I have been asked recently by a good friend to share with him my learnings on how to successfully interview business candidates. He knew that I've been interviewing for over 25 years, and he felt that I could share some useful lessons with him.
It all started in 1998, when, while working in Marketing at Procter & Gamble, I went on to get qualified as an interviewer, helping HR to select the right candidates for the jobs that the company had available. I actually enjoyed it so much that I kept on interviewing ever since and learning quite a lot in the process…
Over 25 years and several hundred interviewed candidates later, prompted by my good friend, I am hereby distilling what I have learned as far as successful interviewing is concerned. A big disclaimer to start with: the below learnings reflect my own experience, and I do not pretend that they are universally applicable. Still, I believe they might help others in their interviewing activity and improve their success rate.
The Core Principles of Successful Interviewing
1. There is No Recipe for Fail-Proof Recruiting
As much as we would love, there is NO way we can be 100% sure that the candidate will be a perfect fit for the job. Jokingly, the only way to be 100% sure about our decision is to reject everyone! Then we will not be making recruiting mistakes 😊
But the more we approach interviewing with the mindset of the owners of the business, the higher the chances that we will pass only the valuable candidates.
2. Never, Ever, Compromise on Recruiting Quality
I have been tempted several times to take people who were partially fit for the job because the job was without a job holder for quite a long time, and I desperately needed somebody. How wrong I was!
In each of the cases, I had to fire the person because the performance was simply not there! And I ended up working more versus the case when I would have waited for the right candidate.
3. Look for People Who Are Better Than You Are
You, as a manager, are as good as the worst performer in your team (the "weak link" principle). Strong managers look for better people than themselves.
My first boss told me that he dreams about becoming redundant, because we would be so good that he would not have anything left to do. If for nothing else, think that very strong people will drive your business results so high that you will be a superstar!
4. When in Doubt, Throw Out
Sometimes I felt that something was missing in the candidate, but I could not point to what exactly. I simply had doubts, but in a couple of cases, I went on and hired the candidate. Wrong again!
The persons did not fit after all, and I ended up looking again for candidates.
5. "Would You Hire This Person to Work for Your Own Company?"
This is one of the "hot" questions that all P&G interviewers have to answer before recommending hiring a candidate. I simply loved it because it forces you to be bluntly honest and say whether you see yourself working with that person or not.
6. Cultural Fit is Non-Negotiable
Make sure that the person fits in the existing organization from a cultural/behavioral point of view. This is a very important learning!
I saw excellent people, well prepared from a professional point of view, but who did not fit in the local culture and could not work efficiently with other internal stakeholders. I recently saw a GM of a large FMCG company rejecting a couple of strong candidates in Marketing because he realized that the candidates were not tough enough and would not withstand the discussions with Sales and Trade Marketing department members!
7. Behavioral Interviewing: The CAR Approach
I found that behavioral interviewing offers a pretty strong and accurate image of the candidate. Use the CAR approach!
When I was very junior in interviewing, I found myself quite easily wooed by well-articulated candidates who spoke beautifully. But when I was using the CAR approach, I could see immediately who's just "reciting from books" and who actually did work himself/herself.
What is the CAR approach?
CAR is the acronym for Context-Action-Result. You ask the candidate to give you personal examples in which he/she exhibited a certain behavior that you are interested in (say "leadership") by specifying:
- The context in which the story happened
- The action he/she took
- The result of that action
This is called behavioral interviewing: you want to see examples of concrete behaviors of the person that illustrate certain behaviors/traits.
The 8 Paramount Traits to Look For
a. Leadership
This is so important that I can't stress it enough. It's the same as being the engine of the business, like the locomotive of a train.
You must see that the person has the desire and capacity to drive the business forward, to envision a better future for the business, and use their own and others' abilities to get there.
b. An Unquenchable Thirst for Learning
"When you are finished learning, you are finished."
Simply put, I never wanted to work with somebody who was content with his/her level of development. The only constant thing in life is change, and we must be willing to change and look for the change opportunity.
This includes the desire to improve yourself, learn new abilities, fine-tune the existing ones, get up to date with the latest developments, etc. This is the only way to progress.
c. Be a "Completer"
Always finish what he/she started, despite adversities. Almost anybody can start a project, but it takes perseverance to close it.
By "close it," I mean bringing it to a conclusion: either complete it by saying "it is done", or complete it by saying "it cannot be done". But never procrastinate and leave it hanging forever.
d. Strategic Thinker / Big Picture
You want people who have a helicopter view of the business and can rise above the day-to-day work to drive strategic decisions.
This implies understanding the long-term consequences of possible decisions and recommending the most appropriate one for the situation (including understanding of the key stakeholders). This is very hard to find, and unfortunately, not many universities teach their students this.
e. Team Player and Team Builder
You want somebody who coagulates the team together and who adds value to it.
I usually ask what the person achieved as part of the team and how he/she contributed to the team. I also probe asking how he/she managed to keep relationships through tense or conflictual situations.
Watch out for those who say they never had conflicts in their life!
f. "Can Do" Attitude – Half Full Glass in All Situations
Can the person find the positive side of all situations? Or is the person always looking for flaws and issues?
You definitely must look for those who approach any adversity as an opportunity to find a better way. Remember Edison, who said that he did not fail 10,000 times when trying to make the light bulb! He said that he learned 10,000 ways in which he should NOT do the bulb!
g. Ethics Are NOT Negotiable
Being (or not) ethical is a binary question. It does not have "shades of grey". It's like being partially pregnant! Cannot be!
Obviously, you never ask the question so overtly. You can get a flavor for the candidate's ethics if you ask questions like:
- "Tell me a situation in which you solved a complicated problem in an unusual way"
- What would they do if they found out that a good friend from the same company did something unethical
The answer will be a good indicator of the candidate's ethical standards.
Wishing you the very best of luck in getting the best possible people for your needs!