Spend too little time hiring = spending a lot of time fixing mistakes.
Managers tend to go about hiring quickly and haphazardly. They think hiring is a gamble and they might as well rely on the best guess.
It doesn’t have to be that way. There can be a reasonable amount of certainty in hiring decisions as long as the manager does three things.
- The first is to check the education, experience and references listed on the resume.
- The second is to get a clear picture of the job and figure out what skills and motivators it requires.
- And the third is to focus the interview on discovering if the candidate has the skills and temperament needed to be successful in the position rather than trying to sell the job to the candidate.
Verify the resume first
Verify everything on the resume. As many as 50% of resumes are inaccurate and include everything from embellishments to boldfaced lies.
Check the education. It’s not unheard of for even an executive to lie about a degree.
Check also the awards the person claims to have received, including any special recognition from a school.
Now call former employers and get them to talk. Start off with an assurance of privacy: “This discussion is confidential. We will not tell the applicant anything specific that anyone tells us and we are checking other references as well.”
Start by asking a few questions the reference will feel comfortable answering: “Can you confirm the dates of employment and job title?” Find inaccuracies here and the person is suspect right away.
Now for the job itself: “The applicant describes his/her responsibilities with your company as ‘X’ and ‘Y.’ Is that an accurate description?”
Most employers will answer that question. There’s nothing wrong with confirming job responsibilities and it’s not slanderous to say, “Well, so-and-so wasn’t exactly in charge of that project.”
Be wary if the employer’s description of the work doesn’t match the resume. This suggests the applicant is sloppy with details at best, or willing to bend the facts.
Now start digging: “Was the applicant under your direct supervision?” If the answer is no then ask who did supervise the applicant and why they think the applicant put their name down instead.
Dig a little deeper if you discover the employee and direct supervisor didn’t have a great relationship. Ask, “What do you think was at the core of that?” It may be the candidate simply doesn’t relate well to any supervisor.
Now for performance: “What would you say was the greatest contribution the applicant made to your office?” That’s a question most employers will feel comfortable answering and a lot can still be gleaned from what’s said.
Follow up by asking “Was there something you would have liked the applicant to focus on more?” That may not get an answer, Price says, but if it does, it’ll be valuable information.
Then check out the person
It’s also important to run a criminal background check.
It’s relatively easy, inexpensive and certainly worth it. It’s not unheard of for applicants in even the most prestigious professions to skip over convictions for everything from drunk driving to attempted murder.
Next, look at the job
Now look hard at what the job requires and what type of candidate would be an ideal fit.
Does the position call for someone who is people-oriented? Detail-oriented? A great listener? What skills are necessary?
Talk to the people who have a vested interest in how well the job gets done. If it’s a secretarial position, ask the lawyers and other administrative staff what traits they value in someone in that position.
And if possible, talk with someone who was successful in the position previously, even if that person is no longer with the company.
Next, analyze what motivators the job carries.
People respond to one or more of six basic motivators; the drive to:
- learn
- earn
- feel connected
- help others
- be in charge, and
- maintain order
And now it’s time to interview
Put the tasks and motivators together and draw up the interview questions.
To get the best answers, make the questions behavior based. Rather than ask if a candidate can do ‘X,’ ask them to give an example of a time when they did X.
Someone suited to the job will give actual examples, while someone trying to fake it will talk about concepts rather than specifics.
Suppose you are interviewing for a front desk position where the person will be constantly interrupted while juggling multiple tasks. It’s fruitless to ask the person if they are good at juggling multiple tasks. Instead, ask for an example of a time they had to juggle multiple tasks and ask them to explain how they prioritized the work.
Then later on, double check the answer by asking the opposite: “Give me an example of a time you had to work on just one project for days and days. Did you like it? Did you get tired of it?”
Don’t put the two questions back-to-back lest the applicant match the answers up. With the break, the first answer gets forgotten and the second may contradict it.
Draw up more questions to find out if the candidate has the motivators needed to do the job.
If the job involves organizing files then it is important the applicant have a desire to maintain order: “How do you decide what is most important when you have many things to do at once?” Listen for examples of how that person put things in order. Again, if there are no specifics, the individual is probably not organized.
Another question that will help you determine how organized a person is: “Tell me how you do your filing and how you like to organize your workspace.”
And immediately after that: “Give me an example of a situation when you didn’t have enough time to keep everything organized. What did you do?” Someone who doesn’t have a tremendous need for organization may simply say they managed. The answer should be “I couldn’t deal with it. I had to stop and get organized.”
To determine if the candidate has a need to help others, ask them to give an example of someone they worked for who was always asking them to do things at the last minute. Ask them to tell you how they responded to that.
The best answer, of course, is “I stayed late” or “I enjoyed helping my boss.”
Then slip in the clincher: “Did you ever feel like she/he needed to get her act together?” If the answer is yes, that person isn’t especially driven to help others.
Listen to the questions too
Beyond the answers, pay attention to the questions the applicant asks. That will show clearly whether someone is trying to find an appropriate job “or is just looking for a paycheck.”
Someone who asks about the pay and vacation is interested in any job, while someone who asks about job specifics is looking for a good fit.
Related reading:
Easy-to-use interview system guarantees a good match between secretary and attorney
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10 interview questions that reveal the true personality of every job applicant