Hiring a person, not a product: Making the interview interesting and successful

For both the interviewer and the interviewee, ever wondered if the interview was interesting?

What if the exchange was different, meaningful, fun, valuable, and relevant and most importantly delivered the desired outcome?!

A good evaluation of the candidate on a professional and personal front.

A welcome move and change away from the drab, mundane, sedate, clichéd enquiry and prepared response.” A weakness should also come out as strength “.It’s onus is ours if tomorrow the weakness emerges as nothing as but a ‘weakness’ because that’s what it is .A weakness.

Over the past few months, here on LinkedIn, I have come across some great insights from HR Professionals, Industry Leaders, CEOs, Life Coaches, Mentors and people who after having been seen and done it all have ventured out into their chosen vocation and been mighty successful at that too, sharing their thoughts on the HR aspect of business and especially the recruitment process.

The message seems consistent .A call for change in the recruitment process .Reasons vary depending upon the topic chosen from challenges of AI to bringing in a human touch, from having a global perspective to handling the millennial, from startups to work and life balance .One of my favorites, is how more than the company, the role and position and the emoluments, the new generation has begun choosing “joy and satisfaction “in the job and at the workplace.

Over the past few months, I have participated in a couple of interviews as a candidate over multiple rounds and sensed an opportunity for improvement, especially in the ‘exchange “lending scope for more positivity, life in the discussion and desired outcomes.

An actor is as good as the audience .A captain is as good as the team .Let me add some of my own here .The interviewee is as good as the interviewer and the interview as good as the company intends or makes it to be.

 Disclaimer: I am not a HR professional .Views expressed here as purely my own based on my experience and insights .The article does not rely on any research or survey. This is about senior positions only.

 Candidates with more than ten years of work experience are proven in their field of expertise .So to make the interview interesting and meaningful it is suggested to avoid standard questions to avoid receiving answers which are parroted .It is like rote learning which we want our children to avoid and yet we conveniently end up encouraging the same in the Corporate consciously or sub-consciously. The few drawbacks of asking standard, expected questions is that

# Answers are prepared and predictable

#Unreal

# artificial

#Unnatural

#practiced

#person can be quite different between stage and life

It is important that the interviewer prepare for the interview as well .This will help evaluate the candidate better and also save time for both parties .Some pointers that might be useful from an interviewer’s perspective .

$Review the candidates profile: resume, LinkedIn, references if any

$Discuss the profile with any other interviewer from previous rounds

$Use above to set up specific questions but do not make it too technical

$Pick up questions you would specifically like to test regarding personality from the personal and hobby profile as work related situations and answers would be mostly pre – prepared.

$It is not just a question and answer session .The onus to make it interesting and worthwhile is on the interviewer and the company as the stakes are high and it’s an intended investment in a resource.

$If the intent is to understand the person .Ask as many questions possible on the personal front .You are hiring a person not a product.

In summary of all above, the intent is to convey that the questions being asked in interviews need change .NOW! There is no doubt that it will yield following advantage and benefits in evaluation of candidates.

#spontaneity

#awareness

#Creativity

#Alertness

#Response to surprise

#Sense of humor

#Confidence

#Value Systems

#Character

#Personality

#Ability to hold an audience (screen presence)

#Management of the personal and the professional

As mentioned, I am not an HR professional or expert .So if some experts decide they may frame the enquiry to ask much better questions or edit the ones below if they feel the intent is right but the framing needs improvement , please so share the outcome .Sharing below some questions that come to my mind .The intent here is to honestly avoid the standard (Tell us about yourself, strength, Weakness, Biggest Achievement, Biggest Failure) fare.

 So here they come:

# What can you share about yourself especially your career that is not mentioned in your resume, yet you would like for us to know?

This is a good question to start .Comes out of the blue and tests the candidate’s presence of mind to not only answer but come with significant something.

# What do you think about the role? Would you like to suggest any changes and why?

Now, the engagement starts .This provides an idea about the understanding of the role and a serious reflection around interest. Some suggestions can indeed be valuable if the candidate wishes to modify and share so.

# You have mentioned “X” as of one your big success stories, ten years back. Why do you think it is so significant? Could you do it better and if given a chance again what would change about it today?

Firstly, this puts the candidate in a comfortable situation helping him reminisce his achievement. Secondly, the second part helps evaluate if the candidate is able to apply and express his added experience or learning over the ten years in improving further similar situation from the past .

# Have you ever hired people? Can you share the experience?      

A nice way to get insights into the thought process and decision making process. If never hired, one can ask, “how do you plan to hire people ?”

 # In your people reporting role, have you ever downgraded an employee due to non performance  ?Any reflections ?

Some questions like these help understand if the person is decisive .There is no right or wrong answer here but the way it is answered is the key.

# What are the attributes that you feel your spouse and or children admire in you and would like to emulate?

Googly ! It is most likely the response would be real and natural and can lead to further related questions. 

# On the personal front, currently, are you working on any quality, attribute that you would like to improve in yourself? If so, what and where are you on the journey?

