The Art of Hiring Smart: Costly Mistake #4
Here's how many interviews work. The candidate and interviewer meet. Like all first time meets, both people are sizing one another up. Usually within the first few minutes the interviewer has often made up his or her mind to like or not like certain things about the candidate. Many of us do this without being aware of it.
If the interviewer likes the candidate, they start selling the job and the company and the benefits and the so on. They talk. And talk more. Yet, they seldom ask the tough questions any hiring authority really needs to know. And they seldom listen well. They are always thinking about the next thing to say.
If they don't like the candidate, the tone of the interview is usually much different. The interviewer doesn't go into selling mode because they've come to some sort of conclusion about not liking the candidate. This bias, however is formed typically within the first few minutes of meeting.
When coaching my clients I encourage them to use open ended questions when interviewing a candidate. For example, if interviewing a candidate for a sales position a good question would be, "Tell me about your last position and how you handled your prospecting activities." After the candidate has given his answer, a good follow up question would be, "Tell me more about that." This enables the interviewer to dig deeper and get closer to the way the candidate handles the roles and responsibilities they will need to perform.
Another important aspect of a strong interview is preparation. Do your homework on the candidate prior to an interview. Read the resume. Form a list of open-ended questions prior to the interview. And by all means, learn to listen actively and dig into the details of the past performance for each candidate.
Cliff Jones
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