TALENT TOPICS
CONTINUED
Each skill set has an impact on the success of the
candidate in a specific job—some more than others
depending on the position, the amount of influence
across the organization and the interaction required with
customers and your team. As a hiring manager, under-
standing and detailing the specific skills that influence a
candidate’s success enhances your ability to find the
match for the job.
Finding the Truth of the Candidate
The face-to-face interview is the single most impactful time
to evaluate a candidate. In most cases, interviews flounder
on the surface. Candidates prepare rehearsed answers and
put on their “best self” for a short period of time. Not to say
that candidates intend to obscure the truth, but their goal
is singular: to get the job. And uncomfortable, rushed or
desperate interviewers can make significant hiring
decisions based on inadequate information.
Because of this dynamic, a well-structured and contem-
plative interview provides the primary opportunity to cut
past the shiny veneer of the candidate. Yet most hiring
managers overthink the interview, confusing effectiveness
with cleverness. Lines of questions intended to keep the
candidate off-balance or break the cycle of rehearsed
answers often tend to cause the candidate to protect the
truth even more. Instead, allow the conversation to build
on information the candidate shares—creating depth of a
topic rather than redirecting them. Focusing on what the
candidate says, rather than what you want them to say,
will place them at ease and more likely to reveal their true
motivations.
We see the goal of an interview as an opportunity to
know the candidate deeply and determine whether they
make the best fit for your job. In practice, getting to the
truth of the candidate is quite simple. A strong interview
starts with structure – understand and focus on the specific
skillset that will make a candidate successful in your
business. Are they committed to serving a retirement
population, interested in a specific style of massage, have
the personality skills to deal with demanding clientele or
unique personalities in your group? Those factors deepen a
candidate’s potential success in a role.
For the candidate, the single strongest predictor for
future results is past behavior. In the interview, ask the
candidate for examples of how they’ve handled situations
that would inform your specific circumstances. Ask simple
questions, such as “Can you tell me a time where you had
a client who was not satisfied with your services, and how
did you handle that?” When talking about “weaknesses,”
resist the urge to ask the candidate to self-assess. Instead,
ask them about a “time when they were unsuccessful and
what they learned from the experience.”
Ultimately, the most successful candidates will “match”
your job, creating a win-win relationship. Identifying the
unique skill sets needed for your specific job and
conducting an interview where both you and the candidate
feel invested will increase the likelihood of you finding a
candidate who not only can do the job, but also leverage
their unique skill sets to excel in your organization. n
JON PLAYER is a lawyer-turned-leadership trainer, speaker and coach at the Bell Leadership
Institute. He spoke at the 2019 ISPA Conference & Expo on best practices for hiring; he also led a
separate session on performance reviews.
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