by Beth | Oct 20, 2011 | Interview Process, Selecting Good Candidates
In the movie “Up in the Air,” George Clooney remarks “I stereotype. It’s faster.” It may be faster, but it is not 100% predictable. In other words, you cannot predict an employee’s success in their position by stereotyping. I work with business owners and hiring managers every day who use stereotypes to predict employees’ success or failure. I say that for every stereotype that exists and is used to predict behavior, I have a success story to disprove it.
So, which interview method works best to accurately predict the likelihood of success in an employee? The answer may surprise you: just listen.
Don’t talk. Don’t think about the next question you are going to ask. Don’t look at your phone. Don’t clean your finger nails. Don’t tie your shoe. Sit. Focus. And listen. Really hear, observe and absorb what your candidate is telling you. Be entirely present to the moment, and the candidate will tell you if they will be successful in the position with their answers.
by Beth | Oct 19, 2011 | Selecting Good Candidates
Christopher Robin: “There now. Did I get your tail back on properly, Eeyore? “
Eeyore: “No matter. I’ll most likely lose it again anyway.”
Last month, I interviewed a candidate who was world weary, tired and unhappy. This person had been out of work for a long time in an industry that is rapidly changing. The overall impact was the “Eeyore Effect.”
Christopher Robin and his gang are forever reaching out to help their friend re-attach his tail, but Eeyore shows no appreciation for their efforts. Not only does he not thank Christopher Robin for helping him, he criticizes Christopher’s work. He also puts forth no effort to permanently find a solution to his tail falling off. Has he thought about super glue? Stitches? Duck Tape?
In other words, Eeyore is an energy drainer. He is hard to be around. He has very little enthusiasm for his life, his work, his tail or even his friends. Can you imagine as if you had an employee like this?
Watch for the “Eeyore Effect” while you are interviewing, even if when faced with the world weary, tired and unhappy.
(Thanks to Michelle Barnes for “The Eeyore Effect”)
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.
by Beth | Sep 20, 2011 | Employee Hiring
My passion for interviewing for A-list candidates was born from a horrible hiring mistake that I made. My first business required that I hire a manager to help run the day to day activities. I chose the wrong person and the mistake almost cost me my business. I began to search for people who could really teach me how to interview for the best people. I was shocked to learn that interviewing techniques are really not taught in our business schools. Not one of the top ten MBA programs in the country has a dedicated class on how to effectively select top talent.
I then began to think that the question should be, “HOW do we teach interviewing?” Here’s why: The most effective way to teach interviewing is in the room with the hiring manager and the candidate. I can speak to the intricacies and subtleties of interviewing, but it really doesn’t sink in until you see it, practice it and then integrate it into your own style.
The industry likes to discuss traditional versus behavioral interviewing techniques to screen for the best candidates. My argument with these techniques is that, at best, these styles are only 55% accurate in measuring for the best candidate. And rarely do you find a provider who really teaches the technique. Sure you can find the information in a book, but the nuances that people bring to the table when interviewing are so vast that reading the material in a book will only get you half way to your goal. There are also a few classes in the market place that can give you some of the basics around effective interviewing, but nothing replaces hands-on learning.
When someone tells you that they teach interviewing skills, the first question should be “How?” The next question should be “Are you in the room with me when I am interviewing?” Invest in your business by truly learning how to find the A-list candidates that fit into your culture and has the level of integrity needed to truly shine for your company.
