How do you pick the best person when candidates hire services to write their resumes, they make up canned responses to canned interview questions and Colleges encourage students to exaggerate their small accomplishments.
You have to change the way the games are played or you’ll never find the diamonds that will make your life easier and help you succeed.
Marc Zboch is a philanthropist and experienced entrepreneur. He has hired thousands of employees and has tracked them from the initial interview to their eventual rise or stagnation.
Common Traits of “A” Players
Brad Smart developed a revolutionary screening process for GE. He discovered that star employees had good relationships with prior employers. They could contact former bosses directly and left on good terms.
“A” employees typically changed jobs for better opportunities and had steady career growth. Often someone above them would go to another Company then try to bring the employee with them. Before you write the person off as a “job hopper”, find out why they changed jobs.
“A” employees seek out high growth opportunities. They value new challenges. Your job ads need to appeal to this desire. You have to sell your company and the opportunity. You don’t want the person just looking for a paycheck, you want the person who wants to make a difference.
Star employees have curious minds. They ask good questions and like to know how things work. They’re not content to just sit and wait to be told what to do.
They often don’t have the education or experience level we would have desired. Unfortunately, many companies weed out great candidates with unnecessary requirements. If you are requiring a Masters degree then ask yourself if you would be happy with a star employee who did not have a Masters.
Your job ad should request their resume and a brief answer to the question “Why do you think you would be a good fit for this position?”
This will save you from having to decipher their resume to find out how their experience is relevant to your position. It also shows you how they can write and communicate. You also get an early indication of whether they deliver more than minimum expectations. Successful people in this world give more than they get. It’s ingrained in them.
Your job ad needs say, “must have good relationships with previous employers- no burnt bridges”. This will cut your response in half, but it will cut the people you don’t want to spend time on.
During the interview, ask about work hours, deadlines, and overtime. When deadlines came up were they out the door at 5:00 or did they prioritize the company’s needs?
It’s important that you know what their expectations for themselves are before hiring them onto a team. You want someone who can meet deadlines, so everyone isn’t stressed out all of the time!
How do you handle conflict or difficult situations at work?
Conflict management skills are essential in any workplace. Marc Zboch says that If an employee doesn’t have these skills, we would recommend not hiring them as it could result in negative consequences down the track.
Questions to Ask Your Hiring Team
Just like you want to know if you’re interviewing the right person for the job, you also want to know if your hiring team is looking for the right person.
Who is the right candidate?
It isn’t just about asking if someone can get to work at eight in the morning, but also what experience they have had with successful companies, what skills they possess that can help your company grow, who their references are, and more! Keep these things in mind when interviewing future applicants to ensure you hire the right person for your business. However, the greatest benefit of all is finding out how well it would fit this job position and see if it was good for the company.
What are the right questions to ask each candidate?
If you want to hire someone, of course, they must be a good fit for your position and work well with others in the team. Here are some great interview questions that can help weed out those who aren’t qualified:
- Do you have any experience working remotely before?
- How would you describe yourself professionally?
- What are three adjectives that define their personality on the job?
- Can you tell me about when things weren’t going as planned at work and how they made you feel?
- Are there any tasks or projects which they failed but then succeeded later because of these failures?
- Have they ever been given responsibility for something without instructions or guidance only to find themselves in over their head?
Use the Truth Serum
Find out the names of their former bosses and where they are at now. Phrase important questions the following way: “When I talk to (former bosses name) and ask ________, what will they tell me?”
Some questions could be:
- What will they say was your best attributes?
- What will they say were things you needed to improve upon?
- What will they say was the reason for your employment ending?
- What will they’re opinion be of your work ethic?
How do you know if they are a good fit for your company?
Marc Zboch says that finding the right person to work with is important. It can determine how productive the business will be and make it easier on both parties when there’s conflict. To ensure that you hire someone who has experience and skills that match your company’s needs, ask these questions during an interview:
- What would this candidate contribute to our team?
- Do they have any industry knowledge or specialization that we need for our position at hand?
- How quickly could they learn new tasks or processes here so that nothing falls through the cracks due to lack of information from them about what’s expected of them by us and vice versa?
- What type of work environment or culture do they prefer to be in?
How can you check if the applicant is a good fit for your company before hiring them full-time?
When interviewing applicants, it’s important to ask questions about qualifications and experience and other jobs with successful companies. This will show that they can take the initiative and find success in their career. It’s also crucial as an employer to make sure that you weigh past failures because oftentimes, those who best succeed are willing to try again after failing, which speaks volumes about their character! Finally, interviewees should never expect any clues from the interviewer, so don’t reveal too much information during interviews – it is the employer’s responsibility to do their research and come up with questions.
Be careful not to put too much weight on communication abilities. Often the best employee can be an introvert. Ben Franklin said “Well Done is better than Well Said”.
Conclusion
Hiring the right person for your company is an important decision. The interview process can be stressful and time-consuming, but it should also be a fun experience where you get to meet new people while getting to know more about what they can do for your company. So whether you are interviewing someone over coffee or on Skype, make sure that before and during the interview, you ask these questions to not miss out on hiring someone great!
