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

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

A Homework Assignment Should Be Required Before Hiring Anyone

When the pool of talent is narrowed down to the final two candidates, it’s time for the interview team to come up with homework assignments. An important predictor of how a candidate will adapt to your organization’s environment is to see an example of his or her thought processes, analytical skills, and problem-solving, up close and personal.

Effective homework assignments are projects of reasonable size and scope that involve one of the most critical accomplishments the candidate will have to perform once on board. The candidate should be given all the support he or she needs to adequately answer the question or complete the assignment. The candidate should then return to the interview panel and present results and conclusions, and lead a question and answer discussion based on the homework. No matter what functional area, homework should entail questioning, analysis, research, and a panel discussion with some form of presentation.

While homework assignments are “out there” in the hiring world, some candidates may object to doing what they perceive as unpaid work.

Most Top 5% Talent, because of their self-motivated nature, will be intrigued and embrace the challenge. But if they’ve had previous encounters with unscrupulous employers who actually do assign homework and go on to use candidate ideas (even though they did not hire the candidate) you’ll need to reassure them that you aren’t asking them to come up with the “right answer.” Instead, you are looking for a concrete example of their approach to problems, their analytical and presentation skills, and their ability to synthesize information.

The scope of homework should be appropriate; that is, you shouldn’t ask candidates to dedicate forty hours on nights and weekends to solving your most pressing problem as “homework.” Make it clear at the outset that the homework is not going to be as deep as the actual job, and that you aren’t looking so much for their answer as for deep insight into their thought and action processes.

Every key position you plan on hiring should require a homework assignment. Some examples include, a sales presentation for all sales people, for financial positions consider giving them last year’s and this year’s budget and ask for their input, marketing positions ask for them to review your marketing programs or PR agreements, IT positions depending on the level can include coding examples all the way up to the capital spending on IT projects. The goal is to put them in the job before they come on board.

For more information on hiring, our best selling book, “You’re NOT The Person I Hired” describes a hiring process that has proven to significantly raise hiring accuracy. CLICK HERE to review the book.

If your hiring process isn’t as effective as you want it, our Success Factor Methodology hiring system is also available so you can implement a structured and systematic approach to hiring. CLICK HERE to review the system.

Who Embellishes More During An Interview?

Candidates or hiring managers?

If you get 10 or more CEOs and key executives in a room and ask, “What percentage of candidates embellish in the hiring process?” you will hear anything from the conservative 80% to the more skeptical 100%. I don’t know if there have been any studies on this topic, but most would agree the number is over 50%. Whatever the percentage is, it doesn’t matter, when you consider the following.

Hiring managers generally wait until they need a person to begin the hiring process. It can take 2 or 3 months to hire a person. By this time most hiring managers are desperate to hire a person. So then, with a hiring manager desperate to hire someone, some hiring managers start to sell more than interview. The results are often “embellishing” by the hiring manager. OK, “What percentage of hiring managers embellish during the hiring process?” Even if it is 50% what impact does this have on the interview?

Simply put, if in an interview candidates embellish 50% of the time and hiring managers embellish 50% of the time, too often everyone is lying to each other about the position or their ability to do the job. Is it any wonder why most interviews are a waste of time? Is it a surprise that so often when the candidate shows up for work, hiring managers say, “You’re not the person I hired.”

There are a number of things hiring managers can do to reduce embellishment. Two simple things are:

1. Become proactive in your hiring. 80% of the time most hiring managers know in advance a position may need to be filled. Instead of waiting until the need is critical, start the process sooner. When there is a potential need begin the process at least passively. Start developing a queue of candidates, ask others if they know of anyone, review some of the free internet networking sites such as Linkedin, attend networking meetings that potential candidates attend, and when appropriate tap into current employee’s networks. You don’t have to be reactive which causes “desperation” hiring.
2. Prepare a structured interview that probes deeply. This will help to avoid the selling rather than interviewing syndrome. When hiring managers have a structured set of questions specifically designed to test the candidate’s ability to deliver a standard of performance, the probability of candidate embellishment will be much more difficult.

Eliminating embellishment on both sides will dramatically change both the quality of interviews and the results.

We offer a number of free resources to help you and your hiring team eliminate embellishment. Consider joining our Linkedin leadership and best practices group where these issues are extensively discussed. CLICK HERE

Our audio library contains all of our radio show recordings from our Monday morning talk radio program, heard on www.latalkradio.com at 11 AM PDT.

Finally our best selling book, “You’re NOT The Person I Hired,” with sales over 10,000 copies, outlines a structured hiring process with extensive chapters on advanced interviewing techniques. CLICK HERE

Interviewing Is A Quest For The Truth

Put Candidates Under “The Magnifying Glass”

While not every candidate is guilty of puffery, we know from experience that it happens. Candidates claim responsibility for accomplishments that really were not their accomplishments, but rather those of bosses, peers, or perhaps even subordinates.

There is a bulletproof solution to the problem of “accomplishment inflammation,” and that is to become a great detective. When you learn to probe every answer for relevant details, you’ll discover what we have: There hasn’t been a candidate born who can make up false answers quickly enough. They’ve either done what they say they’ve done and can describe it in infinite detail, or they will implode in the chair right in front of you (and it’s messy when it happens).

