Page 147 - Boost Your Hiring

The Surefire Way to Boost Your Score 133

give you an indication of when they were most motivated or did their
best work.
Having the applicants walk you through their résumé will be a very
rich source of information. It is worthwhile to spend 15 minutes or so of
the one-hour interview on the résumé. It will give you a context to refer
to when you begin to ask behavioral types of questions.

What Is Causing You to Consider Leaving Your Current Job or
What Caused You to Leave Your Last Job?
There is usually a specific reason or event that prompts a person to leave
a job. Many candidates will give you a textbook answer to this question
such as one of the following:
• Quit to find a more challenging job: Candidates will talk about
seeking a “greater challenge, where they can use their skills to the
best of their ability.” Try to find out exactly what all that means to
them. Follow up with questions like, “What kind of a challenge are
you looking for? What makes you think we can offer a more chal-
lenging job then their last employer did?” Do they really know
what they are looking for, or are they simply applying at companies
that have openings?

• Laid off: Many people have been laid off. How do they convey this
information? Did they see the layoff coming and remain at their job
because they were in denial? Were they proactive about the layoff?
Did they see this as a necessary business decision? Are they part of a
large reduction in force? Why them? Watch for signs of anger or the
display of feelings of betrayal.
• Fired: Some candidates may have been fired. They may want to
make it sound like it was their decision or the fault of someone else.
In either case, be sure to probe for more detail. If it happened before,
it could happen again. We’ve all made mistakes in life. Are they
willing to take responsibility for their mistake? Probe to under-
stand how they came out of the situation with questions like,
“What did you learn from the experience?” or, “How would you
handle that situation differently today?”
Sometimes candidates do not have much in the way of past work ex-
perience. If you are interviewing for an entry level position or are some-
one who has just graduated from school, this person will not have had a
lot of experience to talk about. Ask questions about classes, projects, in-
ternships, part-time jobs, or volunteer work. As with every candidate,
you are trying to get an idea of this person’s past behavior, and under
what circumstances he or she was motivated.