Cut to the Chase -Interview suggestions for from me and Nobel Prize winner

How about next time you are interviewing a candidate you start out with “What was the first thing you did this am”??Let’s assume you will stump them, perhaps even make them blush if they have an efficient digestive track - but nothing wrong with a little chuckle to set the stage for a nice exchange during an interview.

I know there are tons of other articles to help suggest unique questions to help assess the “perfect candidate”.?I guess MY question is, what are you trying to gage when you interview??I know – you are looking to make sure that the candidates not going to boil a rabbit in your kitchen.?Ok strange example but it just came to mind.?I assume you are ALL looking for the same thing. Someone who can do the job but looking at a CV likely they have done it so assume we are talking from a personality.? I hear it time and time again.?“I need someone who can “hit the ground running”, someone “easy to work with”, “flexible”, tolerant, takes initiative”, on and on.?We also have all learned through life..ie: work, friends, family, that there are a lot of moving parts to a personality. What makes someone successful at some things and others unsuccessful at other things, or the same things. You get it…

I recommend the “what did you do this am” almost as a joke, but then I thought about it.?It isn’t such a bad idea.?What provoked this idea was my daughter mentioned how she read how research has shown that a lot of successful people, CEO’s or other folks put in the high achievers lane, think Bill Gates, Tom Brady.?What a lot of them have in common is they make their bed.?My dad has mentioned this to me and my kids –“Make your bed, start your day right/feel a sense of accomplishment first thing” as it is something he learned in the service.?Although no bed making has been seen since his time in the service reports my mom:)….

Anyway - I am a recruiter, matchmaker AKA headhunter or call it what you will.?I get paid to help clients find the right candidate.?My role is to really help find ANY candidate in a market where there is a HUGE demand and very little supply ( 3-5x jobs to candidates), but I also try and listen to what my clients/candidates want and “make the match” -?however I am not clairvoyant.?In the book the “Tender Bar” when it was referring to the success of the bar, "was it the burgers or the comradery", but in the end one never know - so many moving parts.?The mood, lightening, weather, the wind… So hard to predetermine where success will happen.

An interview.. not always to deliver the right answer but else to forecast success?

“Nobel prize winner Daneil Kahneman talked about a technique he created years ago.?As a young lieutenant, he was asked to improve the Israeli army’s haphazard process of assessing capabilities among combat-eligible recruits.?Armed with a psychology degree and infantry experience, he brashly made up some criteria, developed questions to elicit relevant facts, and insisted interviewers ask only what he specified. Each recruit would be given a score on each criterion, and the overall “Kahneman score” would be used in deciding how demanding a role was suitable.”??https://www.wsj.com/articles/daniel-kahneman-how-companies-can-improve-their-hiring-process-11632225600?mod=ig_csuitereport

?The scoring system worked after you decided the top attributes you need for a role.?Is it honesty, promptness, and so on.?You structure questions based on this and eeveryone asks same questions and you give them points and candidates get a score.?It helped in some roles, not in all and he even admitted, at the end of the day, maybe intuition is just as accurate.

So, while my plan relies on candidates to be self- aware I say you give it a whirl.?Get to the punchline or as again, CUT TO THE CHASE.?The “What did you do first thing that am, but really “What do I need to know about you that I will likely find out in 6 months”….

Again takes some self awareness… here is my new intro if I were to interviewing again.

My weaknesses - Not detail oriented, I mean I can guarantee a typo in almost every communication, texts/emails and while we are at it I may not be grammatically correct in my dialogues w you or in this story.?I miss meetings/calls, my phone dies in the middle of calls and zooms.?I fight depression and anxiety and am likely on the early spectrum of bi-polar 2 (not bipolar 1/different and I am lucky) and I am un-medicated and use lifestyle to cope - but you will never know any of this –I am high functioning.

Strengths- I am extremely hard working, and likely could put this under weakness -depending on the audience - employer or family.?Transparent/honest, I will always will take a hit if some mistake has occurred and will always make it right.?The bipolar,2 is likely the explanation of my speed and tenacity you need and commitment to succeed in this line of profession.?Because I fight depression and anxiety I am extremely compassionate and candidates really seem to like me, and well some clients too.?I bring humor and a sense of ease, because, well really we are all “walking each other home” at the end of the day so my 1st goal in any situation is to be kind.?Anything I have done I have found pretty much success…you want to hire me.

?Ok, little self-promoting but I am not looking for a job or any new clients really, just having a little fun but to show no perfect candidate, I promise you that.?Look around at your network, friends, family, neighbors.?Surely you can see the pros and cons of most humans.

?But as Nobel prize minds agree, isn’t it all a whim, leap of faith –going through life… and nothing comes w a full guarantee, well except taxes or death –SO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS AND JUST MAKE THE HIRE!