A Candidate’s Background & Experience Are Irrelevant

Just to clarify, I said “irrelevant.” I didn’t say “not important.”

Since most people have been taught interviewing is about the candidate’s background and experience, the interviewer tends to ask a lot of questions about the past. For example, “What have  you done in this area?”  or ” Have you ever done _____?”  Those trained in behavioral interviewing will just simply take those same questions and convert them into an example. For example, “Give me an example of where you have done X” or “Tell me about a time when you had X as an issue?”

All of this may be good stuff to know, but the fact is you really don’t care about any of this. The fact is when a candidate shows up on Monday morning, you no longer care about all of the things they have done. You only care about one thing, whether or not they can do the job you are hiring them to do. That is all you really care about. Nothing else matters anymore. They may have the best background and all the right experience, but if they can’t do your job, then you really don’t care about their background and experience.

Have you ever hired a person that had all the right experience, interviewed well, had all the right answers, their resume read like the job description, and when you hired them they fell flat on their face? This has happened to just about everyone.

Why does this happen? I contend it is because the person’s background and experience are not primary indicators of their ability to do your job. These are at best secondary and more often than not misleading indicators. Yet, these are the indicators that most hiring managers rely on.

Instead, let’s focus the interview on the primary reason for interviewing, “Can they do your job?” This is the focus behind the Success Factor Hiring Methodology.  The key to a successful hire is having a process that puts the candidate in the job BEFORE you hire the candidate. It is not about determining if the candidate’s background and experience fit.

This is why we believe behavioral interviewing falls short. It was once a quantum leap forward in how interviewing was performed. However, in our opinion, it too has run its course. Great interviewing is more than getting examples of the past. It is about doing your job. The tag line for behavioral interviewing, “past performance is an indicator of future performance” isn’t always the case.

In our hiring methodology training workshops, we teach how to change the focus from the person’s background and experience, to how will they adapt those to your job. If they can’t adapt to your company and your position, then they may be a great X but they aren’t the right X. That is generally what goes wrong when we hire a person with all of the right background and experience and then they fall flat on their face. The candidate wasn’t able to adapt their background and experience to your company and your position.

So how do you put the candidate in the job BEFORE you hire the person?

1. Stop asking questions that start with “have, what, have you, tell me about a time when, etc.” These are all fine to know but they should be used for probing after the example and not for the example. That is a huge difference. The famous, Who, What, When, Where and Why questions are for probing deep and not for opening questions.
2. How questions should be used for the opening question. One of the biggest issues we face when working with hiring managers is getting them to shift to asking “How” questions. After that you can then begin probing with the five W’s. For example, “How would you decrease costs by 10%?” “How would you increase gross margins by X%?” “How would you go about implementing a complete systems upgrade of our ERP system?” “How would you increase market share in your territory?” Then probe deeply with the five W’s.
3. Now the interviewer is shifting the interview from background and experience to having the candidate explain how they would apply these to do the job. If the candidate can’t apply their background and experience to the new job, then one has to question whether or not they are the right person regardless of background and experience.

The reason most interviewing fails is because it is easy for a candidate to talk about their experience. Some might even embellish in this area. It is significantly different  to explain how they would apply those experiences.

You can evaluate your hiring process for free. Just download our 8-Point Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard. This will  help you to identify the strengths and weaknesses in your hiring process. CLICK HERE to download.

Are you committing one of the “10 Biggest Hiring Mistakes?” This research study is available to download for free. If you are committing one of these ten, it is not hard to fix so that it doesn’t happen again. CLICK HERE to download the summary.

For more information on workshops that will ensure you put candidates in the job BEFORE you hire them CLICK HERE.

I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Brad Remillard

Talent Plus Effort Equals Great Results

As you probably know by now – my favorite metaphors are sports related – especially basketball metaphors . For our new readers, a little background: In addition to a full schedule as a retained executive recruiter, speaker, author, and partner in a thriving Internet hiring business, I also coach high girls basketball and run a youth basketball organization with over 8 teams and 100 kids.

