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| Business |
 Catching
a Star Performer - Part 2: Conducting a Great
InterviewBy Laurie Bonello, Certified Human Resource Professional Still wanting to catch a star performer? You’ve started your hiring process by identifying position requirements. You’ve compared resumes against the requirements, considering transferable and trainable skills, and you’ve selected those who are a match. You did your homework and it proved insightful. The quick phone interview you conducted narrowed down the list of qualified applicants very effectively, which saved you tons of time! You’ll now spend your valuable time only with the top applicants. And that’s a fantastic start, one that is often missed. You are well on your way. The next step is to conduct a great interview. Follow these tips and catch your star: 1) Review resumes, noting where additional information is needed. Plan to spend sufficient time on the resume confirming information and asking the reasons for leaving previous employers. 2) Create interview questions based on position requirements and information from the phone screen. Identify where you need more information to ensure you have a good understanding of what the applicant has to offer. 3) Prepare a whopper question for the end of the interview; one that will make your star performer shine brilliantly. You may ask the applicant about the biggest contribution she made to her previous or current employer. Now that’s a great question. The answer will tell you a lot. No answer will tell you even more. Now that you’ve planned thoroughly and created excellent questions, you’re ready to meet the applicants and identify your star performer. Use these interviewing tips for star catching success: 1) Ask for examples; lots of them. I once had an applicant get very annoyed with me for asking for so many examples. “My resume speaks for itself” is what he kept saying. Each time I would ask a question, he would respond by saying, “My resume speaks for itself.” Well, guess what? Resumes don’t speak. In fact, they don’t tell you much at all. Would you like an example of what I mean? Of course you would! Say you are hiring for a manager position, and you have applicants with resumes stating 10 years’ managerial experience. That means they can do the job, right? I mean, they have done it before, so of course that means they do it well, right? Now, just think for a moment about this: have you ever worked for an experienced manager who didn’t know beans about being a good manager? I thought so. Since resumes dont speak, and having experience in something doesn’t mean you’re good at it, you have to ask for examples! In the case of management skills, you may ask what their biggest employee challenge was and how they successfully overcame it. What about their biggest challenge they didn’t overcome successfully? You could ask what positive feedback they have received from an employee, and what about negative or constructive feedback they received? Examples tell you a whole lot about a person as past behavior typically predicts future behavior. 2) Use the five little words that can make all the difference in an interview: what, when, why, where and how. Want an example? Of course you do! You are catching on fast! When someone states she was the top salesperson in an organization, get details and also ask how that happened. It is possible they were the only salesperson there, and unless you ask, you don’t know. When an applicant sites an accomplishment, ask her to tell you about what happened; what started it, what she did, why and how she did it, and what the outcome was. When you’re told it worked out well, ask “How do you know?” That is a very effective question. Did she meet the target on time and on budget? Did she receive customer feedback? How exactly does she know it went well? It could very well be her own opinion or that no one complained. Or, maybe she received a big promotion because the job was so well done. You don’t know until you ask, so ask. 3) Stay out of the “woulds”! If the position for which you are hiring includes customer service, you may ask the applicant to describe a situation when they dealt with a challenging customer. Applicants will often tell you what they “would” do when that happens, not what they “have” done. When an applicant goes into the “woulds”, most often she is describing a hypothetical situation, the ideal situation of how she would handle something, and it is usually based on what she thinks you would like to hear. And the answer always sounds impressive. But it doesn’t tell you anything about how she has actually handled this in the past. Remember, past behaviour is a wonderful indicator of future behaviour (and if you’re not sure about that, would you lend money to someone a second time who didn’t pay you back the first time?) So when an applicant heads into the “woulds” bring them back by asking for an example and use what, when, why, where and how to get the whole picture. Now you have a substantial understanding of what the applicant has to offer. Evaluate the information you have collected. Take the one or two remaining applicants and check references. Make the offer. Catch your star performer. The perfect employee is out there. You can get good help these days; you just need to know what you're looking for so you can be sure to find it! Laurie Bonello is a Certified Human Resources Professional, Personal Development Coach & freelance writer. |