Over the Thanksgiving holiday a few years ago, my daughter and I were listening to the radio. A song came on that we both love. I began belting out the tune at the top of my lungs and sang along to the chorus of the Zac Brown Band song. I sang “Long Gone” along in perfect pitch (to me at least). My kid laughed uproariously. “MOM”, she yelled, “Those aren’t the words!” I said, “Yes they are!” She giggled “No, really. It’s not ‘Long Gone’. It’s ‘Home Grown’!” She had to Google it for me to believe her.
This misunderstanding happens in interviews for new employees all the time. Someone on the interview team will recount what the candidate said and someone else will have heard the words from the person completely differently. The very first step in the analysis of an interview for the hiring team is to agree to what the candidate actually said. The candidate’s choice of words that they used are very important. For example, “My boss is really great to work with”. Did they really say “with”? Are you sure they didn’t say “My boss is really great to work ‘for’”? That simple word changes the entire meaning of the sentence as well as the intent of the comment. The word “with” denotes that the candidate doesn’t acknowledge their bosses’ authority, and if they don’t acknowledge it in the interview, they really won’t when they have direct deposit.
I talk about listening to the exact words all the time to my clients to ensure they get to hire someone who will fit with the company culture, leadership style and even the position itself. If you are not paying attention, you can miss something important in an interview which can lead to a bad hire. You can also really embarrass yourself in front of your beloved daughter.
POWER THOUGHT: Did you really hear what you thought you heard?
Do you know someone who could use help hiring the perfect candidate? Have you connected with a fellow business owner who is tired of sifting through resume after resume, wishing there was a better way? We’re here to help!
Here at A-list Interviews, we are passionate about helping business owners through the hiring process and ensuring that we find the candidate that will be the right fit for your company and culture. We are proud to say that 91% of employees hired based on our system are still employed with the company 12 months later. We would love to offer our support and a great strategy to achieve your hiring and retention goals.
Contact us today, or send us any business owners who could use help with hiring, interviewing, and retaining employees. At A-list Interviews, we look forward to helping you and your network hire the right employee.
There is so much pressure in a job interview: the employer wants to fill a position, and the potential
employee wants a job! Because of this high intensity, people are prone to saying the oddest things. If
you are the person doing the hiring, how do you objectively evaluate the potential candidate to
determine if nerves are at play, or if there is truly an issue worth examining?
Take this example from an actual interview: “I am an alcoholic. I mean, workaholic.”
Many people doing the hiring would assume the candidate was joking and ignore a comment like this;
perhaps even chalk it up to interview nerves. Some people would laugh it off and maybe follow up with
something like, “Ha! Ha! I am TOO! Workaholic, I mean!” (wink, wink, nudge nudge).
In this particular interview, however, the Freudian slip coupled with additional red flags in this interview
gave my client pause. The candidate’s speech was slurred, they complained about their past boss having
an alcohol problem, and they also pointed out that their counterpart was fired for drinking on the job.
So how do you evaluate a candidate like this one?
If all evidence is telling you it wasn’t a Freudian slip, think about the potential risk this person brings to
you and your company. There is a theme in this interview that has nothing to do with the job at hand, so
it likely isn’t just a slip, or nerves talking. At the end of the day, your gut knows best, and moving along
to the next candidate is probably the wisest course of action.
I have a client who asks candidates this question: “If you were a type of cheese, which would it be?” The question makes people laugh and we have had some pretty clever responses. “Pepper Jack: I’m spicy!” and “Any one of them except blue cheese, because that one stinks!” are among a few of the responses I’ve heard so far.
For a cheese maker, a chef and perhaps a dairy farmer, this question might be appropriate. Perhaps even a marketing position could warrant this question as you might be measuring a person’s creativity.
However for most industries and positions, the information you are getting by asking that question is like just like Swiss cheese – full of holes. How does a description of cheese really evaluate the candidate’s qualities, passion for their work and integrity? Would you eliminate them from your candidate pool if they described themselves as Velveeta?
Focus on asking measurable questions in your interview and truly listen to your candidates. It is really the best way to get the relevant information that you need. Anything else is, well… cheesy!
A few years ago, I was speaking about hiring to a group of CPAs’. We were discussing the differences between hiring and interviewing, when all of the sudden, a gentleman stood up in the back and shouted, “You know, everyone thinks they can make love, interview and drive.” You could have heard a pin drop. Then, someone giggled, and it was all over after that.
Still, the question remained for me unanswered: What is it about interviewing for employees that makes people think they can do it without having been taught?
When I mention that I am an interviewer, someone will invariably say to me, “I am a great interviewer.” “How did you learn to be a good interviewer,” I ask. “Oh, I am a great people person,” is a typical response. I wonder what being a people person has to do with interviewing, which is a skill set that is developed over time. It is not genetic. You aren’t born into the world knowing how to interview. It requires education, a process and practice.
Yet, the hiring interview, the interaction between a candidate and a potential employer, is the one area in the selection process on which we spend the least amount of time, money and preparation. We don’t train our hiring managers or our HR staff on how to conduct an effective interview. It is expected to be inherent knowledge. As Martin Yate said in his book, Hiring the Best, “… [interviewing] is a dirty secret for many, and a sad comment on old-style management practices that managers are not taught [how to interview]. It is something 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 feel.'”
With 2/3 of all hiring decisions found to be a mistake within one year, are you sure that you want your ego to lead the way?
It is okay not to know. It is okay to ask for help. Call me today. I have a process and the experience needed to arm you with the skills required to interview (and hire) with confidence and results.