This summer I had the pleasure of coaching over 60 basketball games in two months. Through that experience, I’ve gained reinforcement on some basic thoughts around human performance that extends from 9 year olds all the way up to senior corporate executives. Exceptional human performance – obtaining great results is a combination of “Talent” and “Effort”.

Let’s define both “Talent” and “Effort” before going any further.

Talent is the mixture of knowledge, skills, and understanding of how to apply them. Raw intellectual horsepower or years of experience and skill development is not enough. Successful individuals need to also be able to apply their intellectual capability and skills in adapting to different problems and issues.

Talent on the basketball court is observed through dribbling and ball handling skills, the ability to execute a play, make a proper lay-up, and recognize appropriate court spacing on offense. How do you observe talent on your team? How do you measure it in an interview?

To be a top performer, you must possess talent. But there is a greater element which frequently trumps pure talent and acts as a multiplier to those who possess high talent. This greater element is “EFFORT”.

Effort is the energy someone brings to a task. It’s sustained intensity, hard work, going above and beyond the call of duty. It’s the ability to get through set-backs, disappointments, and failure. It’s a mental attitude that allows great performers to bounce back and keep operating at a peak level of performance. It’s easy to observe on the basketball court. It get’s exhibited through:

• being the first one back down the court on defense
• getting on the floor to scramble for loose balls
• going after rebounds instead of standing flat footed and praying your teammate will get it
• moving your feet on defense in the last few minutes of the game instead of reaching out and trying to smack the ball

Effort is simply outworking your teammates and adversaries. It’s easy to spot in sports. How do you spot it in the business world?

Effort is the great “X” factor. Effort is the multiplier that takes knowledge, skill, capacity and leverages it to a whole new level. Frequently, someone with extraordinary effort can outperform others with high talent levels but lower effort levels.

Have you ever seen this?

Does an example come to mind?

As you look around at your cubicle mates, team members, bosses, peers – can you see examples of how their effort is greater or weaker than your effort?

Have you ever seen someone apply themselves at a higher level – and surpass-beat-outperform their peers (who by the way went to better schools, had better job opportunities, and came from more wealthy backgrounds?

Could you share an example with our readers?

I’ll bet you’ve got hundreds of examples collected over 5, 10, or 25 years of managing and leading.

So, let’s bring this back to the hiring process.

Once you’ve determined the quality of a candidate’s talent level – which is very measurable (knowledge, skills, application, execution, how do you measure “effort?”. Here are a few examples of measuring “effort” in the interview:

• Ask for examples of accomplishments
• Find out where they had to overcome problems
• What’s their daily activity level look like
• Get examples of where they’ve outworked peers on projects and tasks
• Collect precise details on initiative and being proactive
• Keep probing for where they went above and beyond the call of duty
• Ask for illustrations where they did more than they were asked

The next time you’re  looking to hire top talent, remember to probe for both “talent” and “effort”. Finding candidates who bring both these elements to the table, will astound you.

Barry

P.S. If you liked this blog post on Talent and Effort in Getting Great Results, download our FREE “Hiring Methodology Assessment” so that you can determine if you’ve got a process in place to hire top talent.

We’re working on a new interview template for measuring EFFORT in the interview. If you download the Hiring Process Assessment, we’ll also send you the “Measuring EFFORT in the Interview Template” as soon as it’s ready.

Six Things to Know When Hiring an Interim Executive

As the economy continues to climb out of this recession/depression, companies want to hedge their bets by hiring people on a temporary or “tryout” basis, even at the executive level. There are a lot of companies out there providing the “interim management solution” but the following are some things to know before you hire an executive or engage a firm to find one for you. (Note an interim executive as defined here is not an advisor or a temp. They are usually operating in a line management position for the company or doing a high level project.) Keep in mind the following:

1. No one ever has a “general problem”. A “generalist” is rarely the right fit for an interim assignment because companies don’t have “general problems.” Be wary of providers who have a “bench” of executives ready to jump into your company. They may require a steep learning curve to accomplish what you need. Industry experience does not always translate into the specific problem solving experience you need for your company. Hiring an interim executive is not the same as hiring a temporary A/P clerk.
2. It’s not the size of the “inventory”; it’s the caliber of the recruiting process. Interim executive search is just that, a search. An interim executive search firm should have a clearly defined process designed to find the interim candidates who will deliver results you need. A large database is meaningless without a defined recruiting process. Look for a process that will ensure you see candidates who have solved similar problems to the ones you face, not just have right key words in their resumes from a database search.
3. Be Prepared to over-hire: Many interim assignments are a result of a problem or an opportunity for a company that they don’t have the internal resources to handle. An interim executive will need to be able to quickly get their hands around the situation and start making decisions. A more senior executive is usually able to get up to speed faster.
4. Career consultants rarely are good interim executives. Interim management assignments require that executives make decisions and execute on those decisions. Most career consultants have spent their careers advising, but have not been held responsible for results. Line executives make better interim executives because they are “doers”, not advisors.
5. Don’t pay consulting rates for an interim line manager. You should be prepared to pay a premium for an interim executive, but it should still be closer to what the position would pay if it were a full time job, not an hourly consulting rate. Consultant rates are based on shorter increments of time and on only being billable an average of 50% or less. An interim executive will most likely be in a position full time for several months and an hourly rate could get cost prohibitive. Additionally, there is a good chance you may eventually hire the interim executive for the position. You don’t want to start off with the executive being paid way above the salary range and have to negotiate a substantial cut in salary.
6. It’s not a marriage, it’s a tryout. One mistake companies make is to put too much emphasis on an interim candidate’s “fit” in the organization. That should be a low priority. You are hiring this person to solve your problems over a short period of time. Whether they are a fit for your organization can be determined over the course of the assignment.
Hiring an Interim Executive to manage a company through a situation or complete a high level project can be a very effective strategy in these uncertain times, but knowing these tips can save you time and money in the process.

Mike Haggerty

Why You Should Measure Self- Motivation

In 25 years of Executive Search, Barry Deutsch and Brad Remillard, hosts of this radio show podcast, have interviewed over 250,000 candidates for more than 1000 search assignments. They’ve discovered a few core traits of success that high performers possess and poor performers lack. One of those core success traits is high levels of self-motivation and initiative. Learn why self-motivation is so important to success and how you can validate in an interview whether or not your candidate exhibits the critical trait of self-motivation and initiative.

To listen to or download the recording CLICK HERE and then scroll down.

The Magnifying Glass Approach to Interviewing

Most hiring managers and executives are frustrated by the level of exaggeration and embellishment candidates spout in the interview. How can you get honest, detailed, specific, quantifiable anwers to your questions? The technique to eliminate exaggeration and embellishment is called the Magnifying Glass Approach to Interviewing, which is a component of our Success Factor Methodology. In this audio program, Barry and Brad discuss the structure and technique of posing Magnifying Glass Questions to get to the truth every single time. You’ll find the simple structure of the Magnifying Glass Questions to be one of the most powerful useful and powerful techniques you’ll use in your future interviews.

To listen or download CLICK HERE then scroll down the list.

Losing a Top Candidate – Perception is The Only Reality. Lessons learned from 20 years on the front lines of the talent wars.

You rarely lose a top candidate at the end of the hiring process. It’s usually in steps taken along the way. In this case the client made a series of seemingly small mistakes that resulted in the candidate declining to go forward. It started simply by the hiring manager keeping the candidate waiting 30 minutes, then, he compounded the problem by not being prepared for the interview. “He didn’t seem to remember much about my background”, the candidate later confided in me. Despite the rocky start, the candidate returned for a series of additional interviews with other members of the management team. All went well, but the last interview was to be with a senior manager who was on a sales trip in Europe. No problem, we would arrange a phone interview. Week one resulted in no interview being arranged. It wasn’t until week two that the senior executive could “make room on his calendar” to call the candidate. The executive was 30 minutes late making the call and it lasted only 30 minutes. (Eight or nine time zones difference and he couldn’t find 30 minutes on his calendar for two weeks?) Finally, the client told me that all of the executives were very excited about the candidate and they wanted to move forward with an offer. I was told to inform the candidate that an offer would be sent to him “in a week or so”, as soon as the hiring manager could get all of the required approvals. At this point the candidate declined to continue. “To me, a hiring process is a reflection of how a company operates and makes decisions. I didn’t like what I saw.” The candidate took a job with a much larger company which had moved faster and more efficiently than this client.

