by Beth | Jun 14, 2018 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process
For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a total nerd when it comes to interviewing. I read everything I can get my hands on about this particular topic. As an expert in the interview process for hiring employees, I was particularly struck by this Fast Company article called, “What if we killed the job interview?”
According to the author, organizations make better hiring decisions when they use artificial intelligence (AI) based tools as opposed to actual interviews, so he advocates rather strongly that we ditch interviews altogether. His main point is that hiring managers and recruiters “overestimate their ability ‘to interview and evaluate a potential candidates’ suitability for the job.’ ” In other words, their ego gets the better of them.
I agree with him completely that the ego can play a detrimental role when interviewing for new hires. In 1994, Martin Yate wrote in his book, Hiring The Best, “(Interviewing) is something that we feel we are expected to know, or that comes with experience. Couple that feeling with the average ego, and you get ‘It’s easy enough to interview; I know a good one when I see one; it’s sort of a gut feeling’.” And yet, the numbers prove otherwise. 2/3 of all hires are found to be a mistake within the year.
But does that mean we should completely stop job interviews? Not in my opinion.
The author in the Fast Company article continues, “Interviews are more useful when they are totally structured and standardized.” Exactly. Yet why don’t we do this? Structured and standardized interviews provide better data. Most employers will tell you it is because, before now, no one has ever created a structured interview process that works. I have interviewed almost 20,000 candidates using a structured interview system that I needed to create myself and with great success. Intrigued? The whole system is spelled out in my book “Why Can’t I Hire Good People?” available on Amazon.
Killing the job interview is a terrible suggestion. Improving the structure of the hiring/ interview process makes way more sense.
by Beth | Mar 7, 2018 | Employee Hiring
This week, I am making four job offers, which is rather unusual for me. After the third interview, once we have selected THE candidate, I call their references. Reference calls are a big debate in my industry. Should you? Shouldn’t you? As one client so eloquently stated, “Why do I want to call a bunch of people who love this person?”
Here is why. Because they love this person.
I made 12 reference calls in 2 days. As a result, my faith in humanity and my ability to interview and hire great people was reinforced. Some of the comments I heard about the 4 candidates about to receive a job offer were:
“I know that you will love working with him as much as I did.”
“You are so lucky to have her!”
“He is welcome back here anytime.”
“What a great guy. If I could hire him away from you, I would.”
Reference calls are specifically designed to get a feel for someone outside of the interview process to give you additional insight into the person you are about to hire. The information that you get can aid in your assessment of a person’s work ethic, likeability, cultural fit and integrity. Good references are eager to help their friend/co-worker/employee get to the next phase of their career. Not only do their words speak volumes. It is a telling sign of a great new employee when their references call back quickly.
Get at least three references from your potential new hires. Ask for bosses and co-workers and tailor the questions to that particular candidate. Then, pick up the phone and call those references. If you feel like I did yesterday, you can make the job offer with confidence.
Happy, happy hiring!
Ready to turn your hiring process to an effective and efficient system that recruits A-list players? Contact Beth Smith to learn more.
by Beth | Dec 4, 2017 | Adventures in Interviewing, Employee Hiring
Most of my clients would probably tell you that I have seen everything there is to see when it comes to interviewing candidates. I will tell you this just isn’t true. People in general continue to surprise me, even more so during the interview process. This past week, I encountered a “first” when interviewing a candidate. While conducting a phone interview with an applicant for a high-level position, his dog barked consistently in the background. To attempt to keep the dog quiet, the gentleman used a squeaky toy to try to distract the dog, which of course, only excited the dog more. Squeak! Squeak! Bark! Bark! “I am definitely the best fit for this role!” he yelled over the barking dog.
I am all about having dogs. I love them and support companies that allow employees to bring their dogs to work. Studies have shown that dogs help de-stress their owners and I am always an advocate for a less stressful workplace. I also believe in taking excellent care of our beloved pets by providing all the squeaky toys that they can handle.
Do I believe that dogs belong in an interview for employment? No, I do not.
An interview is a first impression. We are evaluating a candidates’ ability to focus, to think on their feet, and to listen to the questions asked. If they are busy playing with their dog during an interview, they are telling their potential employer that they are less concerned about you and more concerned with their four-legged friend. It may also be a sign they will become distracted easily. If this occurs during one of your interviews for an A-list employee, I recommend a hard pass.