Back to the comfortable territory of the candidate .Nowadays, everyone or almost everyone is on a path of further learning or self improvement .It is quite likely that the candidate would be too. Here more than the why and what, the how and where are important to gauge the passion and commitment levels.

# How was the company culture in your previous concern? Would you have liked to make any changes if given a chance? What and how?

One of the quick ways to not only understand the candidate’s understanding of various work cultures, but his own value systems. And moreover initiative in making a difference to the work place.

# If there is a gap, ask what learning was gained and how it would impact them as a person and professional?

Gaps are essential .I share from personal experience .I can easily sense that I have become more mature, responsible, empathetic and more forgiving and even a much better team player than earlier .My conclusion is consistent with the feedback I am getting .I express myself better .I have started writing .I have started contributing through my experience .All building blocks to becoming a good leader .Not just a manager with a fancy title. Patience, Resilience, Perseverance and Persistence are natural outcomes from a gap, if used well.

# Depending upon the whether the candidate is from within the Industry or an outside hire, seek their views on the same.

It is important to check the engagement levels and more so the influencing capability .The key supporting points will help evaluate the understanding and communication skills of the candidate. 

# What are your views on the current state of the country?

Please check the awareness levels .A senior position must be aware of the going- on .In addition, this helps check the communication levels not only in terms of speech but also translation of thoughts into words with concise messages .This can also help check any bias.

# In case there would be a change of location and clearly mentioned as a condition for application.It is best assumed that the person will move .It may well happen that they might not move in the end .But when asked no candidate will divulge the resistance to move .Rather, it helps to ask what are the immediate tasks or actions they would like to complete once they shift.

The answer helps evaluate whether the person has been spending time thinking about the move and planning for the same .It could still be that they may not move .But “ are you ready to move ?“ is just not on .

# Continuing on the movement bit, How do you compare the culture of the two places?

Another good question to check awareness .This also helps know if the candidate follows and understands culture .Each culture has its own strengths and gaps, one cannot brush them off .The key is to understand them and adapt oneself to that particular culture .In India this more pronounced between NCR and other cities .One needs to be mentally prepared for the adjustment .Ignorance of a dismissal is the first sign on impending failure.

# How do you compare our office with that of your current employer or ex –employer?

Stumped! This another great question helping assessing presence of mind and discerning between flattery and constructive criticism .How the candidate measures his reply reflects on the ability to manage people and situations.

 # If there are many changes in the profile along the way rather than asking “why have you changed so many jobs?” It is better to ask the motivation in seeking a job and under what criteria is used to enable a decision.

Having many job changes is not a bad thing .It could signify that a person is ambitious .However, it is important to understand what exactly is the final destination for the candidate .Is there a consistency in the changes? Internally, if the position in case is the highest and would not have any further movement, it is a good thing to have someone who will only stick around for 2-3 years as that is the highest position possible.

Also, nowadays with so much of restructuring happening around it’s not a bad idea to have a short term hire for two to three years.

# It helps to ask questions about the hobby .It provides a good insight into the persons stress buster module.” oh!, so you like listening to music ?What kind ? Do you buy music? Are you a collector?

Above seem routine questions but clearly provide an insight into the person behind the candidate .It can be a pointer towards how the person can assimilate into a team environment and or lead teams .Ask as many questions as you can .The candidate’s defense is down as it’s not a trick question .You might get all honest answers here .Key is to translate the same into understanding the person.

# What are the three important things you would do /change once you join us?

This is an open ended question .Has no right or wrong answer but may provide a good perspective about the candidate .The job description already might have some pointers on the company’s focus areas .Prior rounds would have enabled the candidate to learn what the company is seeking for .In addition , the candidate would have taken feedback from others ( if possible – confidentiality matters ) on what has triggered the hiring .In summary , one the response can help conclude if the candidate has done his home work and two how articulate she is . 

So, there we go.

You might be tempted to ask “after the entire lecture on a question and answer session, all you have done is set up another questionnaire?”

True .My intention here is to get rid of the standard questions and seek responses for above .The end game is answers to above .How the questions are framed or a discussion is set up is entirely up to the interviewer .

 Let me explain, with the help of an illustration by taking a random question from above.

# On the personal front, currently, are you working on any quality, attribute that you would like to improve in yourself? If so, what and where are you on the journey ?

As an interviewer, I might like to go like this

“ Well .I see you are on LinkedIn .Good profile I must say .Very impressive .I too am on it ( choice – to share or not ) .Lately , I am seeing a lot of experts talking on work life balance , management of career , personal pursuits , self improvement programs .I must say I admire the power of the medium .There is so much of learning opportunity .So , I decided to pursue good health and have set myself targets .Exercise , Diet and Good Sleep .It’s becoming a bit difficult with all the travelling now .I have also started writing .How about you /what about you ?”

In the above example , I have taken “health “ as an easy option for understanding .It could be “ teaching my children so that I can be a good coach “ , “ Practicing positivity and writing down three things I learned every day and would do better tomorrow “( self improvement ) .There is no shortage of such instances to strike a good conversation .

The idea is to change the game and transform the boring to the brilliant.