Human Resource

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140210135852-20017018-conduct-the-perfect-job-interview-in-twelve-simple-steps

Candidates selected for interviews should know exactly what to expect: when they will interview, where they will interview, who will be involved in the interviews… everything. Make sure there are no surprises, no tricks, no uncertainties, and no loose ends.

Remember, the first day on the job for the person you hire is the first day you contact them. Be considerate, be thoughtful… be awesome. If you’re not, the best candidate may decide your company is not the right fit for her.

Spend twice the time on homework as you do on the interview.

Lots of people glance at a resume a couple minutes before the interview. How will you ask intelligent questions and create compelling conversations when you don't know a lot about each person ahead of time?

Start with the resume and pretend you're the candidate. Your first job was at ACME Industries. Hmm. What did I accomplish? What projects did I work on? Why did I get promoted? What does that say about my interests and my work ethic?

Then look at "my" next job. Why did I leave my first job? What does that say about my career path? What does that say about my interests? What did I accomplish there that I didn't accomplish at my first job?

Pretend you are the candidate and look beyond facts and figures; read between the lines to get a sense of that individual's interests, goals, successes, failures, etc.

Then do a quick survey of social media. (Don't feel bad; I guarantee the candidate is checking you and your company out the same way.) What are the candidate's interests? What does she like to do in her spare time? Whom does she network with?

Your goal is to know as much about the candidate as you can, not in some creepy stalker way but so you will be able to...

Make the interview a conversation, not an interrogation.

The best interviews are actually conversations... but you can't have a conversation with someone you hardly know. Again, the more you know about the candidate ahead of time the more you can ask questions that give the candidate room for self-analysis or introspection.

And once you ask a question, the key is to listen. Give the conversation room to breathe. Often candidates will fill a silent hole with additional examples, more detail, or a completely different perspective on the question you asked.

That will allow you to ask thoughtful questions too -- and when you do, candidates will open up and speak more freely because they realize you're not just asking a list of questions. You're actually engaged.

Always ask follow up questions.

The most revealing answers usually come from follow-up questions. Listen to the initial answer, then ask why. Or when. Or how a situation turned out. Or who actually did what. Or what made a success difficult to achieve. Or what was learned from a failure.

Follow-up questions take you past the canned responses and into the details. That's a great place to go, because like the devil, the true superstars show up in the details.

Spend as much time answering questions as you do asking.

Great candidates are evaluating you, your company, and whether they really want to work for you. They'll ask questions.

Give them time to ask. Answer thoughtfully. Be open and candid. But never sell. Trust that great candidates will recognize a great fit and a great opportunity.

Describe the next steps.

At the end of the interview always describe the rest of the process. Explain what you will do and when you plan to do it. Few things are worse than having no idea what, when, or if something happens next. Don't force the interviewee to ask. Tell them.

Provide closure -- every time.

Failing to follow up is incredibly rude, especially to people who pay your business the highest compliment of all by saying they would like to work with you (and therefore spend more time with you than they do with their families.) And if common courtesy isn't incentive enough, there's a business reason, too: if you don’t provide closure people won't complain to you... but they will complain about you and your company.

This principle should apply to every person who applies for a job, regardless of whether or not they were interviewed or even seriously considered for an interview. Before you post an opening, always decide how you will close the loop with every person who responds. Every one.

Sense-check with bystanders.

Interviewees give you their best: They're up, engaged, and switched on. But how do they act when they aren't trying to impress you? What candidates do while they're waiting in your lobby can tell you a lot. Find out how they treated the receptionist. Find out what they did while they waited. Ask if there were any chance encounters with other employees.

Contact references.

But don't just contact the references the candidate provides; after all, that's a handpicked list. Check out the people in the candidate's network; chances are you know someone who knows someone who knows the candidate and can speak to her experience, skills, attitude, etc. You have a network. Use it. A terrible candidate may wish you hadn't stuck to her list of references... but a great candidate never will.

Conduct one more interview.

Even if you think you're sure, give yourself one more chance to be absolutely positive that you're making the right decision. Hold another interview. Or take the candidate out for dinner. Or go to a ballgame or play a round of golf. If you have any doubt at all, however small -- or even if you don't -- take that one extra step to be sure. Don't worry: Great candidates won't mind an opportunity to spend more time together because they want to be sure they are making the right decision, too.

Make an enthusiastic offer.

You should be excited when you find the best candidate. So let your excitement show. Show your enthusiasm. Don't be coy; don't play the, "I better not seem too excited or she might expect a higher salary," game. In a great employer-employee relationship there is no upper hand. The right candidate is just as excited to come on board as you are to welcome them. Don’t pretend you’re doing the best candidate a favor by hiring her; see it as she is doing you a favor by joining your company.

5 Questions Great Job Candidates Ask by Jeff Hayden

Great candidates ask questions they want answered because they're evaluating you, your company--and whether they really want to work for you.

Here are five questions great candidates ask:

1. What do you expect me to accomplish in the first 60 to 90 days?

Great candidates want to hit the ground running. They don't want to spend weeks or months "getting to know the organization."

They want to make a difference--right away.

2. What are the common attributes of your top performers?

Great candidates also want to be great long-term employees. Every organization is different, and so are the key qualities of top performers in those organizations.

Maybe your top performers work longer hours. Maybe creativity is more important than methodology. Maybe constantly landing new customers in new markets is more important than building long-term customer relationships. Maybe it's a willingness to spend the same amount of time educating an entry-level customer as helping an enthusiast who wants high-end equipment.

Great candidates want to know, because 1) they want to know if they fit, and 2) if they do fit, they want to be a top performer.

3. What are a few things that really drive results for the company?

Employees are investments, and every employee should generate a positive return on his or her salary. (Otherwise, why are they on the payroll?)

In every job, some activities make a bigger difference than others. You need your HR folks to fill job openings, but what you really want is for HR to find the right candidates, because that results in higher retention rates, lower training costs, and better overall productivity.

You need your service techs to perform effective repairs, but what you really want is for those techs to identify ways to solve problems and provide other benefits--in short, to generate additional sales.

Great candidates want to know what truly makes a difference. They know helping the company succeed means they succeed as well.

4. What do employees do in their spare time?

Happy employees 1) like what they do and 2) like the people they work with.

Granted, this is a tough question to answer. Unless the company is really small, all any interviewer can do is speak in generalities.

What's important is that the candidate wants to be sure of having a reasonable chance of fitting in--because great job candidates usually have options.

5. How do you plan to deal with...?

Every business faces a major challenge: technological changes, competitors entering the market, shifting economic trends. There's rarely a Warren Buffett moat protecting a small business.

So while some candidates may see your company as a steppingstone, they still hope for growth and advancement; if they do eventually leave, they want it to be on their terms and not because you were forced out of business.

Say I'm interviewing for a position at your bike shop. Another shop is opening less than a mile away: How do you plan to deal with the new competitor? Or you run a poultry farm (a huge industry in my area): What will you do to deal with rising feed costs?

Great candidates don't just want to know what you think; they want to know what you plan to do--and how they will fit into those plans.