by Beth | Sep 29, 2011 | Interview Process
Every once in a while, I apply for jobs just to see what candidates have to go through in order to get a position. It is important as an interviewer to understand the process from the candidates’ perspective. The application process is a direct reflection of the company who is hiring. While every interview process is different, if you want to NOT hire good people, here are some NOT to do’s:
1. Make the application process so hard that good candidates would rather have a root canal. One company I applied for posted an ad with an incorrect link. I was really curious about the position so I went to the company website and located the right link. I discovered that I had to write an essay of my qualifications and how they fit into the job description. I also had to send a resume, cover letter, references, and a salary history. The link to send the materials in was also incorrect so I moved on to the next one. While gathering good information on your candidates is important, asking for too much will discourage the applicant and give you more paperwork to review. A well crafted resume and cover letter should tell you all that you need to know to determine if you should move to the next step in the interview process.
2. Be disrespectful of the candidates’ time. One company asked to schedule an interview with me. They asked me to be 20 minutes early. The day before the interview, I received frantic email asking me to actually arrive another 40 minutes earlier than that. I was an hour early as requested. They started the interview at the original time.
3. Leave people hanging. I interviewed with another company that told me they would give me an answer within three days. Two weeks went by without any communication. I sent a follow up email re-iterating my interest in the position, and I still haven’t heard from them. If you do not intend to hire the candidate, at least send them an email thanking them for applying and let them know you filled the position.
4. Be confusing. One company asked me to interview and I ended up watching a 45 minute sales presentation. This is not an interview.
5. Be vague. A company that doesn’t put their name on the job ad will get people looking for a job. A company that stands behind their ad with their name on it will get people looking for the next perfect position.
by Beth | Sep 28, 2011 | Employee Hiring, Rehire
Occasionally, my clients are faced with a decision to re-hire a former employee. People may leave your organization for any number of reasons: more money, different opportunities and loss of passion for a position are common. I was asked for my opinion by a client who wants to re-hire a former employee. My honest answer was “Well, it depends.” Re-hiring a former employee can have some advantages. Training and ramp up speed are often reduced. But there can also be some disadvantages, like wasting valuable resources on an employee who is not really engaged with you or your business. Following a few guidelines can help in your decision making process:
1. Did your re-hire “leave well” by giving you notice and wrapping up projects before their departure? Did they leave on good terms and help with creating a job description or training their replacement? Remember that the manner in which your employee left you the first time will be the way that they leave you the second time.
2. Will your re-hire add value to your current culture? Chances are your business has changed since your employee has left. Make sure that this person is still a fit for your business and the position.
3. Realize that it may be short term. If your re-hire left once, it is most likely because certain needs were not being met. Are those needs being met now? What has changed since their last period of employment with you? Make sure that you both address those un-met needs before bringing them back on board.
One of my former colleagues in the restaurant industry often had kitchen staff that would periodically leave for more money, less hours, etc. He always thanked them for their service and let them pursue the new opportunity. Invariably, they would realize that life was not always greener on the other side of the fence and would try to come back. The ones that left well with integrity and honesty were hired back immediately. Those who left ungracefully, were not hired back.
by Beth | Sep 27, 2011 | Employee Hiring, Selecting Good Candidates
I have so many people say to me before they are clients “Beth, you should have seen this person in the interview! They were amazing! And then I had to fire them two weeks later. What did I miss?” The answer to this burning question is that many hiring managers and executives do not realize the power of the interviewer.
When interviewing a candidate, it is really important to remember that you are in charge of the entire experience. Usually, the interviewer controls the time of the interview, the date, the day of the week, the location, the agenda, the questions, the structure, the process, who is on the team, the outcome of the decision to hire and whether or not the candidate will ever find out if they got the job. In all aspects, the interviewer is in total control – and the candidate knows it. This type of “power” over another adult rarely occurs in our society, and when it does, there is usually extreme violence involved. As a result of lack of exposure to this type of control, most of us do not realize this dynamic in an interview. How can we? We have no experience with it.
This means that the candidate, who is nervous, anxious, worried and very vulnerable, will do whatever it takes in order to please the interviewer and secure the position. Once the candidate gets the job, this power difference is dramatically reduced. The new employee becomes comfortable and relaxed in the new work environment, becoming their true selves, and sometimes with disastrous results.
Because I interview as a profession, I understand this dynamic. I teach my clients about this power difference and what they can do to reduce it. For example, at the end of each interview I inform our candidates about when they can expect an answer from us about our decision. I then follow through and give them the decision as promised. I inform them of the agenda for the interview. I give them options for interviewing times. When they show up 15 minutes early, I am ready to begin their interview 15 minutes early. I have their resume and cover letter in front of me for reference, but my real purpose is to actively listen to them. I do not withhold information from my candidates, especially when the answer is “no.”
In order to see your candidates’ true selves and determine if they are the amazing employee you are seeking, give some power back to them during in the interview process. Treat them with the respect and dignity that they deserve and they in kind will perform when hired, powerfully.
by Beth | Sep 22, 2011 | Updating Position Criteria
Have you ever walked by a small dust bunny on the floor and thought “I should sweep that up.” Instead, you lift the corner of the rug and shove it underneath with your toe. Later, you take time to lift up the rug and are appalled by what you find! Hiring for a vacant position works much the same way.
When entering into the interview process, take the opportunity to evaluate and “sweep up” your job position to begin your search from a fresh perspective. Review the job description with the person who is exiting. Revisit how the open position fits into the company structure and make changes to its reporting requirements. Reinvent the duties, responsibilities, and expectations of the position to meet any progressive changes within the company. And shake out the rug by letting go of any residual bad feelings you may have about the previous employee, especially if the termination was unpleasant.
Cleaning your rug and sprucing up the position is not only necessary thing to do for the company, but it sets up your A-list Candidate for successful working experience.
by Beth | Sep 21, 2011 | Selecting Good Candidates
I have been asked recently by hiring managers and recruiters about my “active to passive ratio”. Active to passive ratio reflects the number of people interviewed who are currently unemployed versus employed. An active candidate is currently unemployed and actively looking for a position. A passive candidate is currently employed, relatively satisfied with their current position and may or may not be interested in a new position. My question to them was why is that important?
Some employers are specifically not hiring people because they are unemployed. They believe that all of the unemployed people out there are unqualified candidates. The thought process is that if this person lost their job, then they must have been underperforming. As a hiring specialist, I see an amazing amount of qualified applicants in both categories. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 2 million people quit their jobs in April 2010, the highest amount in over a year. Are they unqualified also?
Judging an entire group of people based on one qualification is called a bias or a prejudice, and not only is it wrong, but it simply misses the whole point. You can’t judge a book by its cover, and you can’t judge a person’s effectiveness by their employment status.
