Your Interviewing Superpower!

In recruiting, there is a truism, “People are hired for what they can do, and are fired for who they are.”

As hard as it is to determine a candidate’s hard skills during an interview, it is even more difficult to obtain a clear and accurate picture of a candidate’s character and personality.  

Even if you have a comprehensive interview process, spend hours with the candidate and trust your decision instincts, all that pales in comparison to the knowledge held by the people who know the candidate’s job performance best: former bosses, peers and, subordinates.

The problem with reference checks is that too often they are conducted after the hiring decision has been made. Then, that decision is “verified” through cursory reference checks, that are marginally useful because either the reference sources were hand-picked by the candidate (they loaded the deck), and/or the process is seen as too time-consuming by the hiring manager and subsequently delegated to someone that’s just checking a box.

This is a big mistake!

Make reference checks your interviewing superpower.

The only way you can know with certainty that your impression of a candidate is accurate and they have been telling you the truth, is by conducting multiple, in-depth reference checks before you make the decision to hire them.

Here is how to wield your superpower:

View the reference process as a continuation of the interview and personally speak to each reference. Withhold making a hiring decision until after you have spoken with all of the references (yes, all of them – no one said superpowers were easy). Approach it as an assessment or audit of what you discovered in your interviews and be very specific in the questions you ask each reference, especially in regards to soft skills. Just like the interviews, this is too important to delegate.

A technique I’ve learned over my 25 years as a recruiter is to document key statements during the interview, such as a self-admitted weaknesses, and then re-position it as a question to the previous supervisor so it sounds like this: “Mr. Supervisor, Ms. Candidate shared with me that her greatest shortfall while working there was her failure to develop a solid working relationship with the financial department, which in turn, led to detrimental delays in returning proposals to several key customers and subsequently, the team didn’t achieve its annual goal, would you agree?” By demonstrating to the previous supervisor that you’ve established enough rapport to have gleaned this kind of information from the candidate, you’ll find that they are much more willing to speak and are more candid in their answers. Do not hesitate to ask follow-up questions to gain a complete understanding.

(For more questions like the one above, see the BONUS at the end)

You pick the references and have the candidate arrange the calls. As mentioned in a previous article, the “promise of reference checks” is your interviewing “truth-serum” and it requires the candidate to supply a list of all supervisors along with 2 peers, 2 subordinates and, 2 customers (if hiring someone in sales) for each position they've held over the previous 10 years. Then, after you’ve picked the references with which you want to speak, have the candidate make the introduction on your behalf. I’ve found that it’s even better if the candidate copies you on each of the introduction emails to their references.

Taking these steps to wield your superpower will require practice and an investment in time, however, it will result in a dramatic improvement in the quality of hire, and subsequently, a marked reduction in turn-over.

Remember that no one is perfect, so you should view the references and the interviews in their totality. Everyone will have strengths and areas of concern, just be careful that you don’t minimize any red flags because of your intuition or personal bias.  

At Allen Adell Executive Search and Consulting, we take the reference process very seriously. We invest the time to speak with each reference and provide detailed and candid reports. If you are not sure where to start or would like to discuss this topic further, you can reach me at 813.920.8900 or [email protected].

Charles Haines | Managing Partner

BONUS: Shoot me an email with the subject line “Reference Superpower” and I will send you a list of engaging questions my firm uses when conducting references , separated out by supervisor, peer, subordinate and customers, that you can incorporate into your repertoire.

Never settle!