Drive your business forward by hiring the best

Part Two

Last time out I looked at generating interest in your position, this month, I’m going to talk about the interview process and making an offer to your candidate of choice that gets accepted.

So, either you’ve spent hours sifting through resumes to find 4 or 5 potential candidates that you want to meet, or your search firm has provided you with a shortlist of budding superstars to interview.

Now comes the time to sit face to face with each candidate to determine if they have the technical skills to do the job and be a good fit.

The Interview

This is not a meeting that you can walk into unprepared. It’s sixty minutes that could change someone’s life.

Allow at least an hour for this meeting, maybe more if the candidate appears, on paper, to be very promising.

But there’s more. Give yourself fifteen minutes down time immediately before the interview. No phone calls, no e-mails, no interruptions, period.

Read through their resume one more time and make notes, write down a number of questions.

Every time they respond, they should be moving either closer to or further away from a move to the second interview stage.

It might be “why did you leave company ‘x’?” or “what has happened recently that has made you consider a career move?”.

Ask them where they want their career to take them, what type of work stimulates them and what their salary expectations are. You might want to throw in some hypothetical situations and see how they respond.

Each question should be designed to fulfill a purpose. Every time they respond, they should be moving either closer to or further away from a move to the second interview stage.

A candidate’s questions are as important as their answers

It’s not just their responses that count. The questions that the candidate asks are just as important as the ones they answer.

Have they done their research? Do they know your products or services?

Have they prepared questions that demonstrates that they understand how they could play a role in developing the company further?

From how they conduct themselves in the interview, you will gain a valuable insight into their psyche and this will enable you to judge whether they might be a good fit.

Dressed to kill?

We should never judge a book by its cover, but guess what sells the book? Yes, the cover!

While the clothes do not maketh the man (or woman) how they dress for this meeting often gives you a valuable insight into their mindset.

It’s a question of balance. Dressing appropriately for the occasion shows good etiquette, thoughtfulness, judgment and even professionalism.

Just ask yourself a simple question regarding their dress sense:

Would you be happy for them, dressed as they are, to represent your company at a national conference?

A ring of confidence

Do they offer you their hand and give a good, solid, reliable handshake? Do they look you in the eye and smile as they introduce themselves? Do they wait until asked, to be seated? Do they have good posture as they sit across from you? All these little things add up to a “ring of confidence” that they emit.

Does the resume match the person?

Having reviewed their resume prior to the interview, here is your opportunity to ensure that they have been properly represented on paper.

Look for gaps in their employment history, a pattern of changing jobs every eighteen months, or “personal reasons” or “personality clash” given when asked why they left this company or that company.

These are not good signs and you need to flag these issues early.

If you are given these as reasons, probe further. What were the “personal reasons”? Ask for some examples of “personality clashes” and come to your own conclusion as to whether these are valid or if they are simply a cover up.

Technical issues

Of course, if interviewing a CA, CGA or CMA, technical competency of a general nature is a given, but if the position requires very specific skills, like a tax manager for example, you might want to probe for technical ability too.

A good working knowledge of the latest technical issues is a good indication that the candidate is au-fait with their subject matter and a quick technical test is often a good way to assess what level they are at.

Another thing to check out is how long it took them to attain their designation as this can sometimes show either technical wizardry or methodical, dogged perseverance.

Clinching The Deal

After you have interviewed all short listed candidates and invited one or two back for second interviews, you should now be in a position to make a decision and extend an offer of employment to your first choice candidate.

At this point, your listening and note-taking skills come under scrutiny.

By knowing what it is that the person really wants to do, where they want their career to take them, and by demonstrating that this position is the first step on that journey, you can substantially reduce your chances of having an offer rejected.

Furthermore, if you have asked what the candidates salary expectations are and noted it, when you come to make an offer, if you are able to exceed this by, say, $5,000 (see my July 2002 column to find out why) then you should rarely be in a position where an offer is rejected.

Subject to references

Of course, all offers at this stage should be subject to satisfactory references, and once the offer is accepted on those terms, now is the time to check out those references vigilantly.

Ask about the candidate’s commitment at their previous employers, check out their leadership skills, whether they work well as part of a team, ask about their initiative and time keeping and sickness record.

Ask if the referee would hire them back if they had the opportunity, and listen carefully for any signs of doubt – such as hesitation.

Assuming you have good responses from referees, you simply have to agree on a start date.

Next time: I will be looking at how to motivate your team to consistently achieve peak performance.