“…but he interviewed so well!” the frustrated manager lamented at a leadership conference I presented for last week. “He was so sharp…so prepared. I thought he’d be a great fit. But when he came in for training, he was like a totally different person.”
“That’s because you didn’t interview him. You probably interviewed his parents.” I replied.
When you discover that a good friend, colleague, or your own son or daughter is going to interview for a job, naturally you want to help them. After all, you’ve been through many interviews, and you know what it takes to make a great first impression and stand out from the crowd. So if they’re open to suggestions, you let them know some of the questions they’ll likely be asked, and coach them on how they should answer those questions.
And if you were to direct that individual to go search for a book on ‘how to interview for a job’ on Amazon, they’d have more than 6200 from which to chose. There’s no shortage of materials and resources to help them prepare for the interview.
But if this individual is asked the questions you or one of those books predicted they’d be asked, and they answered those questions exactly the way in which it was suggested they answered and, in fact, got the job, …would they be able to keep it?
WHO IS THE REAL APPLICANT?
The ultimate goal of an interview is to determine whether the person sitting in front of you has the skills, the attitude, and the core work ethic values that you know are essential for success in your organization. If they provide the right answers, but don’t personally align with those answers, you’re going to make a bad hire.
The solution is to ask interview questions they haven’t been coached on how to answer. These aren’t trick questions, but rather questions that cause an applicant to think, reflect on their own experience, and respond in an authentic way. If their response merits further investigation, you should be prepared with follow-up questions that provide a deeper look into how your candidate’s skill set and character aligns with your needs and your culture.
UP YOUR INTERVIEW GAME
If you want to make certain the interviewee is the person you are actually hiring, start fresh. Write down all the questions you typically ask in an interview; those you consider ‘staples’. Review that list, and if you remember ever being asked any of those questions, eliminate them from your repertoire. Even if you are the originator of a question, and it’s one you’ve been using for more than 2 or 3 years, it’s probably now part of the public domain and your applicants have been prepped on how to respond. Delete those as well.
As you rethink your interview questions, begin with the end in mind. Carefully consider the combination of skill sets and core values you require for each position. Then create a series of new, meaningful questions that enable you to determine if the person in front of you is, in fact, the real deal or a dummy being manipulated by someone behind the curtain.
This is a great post, Eric.
As an HR vet and off and on recruiter (depending on my role at the time) I can sometimes fall victim to being wowed by the most charismatic candidate/best interviewer as opposed to the one that has the best technical skills for the job. Your suggestion about thinking of questions to make the candidate reflect on his/her experiences is really helpful here.
Best,
Rory