Hiring People_ Recruit and Keep the Brightest Stars - Kathy Shwiff [19]
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The BIG Picture
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ASKING CANDIDATES TO BE CANDID
Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch believed that by far the most important questions to ask in an interview are, “Why did you leave your last job? And the one before that? And the one before that? Was it the environment? The boss? The team?” Here are some other key interview questions recommended by Martin E. Davis in his book Managing a Small Business Made Easy:
What were your job responsibilities?
What is it you like most—and least—about past jobs and your current job?
What is your present compensation and benefits package?
Why are you considering changing jobs?
Are you aware of the responsibilities of the job you’re applying for?
What is the greatest strength you would bring to this position?
What things do you find appealing about our company?
What do you think is your greatest challenge as a candidate for this position?
What was your beginning compensation in your current job?
What specific training have you had that might increase your ability to perform our job?
In which school subjects were you most successful?
Which subjects in school did you find the most difficult?
Can you provide the names of coworkers who can vouch for your technical abilities? What are their positions?
What are you looking for in terms of a new position? When deciding whether or not to join us, which factors would be most important to you: Compensation? Benefits? Working hours? Opportunities to advance?
SOURCE: Managing a Small Business Made Easy by Martin E. Davis (Entrepreneur Press, 2005).
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You can start by asking the candidate to say more about work experience and responsibilities listed on the resume and to give specifics: What was the most difficult part of the job? How much teamwork was required? What were the drawbacks of managing a small staff? What were the advantages? General questions such as these will usually yield fairly detailed descriptions.
Then move on to questions designed to reveal personality traits or specific qualities that you consider to be requirements for the job. If you need someone who can deal with stress, ask the candidate to discuss one or two work crises they handled in the past. Note how quickly, directly, and thoroughly the applicant answers.
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“Past Behavioral Interviews offer strong evaluative accuracy because the questions they ask directly concern the candidates’ ability to perform their job.”
—Justin Menkes, author of Executive Intelligence
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Finally, ask questions to gauge how well the applicant would fit into the company. Try to get a sense of the attitude and work habits the person would bring to your team.
It’s critical to find out whether the person you are considering has an employment contract at her current job that puts limitations on future employment, either permanently or for a specified period of time. For example, if the candidate’s employer is in a similar business to yours, and her contract has a “no competition” clause, she might be prohibited from working for your company.
Assessing Attitude
Many employers believe that people can be taught skills—but that their character is fixed. Thus, they specifically look for people with the attitude or personality that will mesh with their organization’s culture.
To weed out candidates who might have the experience for the job but not the right stuff, a technique called behavior-based interviewing was developed. In this approach, candidates are asked to give examples of how they performed or behaved in the past in specific situations. For example, to assess leadership ability, you might ask, “Can you tell me about a time