Interviewing is a careful balance of Interrogation and sales for the mutual benefit of all parties involved. The right hire provides the company with the talent they need and provides the individual the opportunity to continue their chosen career path.
How To Interview The Best and Leave The Rest
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Finding, Evaluating and Hiring the Best Talent

You have created a profile of who would have the highest probability for success in the position. You have created a search plan that proactively scours the talent pools to entice all potential candidates to raise their hands and be counted. You have nominated the best of these to come forward and be interviewed.

Now you need an interview process that will allow you to learn about each nominee and at the same time sell them on your opportunity. Personality, motivation, ambition, management/ learning style,  what do they like what do they dislike, experience, talents, do they enjoy working in a group or alone. You want to match the person with the position as closely as is possible to help lower employee turn over. While you are selling the position be sure your future employee has realistic expectations or you will end up with an unhappy employee and a position to fill again.

Being a manager is managing people to do a job that is too big for one person to do. Whether you have a team of 6 people doing the same thing to reach a certain sales goal or you have 6 people doing 6 different things to build a "super widget". You are building a team and their success will be your success. Their failure will be your failure.

Your ability to hire the right people will make your life as a manager look easy. Those managers who can not find, evaluate and hire the best will need to consistently use their coaching, training and motivating skills to make up for their poor hiring skills. The right people require very little management. They know what needs to be done, how to do it and are motivated to get it done.

To define who is the right candidate first we have to determine what we want this person to accomplish. Project out 12 months and imagine you are doing their annual revue. What would you be looking at to give this person an excellent evaluation?

  • What are the bench marks you would use to evaluate their success?
  • What will they need to be able to do to accomplish these bench marks?
  • What will we need to see to feel comfortable in the candidate’s ability to do these things?
  • What questions will we ask to ascertain this information?

Interviewing the Candidate – Hiring Manager’s Guide to Interviewing

The Candidate
Since each individual - and each interview - is different, these points should serve only as basic guidelines, not as inflexible rules.

Meeting the Candidate, At the outset, act friendly but avoid prolonged small talk - Interviewing time costs money
  • Introduce yourself by using your name and title.
  • Discipline yourself to not make any decision about the candidate until after the interview is concluded. It is impossible to make unbiased evaluation when you have already decided. First impressions are based on past experiences and not the person in front of you. We are not evaluating this person to be a companion we are looking for specific characteristics and skills that will maximize the potential for a successful hire.
  • Our objective is to give the candidate the information they need to make a good decision about the job as well as for us to   gather accurate information to evaluate their ability to successfully fill our position. We want to hire the best candidate for the job regardless of whether they are the best or the worst interviewer.
  • Mention casually that you will make notes (You don't mind if I make notes, do you?).
  • Assure the candidate that all information will be treated in confidence.

Questions
  • Ask questions in a conversational tone. Make them concise and clear.
  • Avoid loaded and negative questions. Ask open-ended questions which will force complete answers:"Why do you say that?" (Who, what, when, where and how?).
  • Ask for examples from the candidates past that will demonstrate their experience and competence. Then follow up your    questions with requests for more detail. Listen for what pronoun they use. If they say I ask about others who contributed, if they say we find out what role they individually played.
  • Clarification can be gained by using a scale of 1 to 10. Ask, “If you were rating yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being strongest what would you rate yourself?” Follow-up questions are to ask why? And then ask, “What would you have to do differently to be higher” (or lower depending on the particular trait we a look at). This same technique can be used substituting “your manager or members of your team” for yourself.
  • Don't ask direct questions that can  be answered "Yes" or "No”.

The Interview
  • You will find two columns of questions. The left hand column contains questions to ask yourself about the candidate. The right band column suggests questions to ask the candidate. During the interview it is suggested you continually ask yourself, "What is this person telling me about himself/herself? What kind of person is he/she?" In other parts of the interview you can cover education, previous experience and other matters relating to specific qualifications.

Analyzing
  • Attempt to determine the candidate's goals and compare how they can be satisfied by this position..
  • Before the search began a performance profile was established with “must have” and “optional” characteristics and skills. Use a chart with a section for each of these. Have a section for each one with a title and a scale from -5 to +5 with 0 in the middle. Have plenty of room for notes. This will allow you to take notes during the interview then reflect on each section and grade the candidate after they have left. This tool will also allow you to confer with the other members of the hiring team to gain further insight as you move through the process.
  • Don't sell and don’t cross examine. Getting to know the real person rather then the “candidate” will be most likely achieved by having a balanced conversation where all parties feel comfortable that everyone is looking fro a good match and no one is trying to sell their agenda.
  • Try to avoid snap judgments. The most common mistake is making a decision based on your likes and dislikes and then the interview only serves to prove your “gut feeling”.


Interviewing Guide
I. Attitude      Your overall evaluation:  -5  -4  -3  -2  -1   0   1   2   3   4   5+
(Ask Yourself)      (Ask the Candidate)


















II. Motivation  Your overall evaluation:  -5  -4  -3  -2  -1   0   1   2   3   4   5+
(Ask Yourself)(Ask the Candidate)













III. Initiative    Your overall evaluation: -5  -4  -3  -2  -1   0   1   2   3   4   5+
(Ask Yourself)(Ask the Candidate)














IV. Stability     Your overall evaluation:  -5  -4  -3  -2  -1   0   1   2   3   4   5+
(Ask Yourself)(Ask the Candidate)
















V. Planning    Your overall evaluation: -5  -4  -3  -2  -1   0   1   2   3   4   5+
(Ask Yourself)(Ask the Candidate)














VI. Insight Your overall evaluation:         -5  -4  -3  -2  -1   0   1   2   3   4   5+
(Ask Yourself)(Ask the Candidate)
















