess in the middle of their living room. (And of course, they did not buy the vacuum.)

Surprisingly, people today often use the job interview as an opportunity to dump unwanted “dirt and debris” all over the conference table. Candidates report how awful their past employers were, how horrible their last job was and how impossible the boss was to please. Last week, a candidate complained to me that he had “embellished” his skills when applying for his previous position and was subsequently fired. His exact quote was “if they had just TRAINED me on those skills (that he already told the boss he had), then I could have been successful!”

Just like with non-working vacuums, if there is a big pile of “dirt and debris” sitting on the conference table after an interview, then the candidate isn’t working and you need to keep searching for the right one.

Patsy Cline and the Deserted island

palm-40293_1280At the end of an interview, a candidate asked me, “Can I ask you a fun question?” I responded with, “Sure!” The candidate then went on to ask me, “If you were stranded on a desert island, and you could only have 1 c.d. for your c.d. player, which one would it be?“ I said “Patsy Cline’s greatest hits.” “Awesome,” he sighed.

I began to ask myself about the point of his question. Through his question, what did he discover about the company culture? Nothing. What does he now know about the job? Nothing. What information does he now have that he didn’t before? None. So, why ask the question?

People are constantly asking me what questions I ask a candidate in an interview so I tell them. It is no secret.  I want to know about your relationship with your past managers and co-workers, how you handle being overwhelmed, and how much research was done on the company for which they are interviewing. These questions all apply to the job.  I do not ask about deserted islands, how many golf balls fill an airplane, or if you were a cheese, which one would it be, because those questions cannot be evaluated. Whether you consider yourself as blue cheese or swiss cheese does not help me determine if you can do the job that I am asking you to do and if you want to do the job that I am asking you to do. Questions related to Patsy Cline can come later after they have been hired.

And truth be told, I would actually not be listening to Patsy on that island. I would use the c.d. to reflect the sun to a passing airplane so that I could be rescued.

Just Joking in an Interview

groucho-marx-309396_1280In a recent interview, we asked candidates some questions about project management. One candidate was talking about how their part of a project was completed when their bosses’ portion had not been finished. I said to the potential employee, “What would you do should this happen again?” and without missing a beat, he said “I’d chew her out. Just joking!”

After the interview was over, I said to my client “You know that we cannot hire that candidate based on that statement.”

The client responded, “But he was just joking, Beth.”

I replied, “Maybe so, but chewing out your boss? That’s not funny.”

In an interview, our job as hiring managers is to listen actively to the exact words of the candidate’s response. Remember, a job seeker will attempt to put their very best foot forward to impress a potential employer. If you listen to the actual language they are using within their finely tuned responses, you can identify personality traits and core values around work. Through this knowledge, you can identify how a person will fit into your culture, what type of management style they will thrive under and more. Therefore, if you are going to listen to the candidate’s “just joking” comment, then you also have to pay attention to the “chewing out” part.

When we are conducting interviews, we tend to listen to what we want to hear because we want to hire someone. We want the candidates to succeed and become our next new employee! And we are often willing to do whatever it takes to make the candidate ideal, including dismissing a comment like “just joking.”

We do not know what the candidate meant when he said that he was just joking. Maybe he was. But maybe he was not. Can you take that chance with a critical function like a new hire? If you do take that chance and he was not joking, do you want to work with an employee who will “chew you out?” While it may appear the language being used was positioned as a joke, hiring is no laughing matter.

Godzilla and Me

GodzillaI interviewed a woman via Skype with one of my out of state clients. When my video popped up, she said “WOW! You look like Godzilla!” (Swear.)

For the past 3 weeks, I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how being compared to a slobbery, atomic mutant reptile can possibly be a compliment… maybe I am bigger than life? Loud? Dry skin?

The more important concept to consider here is how an outburst like this might affect your customers.  If she said this to an important client or a big donor, those potential clients might be unwilling to sign that contract that you are wanting them to sign. They might not want to do business with you. People have pulled their business away for a lot less than being called Godzilla.

Meanwhile, we will be looking for another candidate and I will be moisturizing heavily. 

This is an Interview for Pete’s Sake!

I recently interviewed a candidate who sat across from me with his seat pushed back from the table and a foot on the seat of the chair. During the interview, he told me that his current boss was “annoying, but it is probably because I slept with her.”

The inappropriate disclosure of his sexual activities coupled with overly casual body language was enough to tell me he was not our guy. Don’t underestimate what body language can tell you.