Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Interview Skills – Hiring Tips (Listening)

Most people who are involved in hiring don’t take much time to review their own skills. I’d like to offer this brief, but important tip. “Listening is important too and that doesn’t mean just not talking.” We’ve all met the person who has so much going on that they are on autopilot. In the interview process, this person might be a “motor mouth” and good at explaining about why it is good to work for your company, and in the position a candidate can achieve this and that. But, this should not be the only person that meets a candidate. Active listening is an investment in the hiring process. If you are a wonderful presenter, but a rotten listener be sure that your hiring process includes people who are better listeners than you are!

Candidates need to have balance. They need a chance to talk about their accomplishments (and to be heard) and they need to have a chance to learn about the position and what is expected of the person who is hired. So strive for balance interview process participants who are good at presenting information about the company and the opening and those who are good at getting gritty information out of the people they meet. In that best of both worlds, your company learns what they need to about the candidate and the candidate learns what he and she need to know about your company.

"Good talkers tend not to be good listeners. Indeed, people who think of themselves as good talkers tend to rate themselves as extroverted, while good listeners rate themselves as introverted. Good listeners are 60 percent more likely to try to put themselves in the other person's place - trying to see things through their perspective." Pauk 1997 as quoted by David Niven PhD.

Happy and healthy hiring. Happy holidays too.

Success by design, one talented candidate hired at a time.

Lynden