 Aaaahhhh, yes . . . the elusive interview process. How many times have you interviewed a candidate, concluded that they were a “perfect fit” and found out at some point not so long after you hired them that they were not a perfect fit? If you’re like many people, you’ve probably experienced this more than once or twice. In fact, this may even be the norm given your past and present interview process. You may often ask yourself, “How the heck did we miss that?” and, “How do can we vet that next time?”. Well, today is your lucky day because that’s the topic of this article! To take a cue from Brad Remillard, co-founder of IMPACT Hiring Solutions, the key is to develop an interview process that determines if a candidate is a good fit for the available position in your organization. The candidate’s résumé got them the interview and now becomes ancient history. A good interview goes beyond the typical Q&A such as: Q: Are you a team player? A: Yes. Q: What’s your greatest weakness? A: I’m a perfectionist. Q: What are you most proud of? A: My children. You get the picture. The only information you may learn with this type of interview might be how good of a BS-er the candidate is. I suggest that such interviews are a waste of time for all involved. I’m also suggesting that the interview should be unique to your organization and be designed so that you’re able to determine whether or not the candidate is the best [ insert position here ] for your organization. This means going beyond the outdated, stale, one-dimensional interviews of yore. If you’re seeking to learn whether or not the candidate can work their magic in your organization then you need to be clear on a few things so you know what you’re looking for. Topics such as organizational goals, metrics, challenges, improvements, projects, culture, etc. specific to the position in question should all find their way into your interview process. In most instances, your interview should focus more on the future of your organization rather than the candidate’s past experience. And, for goodness sake - - have some FUN with your interviews! Be creative. Do something unique & unexpected. I often site an example about a fitness center in Florida that wanted to develop an interview process to determine whether or not candidates were truly team players. Prior to a candidate meeting with anyone for their scheduled interview, they were asked to wait in a room with several chairs. While candidates waited, an employee would enter the room & grab a chair and explain to the candidate that they were setting up for a meeting just down the hall and needed more chairs. Over the next few minutes, the same employee would return several times to the chair-filled room retrieving more chairs. You can probably guess how someone who IS a team player might respond - - by helping carry chairs to the meeting! This is so much more of an accurate test than asking, “are you a team player?”. If you want to identify the “rock star candidates” who are a good fit for your organization, spend some time becoming familiar with your organization so that you know what you’re looking for and can recognize it when you find it in a candiate. Consider, engaging your team and spur their creativity in developing a fun and unique interview process. You’ll not only successfully identify great candidates, you’ll also improve engagement and fun with your team. If you don’t feel confident spear-heading this effort yourself, give me a call! Please comment with your thoughts and questions below. If you enjoyed this post and/or know anyone who might benefit from reading it, please “share”
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