Lesson learned: The best window any candidate has into the culture of an organization is the way it goes about the hiring process. If your process isn’t tight, professional, organized and strategic, top quartile candidates will go elsewhere, and they may tell their friends about their experience. One bad hiring process can equal two problems, the loss of a top candidate and a bad public relations moment.

Check your culture by downloading our Cultural Assessment. CLICK HERE to download a free assessment.

Is your hiring process effective at attracting top talent? Our 8-Point Hiring Methodology Assessment Scorecard will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your hiring process. CLICK HERE to download a free scorecard.

Mike is the founder of Hagerthy & Co, an executive search, training and consulting firm. For information on how to arrange for their complimentary Hiring Process Assessment go to: www.hagnco.com/page13.html#HiringProcess.

Stop “Telling” in an interview instead ask “How”

If you are in HR or executive search, how many times have you heard a hiring manager say when referring to a hire that is under performing and about to be let go, “I don’t know why they aren’t performing, I told them during the interview exactly what that job is. I can’t figure it out.”

Most of you just thought to yourself, “Too many. More times than I can count.” or “Just about every time we had to let a person go before their probation period was over.”

Why? What went wrong? It should be obvious from the hiring manager’s comment, “I told them exactly what the job is.” The key word is “told.” My guess is that the candidate probably even replied, “No problem, I’ve done that before and can do it for you.”  Well, with that level of assurance from the candidate, who wouldn’t hire them? After all, if the candidate couldn’t  do it they would tell you, “Sorry, I haven’t a clue how to do any of those things, but I’m a fast learner.” and you still would have hired them. Right?

The reply to the hiring manager should be, “Stop telling the candidate all about the position and having them respond, ‘Yes, I can do that.’ instead start asking, ‘How would you do this?’”  If they say they can do it, shouldn’t they  be able to tell  you how? If they can’t tell you how they would do it,  then how do they know they can do it?  Seems to me if someone tells me they can do something, they should be able to at least explain a little bit about how they will do it.

In our training workshop, Advanced Interviewing – Eliminating Embellishment and Exaggeration, this is one of the biggest issues hiring managers do that creates all the problems. They assume that because they told the candidate the job and the candidate responded affirmatively, all is fine. WRONG.

Train your hiring managers to stop telling and to start asking “how” questions. For example:

1) How have you reduced turnover in your last company?

2) How have you improved customer service?

3) How would you improve customer service in our organization?

4) How would you use your experience in sales to improve our sales process?

5) This position requires managing and improving our accounts payable department, have you done this before? When the candidate replies, “Yes” follow-up with, “How have you done this? and “How you would do it here?”

6) Can you give me an example of how you did X?

How questions engage the candidate, start a dialog, opens the interview up, and allows for the candidate to tell you rather than you telling the candidate.

Get your hiring managers or anyone in  your company that interviews to start asking “How” questions and interviewing accuracy will increase dramatically overnight.

Need help sourcing top talent? Download for FREE the chapter from our best selling book, You’re NOT The Person I Hired, on sourcing top talent. CLICK HERE to download this Free chapter.

Join our Linkedin group, Hiring and Retaining Top Talent, it is one of the most active groups on Linkedin on this topic. CLICK HERE to join.

I welcome your thoughts, comments and feedback.

Brad Remillard

When an “A” Candidate Isn’t an “A” Employee

Has this ever happened? You screened hundreds of resumes, conducted extensive interviews, and found what you believed from the resume and interviews, the candidate that is perfect for the job. Exactly what you are looking for, maybe even better. You have high expectations for this new hire.

Then they come on board and fall flat on their face. Within 3 – 6 months you are saying to  yourself, “You’re NOT the person I hired” (a great title for a book).

You step back and start asking  yourself, “What went wrong? How could this have happened?”

Here is what went wrong – just because a person was a great CFO, operations manager, sales manager or VP HR, doesn’t mean they are the right CFO, operations manager, sales manager or VP HR.  This is the main premise of our Success Factor Methodology hiring process.

