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Alicia BassukJodi Glickman
February 19, 2016
According to Elon Musk, a good way to tell if a candidate is fibbing about his
or her qualifications is whether they can use a personal story to illustrate a
particularly telling experience. If someone was really the person that solved
a problem, they ll be able to answer the question on multiple levels, he says.
Anyone who really solves a problem never forgets it.
Whether it s because they re hiding something, or because they re just plain
nervous, job candidates often offer canned responses. One option is to dismiss
the person outright, but you may actually be missing out on a great candidate
who s instinctively gravitating toward answers to questions they spent time
preparing.
If you re willing to dig in, take a few risks, or change tactics, you can get a
better sense of the real person behind the candidate, and to catch a glimpse of
what it would be like to work together. After all, when you get someone to show
vulnerability and share a personal challenge that took them outside of their
comfort zone, you open up a whole new window into the person sitting across the
table from you or in the case of Musk, identify important warning signs.
Here are three ways to gain insight beyond the resume, beyond the prepared
responses, beyond the typical, tell me about a time you failed questions.
Practice on-the-spot coaching. Let s assume you re interviewing Maria for a
chief of staff position. Previously, Maria was a fundraiser for a non-profit.
She is professional, articulate, sharp, and enthusiastic.
If Maria is answering your questions too succinctly and you d like to hear more
depth in her answers, give her a coaching directive:
Maria, can you please answer the same question by telling me a story with an
arc?
If Maria stumbles, or can t seem to answer a seemingly simple question, such as
can you describe your leadership style? give her a different coaching
directive:
Let s change the question. How would your staff describe your leadership
style?
By giving Maria some on the spot coaching, you can assess several character
traits:
Does Maria understand the feedback? Does she get it quickly and is she able
to take action and redirect in the moment?
Is she receptive to your feedback, or defensive?
Does she know how to ask clarifying questions?
Does she integrate the feedback into the rest of the interview or does she
continue to offer succinct answers or stories without an arc?
If your answer is no to any of the above questions, it may give you pause
about giving Maria the thumbs up to head to the next round of interviews.
Interview candidates in a group. Southwest Airlines invites groups of people to
interview for flight attendant positions at one time, largely to observe the
social interactions among candidates during a naturally high-stress situation.
Interviewers then ratchet up the stress level by cold-calling specific
candidates to answer questions, and creating scenarios which strain social
dynamics such as giving candidates opportunities to prove themselves without
throwing others under the bus.
The interviewers then sit back and watch the situation play out, getting
answers to such questions as:
Who emerges as a natural leader, building on the strengths of others or
changing the flow of dialogue for the better?
Who challenges and brings out the best in others?
Who personifies the spirit and culture of Southwest taking their work, but
not themselves, too seriously?
Did someone find a way to disagree without doing so at the expense of another
candidate?
Conversely, those who are challenged by the collaboration will likely miss out
on opportunities to add value to the conversation. They may contradict another
candidate or isolate themselves from social interactions before or after the
group interview.
Test the fit. Lastly, the interview is a perfect time to test the cultural fit
of the candidate. Vosges, a company that sells artisan chocolates and that one
of us has worked with, evokes a brand that is hip and creative. This leads some
candidates to expect a flexible workplace (i.e. working from home) with little
to no face-time. In fact, Vosges culture is built on the energy that comes
from all employees working in pods throughout the office, and meetings held in
beautifully decorated rooms adjacent to the factory floor.
Asking people detailed questions about culture is an effective way to expose
work preferences, assumptions, and biases. When a candidate says they re
looking for an entrepreneurial culture, ask them to define what that means,
using stories from their past or specific examples about what they want in the
future. Do they read entrepreneurial to mean a culture that allows employees
to run their own group as an independent business, or does it signal a
workspace with whiteboard walls and beanbag chairs? Is a culture with a strong
sense of community one that offers a general sense of collegiality and group
lunches, or one that encourages and creates opportunities for community service
and social activities outside the office?
A similar thing happens at Coyote Logistics. Their head of marketing says the
company give candidates a manual about its culture, and then ask them to
articulate the ways in which it s fit for them and ways in which they will
enrich it if hired. They want to make sure candidates know what they are
signing up for and that s good for both the company and the potential employee.
On the spot coaching, group interviewing, and cultural fit dialogue gives you
more and better information about your candidates. It also ensures that you ll
find stronger employees whose skill sets and mission align with your
organization because you ve seen beyond the resume and beyond the prepared
responses. You ve both vetted one another on a deeper level making for better
hiring and happier employees in the long-run.
Alicia Bassuk is a leadership designer and coach, motivational speaker, and
founder of leadership development firm Ubica. She has coached C-level
executives, presidential appointees, entrepreneurs, and other leaders
internationally. Follow her on Twitter at @aliciabassuk.
Jodi Glickman is a keynote speaker and founder of communication training and
leadership development firm Great on the Job. She is the author of Great on the
Job and a contributor to the HBR Guide to Getting the Right Job. Follow her on
Twitter at @greatonthejob.