So… we’re ready to meet our applicant. Well almost.
We have some preparing to do. Have
their application and resume printed and ready, and re-read them before meeting
with the applicant. You should also have
scheduled and planned to have one or two of your assistant/apprentices
attending the interview with you. If you
are hiring correctly, these are the future leaders in your company, so you need
to take every opportunity to teach them the skills they will need.
Before the interview coach them on some questions to ask if
they are brand new to this, and set the expectation that they WILL be asking
questions! Don’t forget to talk about
the kinds of questions they can ask (ones that have to do with the applicant’s
ability to do the job) and questions that they cannot ask, such as anything to
do with a protected class. For instance,
we need to know whether or not the applicant will be able to get to work for
any of the needed shifts. Depending on
your work place the start times could be unusually early or late. It is NOT appropriate to ask HOW the
applicant will be getting to work, as that has nothing to do with their ability
to do the job.
Remember that it’s not a good idea to write or take notes on
anything that will be going into the applicants file (should they be hired), so
if you are going to take notes do so in a notebook or a separate piece of
paper.
I think it’s always a good idea to take notes. I take notes so that I can reference them if
we happen to end up with more than one great candidate for the particular
job. I also use them as teaching tools. After the interview I take the time to sit and
talk to my apprentices about the interview.
Talk about the questions they asked as well as any you think they should
have asked as follow up questions. Question
each of your apprentices about their thoughts on the applicant’s fit for the
job, and whether or not they would make a great addition to the team. This is the time to bring up any mistakes
made during the interview. What kind of
mistakes? Like leading the applicant… I
have found that most people who are new to interviewing and leadership make
decisions about applicants much too quickly, and then tend to unknowingly guide
the applicant toward the answer they want to hear.
For instance, asking a question (or making a statement) like
‘here at XYZ company we think everyone should arrive at work 10 minutes early
to get ready and be at their workstation with plenty of time to prepare… when
do you think team members should get to work?’
We are telling the applicant exactly what we want to hear. I also find new interviewers giving
applicants queues by nodding their heads when the applicant is saying something
the interviewer wants to hear. When we
do this we are not getting an honest picture of what the applicants thinks…
merely a reflection of what the applicant thinks we want to hear. I feel it’s much better to ask your question,
put on a poker face, and allow the applicant to answer as he or she sees
fit. Then feel free to ask follow up
questions to dig deeper into the applicants thinking.
Before we go too far though… we should talk about what we
are looking for and what we are do not care too much about.
What are we NOT hiring for?
Qualities or skills that we hear a lot about in blogs or even in school,
and yet have nothing to do with the applicant’s ability to do the job… Like what you say?
Success in just about any job will probably not depend on:
Resume’ writing
Interviewing skills
Networking skills
Gregariousness
Innovative abilities
Specific level of education
Specific amount of experience
Remember that we’ve come to the conclusion that success has
very little to do with the ability to excel at tasks. We are (probably) not hiring a resume’
writer, or interviewer, or someone to develop our next hit product. Yes, we want our new hire to be able to get
along with everyone at work, and not everyone has to be a graduate of
“Toastmasters”. We do want them to make
an effort to dress for success, and we cannot turn our backs on applicants
simply because they lack fashion sense (or don’t have the body of a fashion
model). Neither of these things will
likely impact their ability to be a great asset to the team.
While different companies may have varying rules about
tattoos or piercings, these things also have little to do with the applicant’s
ability to help the team achieve greatness.
I’ll say it again; we all naturally like those who are most like us,
however as leaders hiring for greatness, we have to remember that the best
teams have people of different backgrounds and varying experiences that help
the team adapt and stay ahead of the competition.
Crap! Another post
and we still haven’t met our applicant, or come up with a list of exactly what
we are looking for. Well, I can leave
you thinking about those ‘clone worthy’ people you have (or wish you had) on
your team. What qualities do they share? What is it about them that makes us value
them so much. I’ll bet that after some
thought you’ll agree it has something to do with how they see the world; how
they see themselves in their world; what they see as ‘possible’; what they see
as ‘fun’; and how they navigate their world.
Those kinds of things make the ‘clone worthy’ valuable, and we just have
to learn how to interview for those qualities in order to end up with a team
full of great team members.
Until next time…
Oh… and if you like the blog please like my facebook
page. Thank you!
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