This is the first time that I’ve attempted to quantify and
write down exactly how I’ve have achieved the hiring success that I’ve had, and
it’s not as easy as I thought it might be.
As I write about one key to hiring I’ll remember some other important
point. After rereading yesterday's post
some new key that can’t be left out will pop into my head. So please bear with me and expect that we’ll
have a bit of a bumpy ride as we get through this.
Here’s a bump now…
Once we break the ice and get our applicant relaxed and
feeling comfortable enough to start telling us all about themselves we should
decide whether or not to go on. Wait…
what? Yes, well… sometimes the
application, resume’, and even phone interview can give us a false
impression. Once we meet the applicant
we can literally and figuratively see new things about them. I’m not talking about what they look like,
the color of their skin, how they dress, or the sound of their voice, as none
of those things are important. It
doesn’t happen every day, and often enough, I’ll interview an applicant who is
obviously a very different person than I assumed they were after reading over
their application and resume’, and even after talking with them on the
phone. If I’m interviewing for team
members to work on a sales floor they simply have to be gregarious enough to be
able to greet and interact with customers.
Their facial expressions have to be welcoming, and they must be able to
communicate effectively with someone they just met. I can effectively teach many things, and I
have yet to be able to change a person's basic personality traits.
After a few minutes of talking I can tell whether or not our
applicant will be able to fulfill that part of the job. If they find it difficult to make eye contact
with me, speak so softly I can barely hear them, and/or are not able to engage
in simple fun conversation, they will most likely not be a great addition to
our sales floor team. This does not mean
they cannot fill some other role and be great.
I saw something in their application and resume’ that made me bring them
in for an interview, so I will usually continue to talk with them for a
bit. Try to find out how and why, if in
fact they were, successful in their other roles. If they lack some mandatory skills for the
job I had in mind, they may have some other very valuable skills we can
use. If so I will tell them why I don’t
think they are a great fit for this job, and ask if I can call them if I have
an opening in the future for which I feel they will be a better fit.
I find it best to be honest with pretty much everyone, and I
see no reason not to tell the applicant why I don’t feel they are a good fit
for the job. I find that honesty has a
way of opening up a new conversation between us. In our example above (and I have had real
life examples of this exact situation), no one had ever told the applicants
that they were not a great fit for customer service roles. Even previous bosses had not been honest with
them.
It’s a pretty small investment in time on my part, and yet
can have a very large impact on the applicant’s future. I will take some time to talk with them about
the skills and qualities they have, and help them come up with some jobs for
which they might be better suited. I
have had people come back into the store and search me out just to thank me for
helping them get a job where they didn’t have to work so hard to be
successful. You might not think you have
time for this, and I would encourage you to try it. Not only are we unable to tell what
consequences these acts of kindness might have in store for us in the future,
but I’ve also found that just doing something good for someone will add
positive energy to my day. I feel better
about my work life, and that’s never a bad thing. After talking to my peers
about this extra time I spend, I’ve found that I’m pretty much the only one
doing it. And that’s OK… I’d still
encourage you to try it and see how it makes you feel.
This is also a good time, before we invest too much energy,
to go over the mandatory skills and other qualifications for this job. Does the job require lifting? Standing on your feet for 32 hours
straight? Is vertical leap important for
this job? Do you have your own set of
knives? Are there any licenses or
certifications required? Yes I’ve driven
a forklift! Are they available for all of the shifts/times/holidays/ we will need them?
This is the time to ask those “tell me about a time…”
questions if you feel the need. Just be
sure you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater (yes I know it’s an old
expression, and it fits). That is,
remember that there are plenty of arrogant bosses out there, as well as poor
working conditions, and really poor communication that leaves team members with
little or no direction. Take the
negatives you might hear about other employers with a pinch of salt. If everything about them is negative that’s
one thing, and some problem or issue at another employer is pretty normal.
As Leaders/managers/bosses I think it’s easy for us to get a
bit arrogant and not want to hear one negative thing in an interview… one
strike and you’re out. And, if we are
honest, really honest, we’ll know that relatively often we ourselves will
complain to someone about something that’s going on at our work! So lighten up…
And now back to our story…
So… at this point it’s probably been 15 to 20 minutes, maybe
longer, as it takes a bit of time to get the applicant relaxed and
talking. If we’ve decided at this point
to continue talking with them, we’ve found something they take pride in; we
know how they react when things go sideways; we know how emotionally
intelligent they are; and we know that they own their emotions. I think it’s OK to have something of a
checklist when you first start interviewing (or start interviewing this way) to
make sure you hit all of the bases.
There will almost certainly be qualities that either I left out, or you
find you need in addition to the ones I talk about.
Since our applicant has passed this many hurdles many hiring
managers would be happy and go ahead and hire them. After all, who’s got time to sit around for
what… another 30 or 40 minutes talking?
You do! Remember, this decision
will affect you for a long time. There
is no good excuse for not getting it right.
It’s not a race. Hire slow, fire
fast!
Uh oh… I did it again.
OK… I’ll try to get back quickly this time so we can get on with the
questions.
Oh… and if you like the blog please like my facebook
page. Thank you!
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