Job Hacking

Interview training is good, right?

Heard a great story the other day.

The team was interviewing a key candidate for a very important creative role. The candidate was truly of the 1% of 1% type, with major awards that almost anyone could name to his credit (Oscars, Emmys, Tonys etc). In other words, you don't see this one every day, let alone more than a handful of times in a career.

The team had all gone through behavioral interviewing training a couple weeks back. So, they were all eager to put their learning to good use. And they did.

The team leader was the last of the team to interview, and the first thing he asked the candidate was how the interviews had gone. And the candidate let him have it with both barrels. He had politely answered the EXACT SAME questions that the prior four interviewers had asked with EXACTLY THE SAME answers. The candidate felt that the whole process had been a gigantic waste of time, and he was done with the interview. Fortunately, the team leader was able to calm the candidate down, re-engage him, and long story short, they ended up hiring this amazing candidate. 

Would you have walked out of the interview under the same circumstances?

re: Two ways to hire (and a wrong way)

Seth put up a fun post about interviewing today, and if you are responsible for hiring people, and more importantly, having to live with your results, this one is a must-read.

One of the things I love about Seth's writing is that it's almost always short and thought-provoking. But, it's not prescriptive, and so it's like an introductory paragraph to building an electric bicycle from scratch, and then noticing that the rest of the instructions are missing.

In this case, some answers to those missing blanks:

• Yes, the usual interview process is broken. 
• Yes, he is saying your interview skills probably suck. And your ability to assess potential fit for your team. You = Almost Everybody, that is except Recruiting Savants.
• Yes he is implying that you track your hire/no hire decisions throughout your career. What is your hit v. miss percentage? This should include everyone you've interviewed, not just the ones you decided to hire. Who did you not hire who was wonderfully successful? That false-negative should make you start scratching your head.
• He does not discuss behavioral interviewing techniques, and these do help. But you need to practice them to make them work well if you've not used them before.
• "Try before you buy", is a great solution. It really does work, especially if it's a buyer's market.
• The 5-minute interview. Wow, what an interesting idea! But then, you have to implement it. That might require some thought. And, it's fur-sure going to require some socializing among the decision makers in your org. 

Here's the thing I like about the 5-minute interview: It works with how we work as people. Almost EVERY interviewer makes snap decisions about people they first meet (whether they admit it or not). And, they are often wrong in the context of hiring. Big statement. But think about that  hit v. miss percentage. If you are like most, and even if you are using relatively well-known, modern interviewing techniques, you make your hiring decision in that first five minutes.

At last, a reason to buy your Utilikilt!

I have to share the following 'news item' with y'all because it is helpful on several levels. This comes to us from CareerBuilder.com:

"Altering Appearance
The competition for a smaller number of jobs is driving some workers to alter their everyday appearances in hopes of making a stronger impression. More than a quarter (28 percent) of workers who were laid off in the last 12 months said they have changed their appearance to make themselves more attractive to potential employers. Fourteen percent said they have lost weight, 8 percent have changed their hair color or hairstyle and 5 percent are dressing to appear younger. Teeth whitening, enhanced makeup and cosmetic procedures were also cited.

Comparing genders, both men and women indicated making changes to their appearances in hopes of appealing to potential employers, at 26 percent and 30 percent, respectively."

There are several things you should take away from this if you are making the interview rounds:

1. '...alter their everyday appearances in hopes of making a stronger impression.' is one heck of a lame suggestion. Utilikilts make a strong impression. Why would anyone in their right mind wear one to an interview? (And for you hiring managers out there, that's a hiring hint, too!)
2.  Go for looking good, smelling good, projecting confidence. Duh.
3. Analogously, does your resume contain any totally obvious statements? Take a quick check and make sure.
4. Before you go out to that interview, get a gut check on your look from your girlfriend, wife, best friend, who ever you can trust to call you on your bs.  

  
  

Think about this the next time you interview...

Susan Boyle completely rocked my world today, and she should do the same for yours.

After you watch & listen, think real hard about the people you've interviewed of late, and what you thought about them.

Have you gone back and checked to see how your candidates have done after they passed on your, or after you declined them? You're a numbers-oriented leader, so why not?

Prepping for the interview

Matt's got some helpful thoughts in Interviews: Are You Proving Your Case?

One thing to keep in mind about prepping for an interview is Google. And LinkedIn. And Facebook.

For every interview, you should have done some quick searches on all the names of all the people you'll be meeting with. What are their backgrounds? Where have they worked? What has their career trajectory been like? Where have they lived? What are their hobbies? What do you have in common with them? How can you phrase your responses to more adequately align with what they know?

Then, spend some time thinking forward. Remember, the hiring manager doesn't just want you for the immediate role, they are also thinking about you beyond this moment, and also about how your selection will improve them over time.

It's like a former boss of mine says, "Once on my team, always on my team". Remember, it works both ways, so select your bosses wisely (when you can).

The interview musings of a CEO

This Sunday's NY Times has a thought-provoking interview with Anne Mulcahy, CEO of Xerox.

For you job hunters, Anne answers a number of questions regarding things she's looking for in a candidate, and a bit about her approach to interviews. Anne is clearly a good interviewer, and her thoughts on this topic are useful for both job hunters and hiring managers.

You won't believe this - Palin begins her answer by saying...

The VP Debate tonight is setting up to be an historic event by many measures. For me, it comes during our 'get the kids transitioned from dinner to bed' time, so thanks to Comcast DVR, I'll still get to watch it, albeit time-shifted a bit.

And while it will be historic, it's not a debate. It's an interview.

This will be the first time that the broad swath of U.S. voters get to see Joe Biden and Sarah Palin respond to questions about how they'd handle things.

And, for both job hunters and hiring managers, there is plenty to learn from this event. What questions should be asked in an interview? How will I handle the 'tough question'? How do I differentiate myself from the competition?

One subtle item appeared today in an article in the Christian Science Monitor, "Unusually High Stakes in vice presidential debate".

The issue is this: Joe Biden & Sara Palin will likely not be held to the same standards in the interview. According to the article, Senator Biden just needs to not be condescending, and Governor Palin needs to be able to string sentences together.

If you were the hiring manager, would you hold two different candidates for the same role to different standards?

In assessing candidates for your team, this is a big deal. Your interview process needs to put everyone through the same tests, and the results need to be impartial, at least as much as is possible. Yet, interviewers are often shown to make a hiring decision within the first 2 minutes of meeting a candidate!

Maybe this election hinges on the first 2 minutes of this debate...

Serial or Parallel Processing?

Hey, hiring manager, ever thought about a panel interview?

Many of the firms I work with use a serial interview process. That is, they have a sequence of 1:1 interviews between members of the team and the candidate. The process takes hours for the candidate, and usually the members of the team don't have a clear focus for their individual interview. Although flexible in timing, it is rife with problems on the decision end.

How about something that's different, which improves your decision process?

Yup, the panel interview.

Panel interviews give the team a chance to see the candidate answer all the questions from everyone. It helps to minimize the hijacking problem in serial interviews (that is, one interviewer hijacking the decision process because the candidate 'failed' their special test). It makes the team members obviously accountable to the other team members during the interview. And it gives you the chance as the leader to illustrate that you do, in fact, lead the team.

If you don't do this now, check into it. Run a test. Worst case, you end up making the same decisions as before.