Hiring managers too often assume that because a person excelled at their last company, they did all these great things, they told you they could do your job, that this means the person will excel in your company. We believe this is where the concept, “past performance is a good indicator of future performance,” falls short. First off, it is only an indicator, nothing more. An indicator is not the right criteria for a good hire. Secondly, it also depends on how qualified the person interpreting the indicator is at interpreting the indicator. It has been our experience that most hiring managers are not competently trained in hiring or interviewing to do this. The few that are generally do hiring so rarely that they need a refresher course before starting the hiring process again.

There is a better way.

The Success Factor Methodology overcomes the biggest hiring mistakes that cause the problem.

Start by properly defining the job. This is the number one biggest hiring mistake companies make. They don’t properly define the job, so the whole hiring process is in jeopardy from the beginning. Since the job isn’t properly defined, then exactly what is the hiring manager screening and interviewing on or for? Generally background, experiences and skills.

This makes sense because that is exactly what most job descriptions are, simply a list of candidate attributes. Not a job description,  but rather a candidate description. This leads directly back to the problem. Hiring managers assume that  if they have this background they are an “A” candidate, and they may well be an “A” candidate. However, since the job isn’t properly defined, the real question “Will they be an “A” employee?” isn’t known.  This is the only thing you care about.

To properly define the actual job, start by defining outcomes. Ask yourself, “A year from now what will this person have done/accomplished in order to be considered a great hire?” or “What defines success in this role?” This is how we came up with the name, Success Factor Methodology. We simply started asking our search clients the questions, “What are the factors you will use to define success in this role?”  Once we had 4 or 5 of these we combined them into a Success Factor Snapshot. Now the Success Factor Snapshot becomes the job description. After all, this really is the actual job.

Once this is done, then go out and find a person that can explain how they will use their background, experiences and skills to deliver this success.

When you find a person that can explain how they will use their background, experiences and skills to deliver the 4 or 5 Success Factors, you have found both an “A” candidate and an “A” employee.

You can download some examples of Success Factor Snapshots for free to help you by CLICKING HERE.

Our best selling book, You’re NOT The Person I Hired, with over 10,000 copies in circulation, describes how you can implement the Success Factor Methodology. CLICK HERE for more details.

Join our Linkedin Hire and Retain Top Talent group for more discussions and articles on this topic. It is free to join just CLICK HERE.

2 Questions to Ask Sales People

One of the most frequent questions we get on hiring is, “What do I ask sales people to get past the BS?”

For many, hiring sales people is difficult. The fact is most sales people think they can sell anything, when in fact the sales processes are so different, many don’t actually sell as much as take orders.

Here are two screening questions I use to at least eliminate sales people that embellish and claim to be hard charging.

1) “Give me an example of where you demonstrated high initiative?”  Seems to me like a simple question, yet most sales people can’t answer it because most sales people don’t take high initiative. So often I get one of two answers. One is that they tell me about a sale they made where they had to call on the customer  5 or 6 times to get the deal. WOW. Doesn’t every salesperson have to do this? Isn’t that just part of the job? I don’t consider this high initiative and if they do I’m not impressed. The second common answer is that they go back three or four jobs for the example. So what have you done for me lately? They don’t consistently demonstrate high initiative.

2) Every sales person has on their resume a bullet that reads in one way or another, “Increased sales by X%.” Usually some figure between 30 and 60 percent. The obvious question to me is, “What two numbers did you divide to get that percentage?”  I find 1 in 10 can answer this question. Not because they made it up (although I don’t rule that out), but because they take the position the company grew by X% and I’m in sales, so I did it.

For me, these are phone screening questions I like to ask. It does eliminate a lot of candidates, that in the past, I might have presented to one of my clients and for hiring managers desperate to hire a sales person. It is tough to eliminate candidates, but I have found the ones that can answer these two question have been successful.

Just released our 2010 Complete  Success Factor Hiring Methodology System. This is the most comprehensive hiring methodology on the market. If you want to build a hiring system based on successful people and a system that puts candidates in the job BEFORE you hire them, then this system will show you how. CLICK HERE to learn more.

