by Beth | Feb 14, 2024 | Interview Process
My interview team and I had an amazing first interview a few months back. We were all talking about how great it went, when my client, the CEO, says, “Let’s blow the doors off and just hire this person!” The whole team looked stunned, until I said…
“Cool your jets, dude. We have the second interview, the third interview and reference checks before we make an offer.”
The CEO was mollified.
The second interview was even better. The Candidate REALLY knew their stuff, and the whole team was impressed. Again, the CEO says to me, “I am telling you, just hire them! Make a job offer!”
“Dude! Cool your jets! We have a third interview and reference checks!”
He said, “I really don’t think all of that is necessary.”
I said, “I know you don’t. I also know that you need this position filled. However, taking your time does benefit you in the long run. You will see.”
The third interview with this candidate was a disaster. They were late, not engaged, and “annoyed by having to come back a third time”. Boy, did their annoyance show.
The CEO was dead silent. The whole team was quiet. I said nothing. The CEO said to me “Did you know this was going to happen?” “No, I didn’t”, I said. “I can’t predict behavior, but when I am worried about nothing going into a third interview, I might as well tell them to not come. They will blow it every time.”
“Well thank God for the third interview. We really dodged a bullet.”
We didn’t hire that candidate, and the amazing candidate that we were looking for was right around the corner. We DID hire that one, and wow is she awesome! When you are too fast in an interview process you can make mistakes.
POWER THOUGHT: Slow your roll and cool your jets. You will be so glad that you did!
by Beth | Jan 31, 2024 | Employee Hiring
I had a client call me the other day and ask me this: “Beth, what do you do when you have a candidate that shows up late?”
“Tell me more about that,” I said.
“Well, we had a candidate show up late for their third interview. They just walked in 7 minutes late, sat down and didn’t say anything about being late. They have all of the skills that we want, they were great in their interview, and they are very friendly. We really like them!”
I responded with this: “How important is it that they are on time? How important is it that they meet deadlines? And, how important is it that they own up when they are late or going to miss a deadline? Do you want to take that risk?”
There was a long, long heavy sigh… Then, my client said, “Well shit.”
Here is the short answer to any interviewing dilemma: Let them.
Let them be late. Don’t save them. Don’t ask them to explain it, just let them be late. And for goodness sake, don’t hire them!
Let your candidates not do their homework. Let them not turn in homework early. Let candidates not answer your question fully and completely.
Trying to change a candidate in the interview process is going to be disastrous. And frankly, it just won’t lead you to the results that you are looking for.
POWER THOUGHT: Struggling with a candidate? Let them be who they are going to be.
***Conceptual credit to Mel Robbins
by Beth | Jan 17, 2024 | Employee Hiring
I don’t poach. I fish. I LOVE fishing! But in my world, poaching is a no-no. Let me explain.
Several years ago, I had a client who was looking for an architect to hire in his firm. Architects were VERY hard to find during that time, and he couldn’t afford to lose any current staff. One day, his top performer approached my client and told him that a recruiter was calling him everyday asking him if he “was ready to make a change”. The employee was offered really obscene amounts of money and other perks. My client started checking in with other employees and found that several of his staff were being targeted by this recruiting firm.
My client called the recruiting firm and politely asked them to quit calling his people and was told in no uncertain terms that this was a free country, and they could call anyone that they wanted. He then asked them who the client was that they were working for and he was completely shocked when he discovered that his competition was behind the search. The worst part? He thought that the owner of his competition was a friend.
My client called the competition and said basically, “What the hell. Dude?” The competitive firm quit targeting my client’s firm and employees, but the damage was done. This is called poaching.
While poaching employees isn’t against the law, and yes, the sleazy recruiting firm has the right to call whoever they want, it is at the very least unethical and in my opinion, immoral.
I am all about getting the right people on your staff, so that you are kicking ass and taking names. And, I don’t poach. I fish. I put bait out in the water, by placing an ad on an online job board, and reaching out to people who have posted their resumes online. But I draw the line at reaching out to employees unsolicited. Frankly, it reeks of old fish.
Fishing? Absolutely.
Poaching? Absolutely not.
POWER THOUGHT: Poaching is just fishy.
by Beth | Jan 3, 2024 | Firing Employees
In my last blog “The Bar Napkin Summit” I gave you three examples of how great business ideas came about, and they didn’t come from being behind a desk! Coming up with THE great idea is just the first step: Then, you have to execute. And what better time to execute than the New Year?
Now that we are entering 2024, it is time to look around and figure out what needs to be done. Do you need to improve your diet? Your exercise plan? Or maybe it is time to fire someone?
A past client of mine had an employee who consistently gave her ultimatums. The threats were often “If you don’t do this, then I will quit.” Who wants to work with an individual who is constantly threatening you? The team was struggling to work with the individual, my client was unhappy with the performance of the individual, yet the concept of firing and replacing this person seemed daunting and ill-timed. When my client finally became fed up, they did indeed fire the employee. I won’t sugar coat the transition. It was hard, uncomfortable and came at a terrible time, but my client knew that this was the right decision for the company.
In addition, the busiest day of the year for applicants looking for a job is the second Tuesday in January. Think about this: the people who are fed up with their work environments are also looking to make a change. So, if you want to start the New Year with someone who REALLY wants to work for you and help with your Bar Napkin Summit, get going! Now is the time.
POWER THOUGHT: New Year, new you, new goals (thanks to the Bar Napkin Summit), new awesome employee and new culture!
by Beth | Dec 27, 2023 | Attitude
About 12 years ago, 2 men had a meeting at a bar. Over what I know to be a local IPA, the now CEO whipped out a pen and wrote a business plan on a bar napkin, while the now CFO created the financial plan for how this business would take off. Just this past year, the consulting firm known as NewGen Strategies and Solutions celebrated their 11th year in business, and the meeting at the bar is fondly known as The Bar Napkin Summit. The CEO and CFO have a repeat of that Summit every year.
In 2012, I took Katy, my daughter, to SeaWorld. (This was BEFORE the movie Blackfish!) While Katy was swimming with the beluga whales, I stood on the ramp watching her, beaming with pride. The sky was blue. The sun was shining. The weather was perfect. And all of the sudden, I had an epiphany: my process at A-list Interviews was 7 steps, and I could begin marketing it that way. My business sky-rocketed after that.
Another client of mine wrote a book while driving across the country by dictating paragraphs into a Dictaphone. She was totally burnt out from her corporate job, so she planned a road trip. It was the beginning of a brilliant career in a totally different field, and she termed it “RoadRage”.
What these stories have in common is that the big idea did NOT come from sitting behind a desk. That next stroke of genius did NOT come from doing the everyday activities that one always does. The stroke of inspiration came from doing another type of activity.
Now that the holidays are here, I hope that you are spending time with friends and family doing activities that you don’t normally do, and that your Bar Napkin Summit turns into your next flash of brilliance.
Happiest of creative holidays to you all!
Beth
POWER THOUGHT: Whether you attend a Bar Napkin Summit, participate in an intense writing session or stare at your beautiful daughter, your next idea will emerge outside of the office. Get to it!
