New hires power the growth of every startup and small business, but how can you tell the difference between a smooth-talking applicant and a superb future employee? Three key techniques separate the fakers from the makers.
1. Ask uncomfortable questions
These seven serious questions help reveal the character of the candidate. Note they aren’t cute or tricky (“If you were a tree …”). Only real-world questions uncover the data you need to make an accurate decision.
- Give me an example of a time when you had to do the hard thing or have a difficult conversation.
- Give me an example of a time when you weren’t getting along with a co-worker. How did you resolve that situation?
- What’s the last thing on which you and your boss disagreed? How did you settle it?
- Tell me about a time you dealt with an angry or frustrated customer.
- What are your top five professional accomplishments? (Then drill down to get specifics on each. Did the candidate drive the accomplishment or did they ride the coattails of a coworker?)
- What do you consider the single most important idea you contributed in your current job? At your previous job?
- Part of emotional maturity is acquiring self-insight. Give me an example of something you recently learned about yourself.
Nobody is ever prepared for that last one. The most common answer I get is, “Ummm … hmmm … well …” You’ll learn that some people just aren’t that deep. They’re living and working, but not really learning. They’re getting older, but not focusing on getting better.
Maybe the best answer I ever heard to this question was from an accountant candidate who said he asked his wife what he does that frustrates her most. She said that whenever something needs to be done, he jumps in and immediately wrestles every detail to the ground. She felt she didn’t have control of anything in their marriage because he never let her do anything from start to finish. He explained to her (and to us) that he wasn’t a control freak. He just wanted to help his wife, whom he adored.
When he got this feedback, he began communicating with her on this subject and struck the right balance of when to help and when to let go. I wanted to hire the guy right then and there for caring so much about his wife and her needs, communicating with her so openly and changing his behavior so quickly. We eventually hired him, and…