Our, “Cost Of A Bad Hire” calculator is available to help you get a handle on your total cost of hiring. Download our free worksheet at http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/index.php/cost-of-hire

We welcome your comments and thoughts.

Brad Remillard

Why Passive Candidates Require Special Handling. A True Story.

I asked a candidate after an interview, “How did the meeting go with the CEO?”

The candidate sarcastically replied, “Remind me again, why would I want to leave my current position and go to work there?”

Not exactly the sort of answer I was searching for.

He was what we refer to as a, “passive candidate.”  Meaning, he wasn’t actively on the job market. He wasn’t in any hurry to make a job change. He was open to exploring opportunities and seriously evaluating them, but would only make a change if all aspects of the position were beneficial to him and his career. He had to have good chemistry with the CEO, understand the company’s vision, and his role in helping achieve the vision. Basically, he wasn’t going to just make a move.

In the same way, the stars have to align for the company to want him. They also had to align for him to want them. A new concept for many companies to really comprehend at a deep level.

Yes, the hiring process is a two way street.

Needless to say, I wanted to understand what happened. As the candidate explained it, “I have now been out to the company three times and spent approximately 4 to 5 hours interviewing. I first met for an hour and  a half with HR going over my background. I then met with the person leaving the position. Once again we spent roughly an hour plus going over my background. Both gave me an overview of the position and about 10 minutes to ask questions. Then comes the CEO. Both previous interviewers spent time explaining how the company was reinventing itself and how this role was critical to helping in that process. I expected when I met with the CEO that we would discuss some of those issues, his plan for the reinventing, how my background would add value, and that I would finally have time to ask some of my questions.”

Sounded right and reasonable so far. As he continued to explain the problem, “After taking the morning off work for the 9 AM interview, I waited in the lobby for 25 minutes for the CEO. I was ready to leave when the assistant came to get me. The CEO explained he has to leave for a plane by 10:30, so I’m thinking why are doing this? There isn’t enough time to discuss any of the issues in any depth. Instead of discussing any of the issues, he proceeded to go through my background now for the third time. Don’t these people communicate? By the time he finished it was about 10:20 and he asked if I had any questions. I indicated that I did, but there wasn’t enough time to discuss them, and would it be possible to schedule another meeting, which we did.”

My conversation ended with the candidate asking me to cancel the meeting they scheduled, as he wasn’t really that interested, so why waste the time.  Is it any wonder?

The company was surprised the candidate wasn’t interested. Even after I relayed the above story to them. This had never happened before.

• A candidate turning them down?
• A candidate canceling a meeting with the CEO?
• A candidate that doesn’t want our job?
• A candidate that doesn’t understand waiting 25 minutes in the lobby for an interview?
• A candidate that isn’t desperate for our position?

They didn’t respect the candidate, his time, his position, and didn’t take any time to build rapport. They didn’t give him any time to address what was on his mind.

Why would a passive candidate be interested?

So I recommended the following changes:

1. All candidates must be met in the lobby at the designated time, the same way a customer would be met.
2. Spend some time marketing the position.
3. Learn about the candidate’s motivations and interests.
4. The candidates meet the CEO on the first interview. This demonstrates the importance of the position to the candidate and starts the rapport building process which is critical to passive candidates.
5. It is an interview, not an interrogation. Make it a discussion.
6. Every candidate is given ample time to ask questions and interact. The interviewer will learn more from the candidate’s questions than from the answers they give.
7. More time to explain the position, the importance this role will play, the impact on the organization and time to build rapport with the candidate.

These simple changes would have made all the difference with the candidate. Instead, they lost a great candidate for not treating the person as an executive and a person.

Every interview is a PR event. It is doubtful this candidate will have much good to say about the company should he encounter another candidate considering employment at the company.

Which is a shame as it really is a good company with good people.

Our “Cost Of A Bad Hire” calculator is available to help you get a handle on your total cost of hiring. Download for free worksheet. http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com/index.php/cost-of-hire

Culture is one of the biggest reasons a good hire goes bad. Find out what your culture is, and how people in your organization define it.  Click here to downloand your Culture Assessment.