| The
Interview and the hiring process
By
Evan Wise, Managing Director of Management One
Hiring the right person for the job is one of the keys
to the success of a business. Many small businesses
that become clients have a hiring process designed to
put a warm body in the organization as quickly as possible.
That means a sign in the window or an ad in the paper
and the first person through the door is hired. Many
times this person proves to be the wrong person for
the job. For most of us it is much easier to hire the
right person than fire the wrong one. Although we have
a detailed hiring process we implement with clients,
a few of the key points of interviewing prospective
employees may help.
Preparation is the key. Interviewing is not just asking
questions but asking the right questions for the right
reasons. Before asking the question you should know
what information you are seeking and how it relates
to performance of the job required. That means that
the interviewer must have an intimate knowledge of the
job to be done. Often, several people from different
levels in the organization should interview to get a
meaningful analysis of the candidates qualifications
for THIS job.
The interview process and line of questioning should
be developed before the interview so that every candidate
gets the same line of questioning. Otherwise it will
be impossible to compare various candidates. This will
also keep you from spending your time in the interview
preparing your next question instead of listening intently
to the answers the applicant is providing. If, in the
end, you found some key questions that you should have
asked, DON’T hesitate to call the candidate back
for a follow up interview to be sure you choose the
right person.
Another reason to prepare the line of questioning before
the interviews is to avoid illegal questions. Consult
an attorney if you have questions about this but you
can be fairly certain you should avoid questions pertaining
to marital circumstances, age, disabilities, religion,
gender/physical appearance, and national origin.
Try to group the interviews as much as possible. Time
changes perception and you want to make the right choice.
Also, once you interview 3-5 people for the job, you
want to get back to the best prospect soon. If interviews
are scattered over 2 weeks, the first person might be
the best but by the time you get back to them, they
have another job.
Getting the real story is the mark of a great interviewer.
One way is to find out how the candidate handled similar
work or decisions in the past. Many people are great
at getting the job but not doing the job. You want someone
that can do the job. The best way to identify that is
to find someone that handled real situations to your
level of expectation. Don’t let them off with
a casual account of events. Dig into the situation for
details as many times there is much more to the story
than the initial spin the applicant puts on events.
For example, a person claiming to have led a team to
implement a $100mm project may have, upon further questioning,
only participated in the project in a minor way.
Take notes on each candidate and record responses to
each question. At the end of the day compare notes and
analysis with other interviewers. It is amazing that
without notes every candidate will become jumbled with
others. “Was Cathy the one that blew the big sale
or was that Carol?”
Don’t make your decision during the interview.
Often times people find someone they like right off
the bat and make a mental decision that this is the
person. Liking someone is often different than finding
someone that can do a good job. If you make a decision
in the interview, you are too likely to spend the interview
time selling the company and the job rather than interviewing
and finding out if the candidate is right for the job.
There is a lot to the up front preparation to hire the
right person. There is a lot to the offer and the actual
hiring process. Doing the job right pays dividends for
years. If you don’t have any hiring process now,
getting the interview right will be a step in the right
direction.
Evan
Wise
Management One®
evan@management-one.com
520 878 0300
|
