Page 152 - Boost Your Hiring

138 Boost Your Hiring IQ

• What did you mean by that statement?

• When was the last time that happened?
• Would you handle it differently knowing what you know now?

Compare and Contrast
Another way to dig deeper into the answer is to ask the candidate to
“compare and contrast” one job with another. This exercise will help
you determine the fit of the candidate to your situation.
To determine fit, one successful technique is to look back at past be-
havior and experiences. When has the candidate been most satisfied in
his or her career? When has the candidate been most dissatisfied?
By asking these questions and asking the candidates to compare and
contrast their answer against your job opening, you may uncover infor-
mation that might otherwise not have been uncovered. Many candi-
dates haven’t thought through the satisfaction they achieved in a
particular job; they are just intent on getting the job.

Behavioral Patterns—Red Lights
Sometimes you can be so impressed with the appearance and demeanor
of the person you are interviewing that you fail to see the “red lights”
flashing. The red lights are indicators that this person has had problems
with performance or behavior in previous positions or that this person
is looking for a job just to have a job with no real interest in the position
or the company. Chances are this person will soon leave your company
if something better comes along.
For example, if a person has had short spans of employment over the
last five or so years, there could be a logical reason for this, such as lay-
offs with certain industries being hit hard because of economic trends
and outsourcing. On the other hand, the problem could be deeper. It will
be your job to probe deeper to discover the real reason for the behavior.
There are many reasons why people change companies, and not all are
bad reasons.
It will be your job to turn up your listening skills and to read be-
tween the lines to determine whether this person has a problem or
has been able to roll with changes in industries and good and bad
economies.
As you can see, after reading this chapter, there is more to inter-
viewing than asking questions and getting answers. The challenge for
you as the interviewer is what to do with the information you get in
an answer. If you are a savvy interviewer, you will know what you ex-
pect in a candidate and you will take the information and analyze