Woof!
by Beth | Sep 15, 2017 | Employee Hiring, Leadership
This past weekend was homecoming for my daughter Katy, a Junior in High School. She is also a cheerleader, and somehow she is now responsible for doing everyone’s hair on the squad before the game.
Katy’s role as squad hairdresser started last year, when she created a beautiful complicated braid for her own hair. Then, all of the other girls wanted that hair style as well. Katy googled hairstyles, watched Youtube videos, and practiced on her hair (and everyone else’s) in order to be promoted to Head Hair Stylist for the Cardinal Cheer Squad.
I asked her “What are they going to do when you graduate?!”
She shot right back “Oh, I am training Jordan to do this job when I graduate.” Of course she is.
This process of having people hire and train their own replacement when they advance is exactly how successful companies grow, develop their staff and how innovation occurs. Those people who are on the front lines do research, they learn, they improve the company’s processes and they teach the next generation to do the same. I would imagine that the Cardinal Cheer Squad will have the best hair styles for years to come, thanks to Katy!
So, when you have an employee who wants to learn something new and take on a new task, let them. After all…
Hair today. Gone tomorrow.
by Beth | Aug 13, 2017 | Employee Hiring, Good Management, Updating Position Criteria
Last week, I interviewed a woman who had previously been an Office Manager for a thriving company. She understood that her job was one with wide-ranging responsibilities that required many and various tasks. When I asked what prompted her to resign, she replied, “When I had to sell the owners’ roosters on Craigslist.”
Had this woman’s job had been at a farm working with animals, this request might not have seemed so egregious. Once again, she was working in an office setting with many other employees, so a request like this was quite a bit outside the normal boundaries of the job and she felt taken advantage of.
This is just one example of the importance of having an accurate job description for every position. The job description helps the employee know what is expected of them, and gives them guidelines on how to be successful in the role. When an employee is asked to do something far outside the boundaries of the job, they can feel uncomfortable, uneasy, and unsure on how to proceed. This is not the way to build a productive and satisfying relationship with your employee.
I know, I know… writing a job description is boring, boring, boring! My clients tell me this regularly, and it is usually coupled with an eye roll. However, having a document that accurately describes the job can benefit both the employer and the prospective employee by laying out the tasks, responsibilities and expectations beforehand, in black and white. So if you don’t own a farm and aren’t in the animal husbandry industry, don’t ask your employee to sell your roosters (unless you write it in the job description!)
Then when the rooster crows, everyone knows what to expect.
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
by Beth | Jul 3, 2017 | Employee Hiring, Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
My daughter, Katy, will be 17 this fall. Recently, she was sitting around with her two BFF’s when one girl asked, “Katy, how many boyfriends do you have?” The other girl jumped in with a reply: “I know! She has 3 full-time and 2 part-time boyfriends!”
When the first girl looked puzzled, Katy replied, “Well, I get different things from each of them!” She explained that boyfriend #1 provides freedom and challenges her intellectually, boyfriend #2 brings flowers and is fiercely loyal, and boyfriend #3 is the perfect group date as his best friends are dating Katy’s best friends. As for the other two, part-time boyfriend #1 provides companionship and reliability, while part-time boyfriend #2: is convenient as she sees him every day.
My husband Randy (Katy’s father) said to her, “Katy, do not settle for someone who doesn’t meet ALL of your criteria. You shouldn’t settle, because you deserve the best of the best.”
In hiring, we often see similar situations with candidates. One will possess the experience the employer feels is vital, another will be a proven team player, yet another exudes enthusiasm. Just this past week, one of my clients exclaimed, “Beth, if we could just combine these two candidates, we’d have the perfect employee!”
Since combining two people into one is only possible in science fiction (and those stories almost always end up badly anyway), many people in this position will try to convince themselves to hire Candidate A because he or she is a BETTER fit than any of the other candidates. This path almost always ends up badly as well, except the result isn’t fiction – it’s your business reality.
If you find yourself in this situation, the better plan of action is to re-read your vision for the ideal candidate, redouble your efforts and hold out for the right fit! Remember what Randy said to Katy: “You shouldn’t settle, because you deserve the best of the best.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
