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

Recipe for a Cooking Up a Good Interview

As a fan of cooking, I enjoy the fun of trying new ingredients in old recipes. That gives me the fun of having a meal that I know we will enjoy, but also a way to possibly improve on the success of the meal compared to previous ones.

Ok, enough of the food analogy. However, improving the interview process is just like that. As you tweek and adjust various elements of the process, you'll discover that the outcome improves or declines. I think that in the interest of improvement, I would like to suggest the slightest tweek, one that reaps big rewards. Prepare your interview team in advance of the candidate arriving. Sounds simple? It is. The secret is really planning. As you go about the process of recruiting for a new position - whether you are doing it yourself or having the assistance of outside recruiters; take a step back and begin with the end in mind.

In this case a solid new hire is the goal; part of the process is how well the candidate does in the interview. Having an interview team that knows their role in the process; that knows how to provide feedback to the decisionmakers in the process is key. My suggestion is that each of the interview team knows what their job is. There may be standardized questions each team member asks plus there should be specific areas of expertise each interviewer represents. Overlap is ok as long as it is constructive and targeted toward validating experience, background and skills.

However, especially on a first round; keep the group small and efficient. Core decisionmakers who interivew effectively. Save the more detailed interview for the second round.

OK...more to come later. How to make 2nd round interviews sizzle is the next installment.

Success by Design – one client and candidate at a time.

Lynden