Every time you ask a candidate a question based on examples, expect to spend fifteen to thirty minutes exploring the details of each example. Put the candidate’s answer under a magnifying glass, and ask for multiple examples to make sure something wasn’t an anomaly.

Every interview will be different, but no matter what example is being discussed, your probes will generally follow the time-honored journalist’s “5 Ws”:

· Who?

· What?

· When?

· Where?

· Why?

· For good measure, throw in How? (Yes, even though it is not a W.)

Train yourself to have a knee-jerk reaction to high-level, nonspecific answers.  Usually, it’s not that the candidate is trying to deceive you; it’s that he or she simply hasn’t thought to give concrete, detailed answers. You can help the candidate along by following up assertions and blanket statements with one of the following Magnifying Glass questions:

· “Could you give me an example of that?”

· “Can you be more specific about that?”

· “Can you give me a bit more information about that?”

· “What were the most important details about that situation?”

· “What was your responsibility within the project team?’

· “What did you personally do to ensure that success?”

· “Who else was involved in that project?”

· “Why did you take that approach on the project?”

· “Why did you pick those individuals to be on the team?”

Get all the details. Dates, numbers, names of people, schedules. Both of you will be helping each other to get to the facts faster and with more relevance. For a complete interview with drill down questions our Desktop Hiring Guide is the quickest way to get started. CLICK HERE to view  our Desktop Hiring Guide.

Other good Magnifying Glass questions:

· What was your role in the project?

· What success was achieved?

· How did you decide what to do?

· Can you give me a few examples of your personal initiative on the project?

· When have you faced a comparable challenge?

· Where did the resources come from to get that accomplished?

· How were parameters for the project set?

· Would you consider that process a success? Why or why not? (Remember, even a failure has value)

· When have you failed to meet your boss’s expectations?

· How did the team make mid-course corrections?

· What did you learn specifically?

· With benefit of hindsight, what would you do differently next time?

Keep going until you know what you need to know (or until it becomes apparent the candidate is being elusive or downright lying. If this happens, it’s time to cut and run.) Whatever you do, don’t give in and assume it’ll work out. Some candidates are great about changing the subject and making you think you got enough information. Be sure to make a note of what happened and then move on.

When the pool of talent is narrowed down to the final two candidates, it’s time for the interview team to come up with homework assignments. An important predictor of how a candidate will adapt to your organization’s environment is to see an example of his or her thought processes, analytical skills, and problem-solving, up close and personal.

Effective homework assignments are projects of reasonable size and scope that involve one of the most critical Success Factors listed in your Success Factor Snapshot. The candidate should be given all the support he or she needs to adequately answer the question or complete the assignment. The candidate should then return to the interview panel and present results and conclusions, and lead a question and answer discussion based on the homework. No matter what functional area, homework should entail questioning, analysis, research, and a panel discussion with some form of presentation.

While homework assignments are “out there” in the hiring world, some candidates may object to doing what they perceive as unpaid work.

Most Top 5% Talent, because of their self-motivated nature, will be intrigued and embrace the challenge. But if they’ve had previous encounters with unscrupulous employers who actually do assign homework and go on to use candidate ideas (even though they did not hire the candidate) you’ll need to reassure them that you aren’t asking them to come up with the “right answer.” Instead, you are looking for a concrete example of their approach to problems, their analytical and presentation skills, and their ability to synthesize information.

The scope of homework should be appropriate; that is, you shouldn’t ask candidates to dedicate forty hours on nights and weekends to solving your most pressing problem as “homework.” Make it clear at the outset that the homework is not going to be as deep as the actual job, and that you aren’t looking so much for their answer as for deep insight into their thought and action processes.

For more in-depth understanding of the interviewing process consider our best selling book; “You’re NOT The Person I Hired” CLICK HERE to review the book.

If you are considering implementing this process in your company our Complete Success Factor Methodology Hiring System will give you a step-by-step process to help guide you. CLICK HERE to view the system.

5 Questions That Identify Top Talent

As a way of helping our clients, we often participate with them in interviews. It is not uncommon for clients to ask us to interview candidates they have surfaced on their own. Over my 20+ years as a recruiter, I have participated in hundreds and maybe thousands of interviews. The one thing they all have in common is many of the same questions are asked over and over again. When I ask the client why they asked that question the answers vary from “couldn’t think of anything else and I need to fill time’ to “ that question was asked of me when I interviewed.” The interesting thing about these questions is they rarely have anything to do with the candidate’s ability to perform in the job or how they would perform in my client’s company culture. They are of throw away questions.

Companies want to hire the best and the brightest, however, the interviewing process and questions rarely identify the characteristics of a top performer. The interviewer assumes that if they did it before and were successful they will be successful in our company. The interviewer misses the point that the candidate needs to be able to adapt those past accomplishments to their company’s culture and their company’s resources. Just because someone was a great performer in their last company, doesn’t mean they are the right person for your company.