VII. Social Skills    Your overall evaluation: -5  -4  -3  -2  -1   0   1   2   3   4   5+
(Ask Yourself)(Ask the Candidate)













Employee Turnover
It happens, it is frustrating and it's expensive. Sometimes it is unavoidable but you can take some steps to guard against it. Many managers will judge future candidates by what past hires have done. Example "We hired someone from retail sales and they only lasted 6 months. We are not going to do that again." Every person is different. They have different value systems, family demands, risk tolerance, career ambitions and on an on the list can go. In this example retail sales are different from store to store. Is the person employed at Sears going to have the same experience as the person employed at Talbotts. Somehow I doubt it.
.
First know the job you are filing, what are the activities this person will be doing? How often? What challenges will they have to face to be successful?.What are the rewards of the job? What is the management style they will be working under? What is the personality of the group?
Tailor a portion of your interview questions to address each of these areas to find out when the candidate has done these activities or something similar to this in their past. Ask what they like and what they didn''t like. A candidate can have a similar title as your job but at their company the activities performed in this job are very different.
Use follow up questions to drill down for details to get comfortable that what the candidate is saying is accurate. 

Here are some example questions:
  • In this position you will be answering calls from customers, 2-3 calls per hour, while you are working on the billing project. How would you deal with these interruptions? Have you done this in the past? Was it stressful? What did you do to keep your train of thought on the project and still give the customer proper attention?
  • Tell me about your reasons for moving from company A to company B. Was that a good move for you? How was the adjustment? Why are you looking to move now?
  • Who was the best manager you ever worked for? Why? Describe his management style. How would he have corrected you? How would he show approval? Tell me about a situation where you failed to meet his expectations and how he dealt with that.

You should have some questions that you will use over and over with all positions and other questions that are specific to that position or that candidate. You will need to be creative and conversational remembering that interviewing is a two way street. You can't hire the top talent unless they want to come to work for you. I like to tell the candidate that this is a mutually beneficial process. We want to determine if this is the job you want and if you are the person who will be successful and happy in the position we are filling.. This is an accurate statement and it helps the candidate to open up and be more comfortable.The idea is to ask a question and then dig down till you feel confident you know how this person will react in your environment.


Hiring the Candidate
  • What do you see this job doing for you?
  • If you had this job what would you do first?
  • If we got to the point of offering this position to you what would you need to make a decision?

Ever lose in competition?  How did you feel?

Ever uncertain about providing for your family?

How can the American way of business be improved?

Do you feel you've made a success of life to date? How?

Who was your best boss? Describe that person.
Who was your worst boss? Why? Describe that person.

What duties did you like most in your last job? Least?

How do you feel about working with other employees?
How do you deal with someone less productive in the group?
1. Can compete without irritation?

2. Can bounce back easily?

3. Can balance interest of both company and self?     
4. What are life priorities?

5. Is there a loyalty level?   

6. Takes pride in doing a good job?    
7. Indications of cooperativeness - a team player?      

1. Is settled in choice of work?

2. Works by choice, or necessity?

3. Makes day-to-day and long-range plans?

4. Uses some leisure for self-improvement?

5. Is willing to work for what he/she wants in face of      opposition?
What ambitions does your spouse (or others) have for you?

What have you done on your own to prepare for a better job?

What mortgages, debts, etc., press you now?

How will this job help you get what you want?

What obstacles are most likely to trip you up?
1. Is he/she a self-starter?

2. Completes own tasks?

3. Follows through on assigned tasks?

4. Needs recognition for accomplishments?


5. Can work independently?
How did you get into this line of work?

Do you prefer to work alone or with others?

What do you like and dislike about your kind of work?

Which supervisors let you work alone?
How did you feel?

When have you felt like giving up on a task?
Tell me about it.
What things disturb you most?

How do you get along with people you dislike?

What children's actions irritate you?

What were your most unpleasant work experiences?

Most pleasant work experiences?

What do you most admire in others?

What things do some people do that are irritating to others?
1. Is this person excitable or even-tempered?

2. Impatient or understanding?

3. Does he/she show likes and dislikes freely?

4. Does the candidate use words that show strong feelings?

5. Is candidate poised or impulsive: controlled or erratic?

6. Will this person broaden or flatten under pressure? 
7.Is candidate enthusiastic about job?
What part of your work do you like best? Like least?


What part is the most difficult for you?

Give me an idea of how you spend a typical day.

Where do you want to be five years from now?

If you were the manager, how would you run your present job?
What are the differences between planned and unplanned work?

1. Ability to plan and follow through or will he/she depend
  on a supervisor for planning?

2. Ability to coordinate work of others?
3. Ability to fit into company methods?
4. Ability to think of ways of improving methods? 
5. Will he/she see the whole job or get caught up in details?
Tell me about your strengths/your weaknesses.

Are your weaknesses important enough to do something about them?   Why or why not?

How do you feel about these weaknesses?

How would you size up your last employer?

Most useful criticism received? From whom?Tell me about it.
Most useless?

How do you handle fault finders?
1. Realistic in appraising self? 

2. Desire for self improvement?


3. Interested in problems of others? 

4. Interested in reaction of others to self? 

5. Will this person take constructive action on weaknesses?    

6. How does he/she take criticism?  

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Have you ever organized a group? Tell me about it.

What methods are effective in dealing with people?
What methods are ineffective?

What kind of people do you get along with best?

Do you prefer making new friends or keeping old ones? Why?
How would you go about making friends?
What must a person do to be liked by others?
1. Is this person a leader or follower?    
2. Interested in new ways of dealing with people? 
3. Can get along best with what types of people?  

4. Will this person get along with the group over the long term?

5. Can make friends easily?   

The Hanover Consulting Group
Executive Search for the Financial Service Industries