We have identified 5 characteristics that all top performers possess and 5 questions you can ask in an interview to determine if these characteristics are present and if they can adapt them to your company( see our book You’re NOT The Person I Hired). These 5 are: top performers have high initiative, they execute, they have the ability to motivate others; they have a track record of delivering comparable results and they can adapt that performance to your environment.

The question to ask are:

1) Give me an example of where you have demonstrated initiative? Top performers take initiative, they don’t wait for it to come to them. Top performers will step up to the plate and be ready to perform. Taking initiative is second nature to them.

2) Give me an example of when you executed a project flawlessly? Failure to execute is one of the top reasons people fail. The ability to get the job done regardless of obstacles that come up along the way is a key trait of top performers. This doesn’t mean perfect results, just that hey didn’t get distracted and lose sight of deadlines, budget, conflicts, etc.

The third question deals with leadership.

3) Tell me about your biggest team accomplishment in a difficult time or situation? Top performers get the job done by utilizing the talents of others. No one can do it all. Top performers know this and leading a team is something they are good at. We are all good leaders in good times. The best leaders are able to motivate people even when circumstances aren’t good. Also, ask for an example of leading cross functional teams.

The last two questions begin to test the candidate’s ability to get the job done. Comparable accomplishments are important to the candidate’s success in your company. These accomplishments must be similar in scope and size.

4) One of our critical objectives is (explain a critical problem they will address in this position.) Can you describe your most comparable accomplishment? A track record of delivering similar accomplishments over an extended period of time is a critical component of a top performer. Top performance is not a one time event. You want to insure the person you hire has a track record of accomplishments similar in scope to what defines success in your position.

The final question deals with the candidate’s ability to adapt these experiences to your environment and culture.

5) How would you go about implementing (pick a project important to this position) in our company? Things rarely go as planned. Top performers must be able to adapt to different circumstances. Change is a given. What counts is – can they change – with the change. They must be able to adapt their past accomplishments to your environment, culture management style and to your company’s resources. If they can’t then regardless of everything else they won’t be successful in your company.

Then probe deeply to ensure they actually did what they claim. These 5 questions alone will tell you if you have top talent

For help with interviewing or any hiring assistance visit our website at WWW.IMPACTHIRINGSOLUTIONS.COM

Overcoming the Second Biggest Hiring Mistake

The sole purpose of an employment interview is to investigate whether the candidate can succeed in the open position. Uncovering that information requires a rigorous, disciplined interview process that leaves no question unasked and no stone unturned.

Yet, according to a research study we conducted the second most common hiring mistake at the executive level involves just the opposite.

In too many cases, executive hires involve a sloppy, undisciplined process that fails to put candidates under the magnifying glass, verify claims or check facts. And when hiring managers accept at face value everything candidates say during job interviews, a bad hiring decision almost always follows.

“In our workshops and training sessions, we routinely ask executives what percentage of job applicants embellish or exaggerate their accomplishments during the interview?” In most cases, we hear a number from 100 to 125 percent, because many candidates embellish more than once.

Granted, not every job candidate is guilty of what we call “interview puffery,” but it does happen on a regular basis. And unless you take adequate steps to guard against it, you can easily end up with a hiring decision that ends in failure.

So what is the solution to eliminating candidate puffery and avoiding hiring mistake #2?

Become a great interview detective and that requires a rigorous probing process.

Put The Candidate Under the Magnifying Glass

To validate the candidate’s answers to the five key questions, we recommend the “Magnifying Glass” approach, a technique that involves asking for multiple examples of each answer to make sure the behavior isn’t the exception to the rule.

Put on your reporter’s hat and ask ‘who, what, when, where and why and how’ questions. In other words, ask candidates to describe, in specific terms, who did what, where and when they did it, how they did it and why they did it that way. Then ask for the outcome/results to determine if their approach succeeded.

Examples of generic magnifying glass questions include:

Could you give me an example of that?
Can you be more specific about that?
Can you give me a bit more information about that?
What were the most important details about that situation?
Tell me about another time when you faced a similar situation.

The idea is to gather as many specific details as possible about each key question. To drill down further, ask questions more focused questions, such as:

What was your role in the project?
How did you define and measure success?
Can you give me a few examples of your personal initiative on the project?
When have you faced a comparable challenge?
How did you and the team make mid-course corrections?
What did you learn from this project?
With the benefit of hindsight, what would you do differently next time?

Be prepared to spend 15 to 30 minutes exploring the details of each example the candidate gives you. Keep going until you uncover what you need to know or it become apparent the candidate is being elusive or outright lying, at which point you might as well cut your losses and end the interview.

Your goal is to assess their analytical, problem solving and presentation skills in your work environment.

Successful interviewing is all about drilling down and getting to the facts. By asking for example after example, you will discover a critical truth about the interviewing process — that candidates can’t make up false answers quickly enough. They have either done what they say they have done and can describe it in infinite detail, or they will implode in front of you.

To ensure that your interviewing process uncovers the information you need to know, ask the five key questions (see our book You’re NOT The Person I Hired) probe for relevant details and give a meaningful homework assignment. You will get a very accurate picture of the candidate’s ability to perform on the job and, more important, you’ll make better hiring decisions.