by Alison Green
Pulling it all together, a good one-hour first interview might go something like this:
Introductions and small talk 3 minutes
Getting to know the candidate/general questions 5 minutes
Probing prior experiences 25 minutes
Simulating activities 5 minutes
Description of the job, culture, and organization, from you, followed by questions from the candidate, and questions about their questions: “You asked about a collaborative environment. How important is that to you?” 10 minutes total
Wrap-up; thank the candidate and tell her when she should expect to hear from you next 2 minutes
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
Since the best way to know whether someone is likely to succeed at a job is to actually see the person do it, in an ideal world you’d be able to do that before you commit to hiring someone. Think about whether your organization has ways to try people out more extensively than in a normal hiring process without actually offering them a staff position—for instance, by bringing people on to do short-term pieces of work or creating an internship program.
Tool 6.7 provides a full list of interview questions, and Tool 6.8 offers a worksheet on conducting interviews.
Speaking with References
As you go through your interviews, hopefully you have some idea of whom you want to hire. But complete one more step first: talking to references about the candidate. When done well, can save you from a bad hire or help you choose between two strong candidates.
Managers often find checking references to be the most frustrating part of the selection process, since it can be hard to get useful information out of what is usually a carefully selected set of people. Nevertheless, there are ways to increase your chances of getting helpful information from these conversations. (Tool 6.9 provides useful question for reference checking.)
Don’t Limit Yourself to the Candidate’s List of References
You don’t need to confine your reference calls to the references provided by the candidate, especially since these people have likely been selected for their willingness to speak glowingly about her. If you know people in the candidate’s circle, reach out and ask them about her. You can also ask candidates to put you in touch with specific people from their past. For instance, you can say something like, “I’d love to speak to your supervisor from that job you held from 2006 to 2009. Can you put me in touch with her? ”
Make It Easy for the Reference to Tell the Full Story
In most cases, the reference will have a stronger relationship with the candidate than with you. Since references may feel disloyal or guilty providing negative information, your job is to make it easier for them to tell you what you need to hear. You can do this by making it easy for the person to tell you negative things as well as positives. For instance, you might pair positives and negatives by asking questions like, “What type of job would you hire X for? What type of job would X be less suited for? ” or “What do you think X will excel in? What do you think we’d want to focus X’s professional development on? ”
Particularly when asking for downsides about a candidate, try to force the reference to give you something. Instead of asking, “Is there anything X could improve in? ” to which references might respond, “Nothing comes to mind,” ask, “If you had to pick two ways X could improve, what would they be? ” You can also provide options where there is no obviously wrong choice that would make the candidate look bad and ask the reference to select the choice that sounds more like the candidate: “Some people thrive in fast-paced environments but might err on the side of losing precision, whereas others are incredibly precise but do better when there’s more time to focus on their work. Which sounds more like X?”
You can also ask the reference to describe the candidate’s greatest strengths or the words that most come to mind in describing the candidate, and listen for whether the key criteria you are interested in make the top of the list.
DON’T SEE ‘EM SWEAT
Throughout the interview process, do everything you can to put candidates at ease so that you get a good sense of who they really are. You want to find out what candidates are like on a day-to-day basis, not what they’re like in an interview. So be warm and friendly, and try to help candidates who seem nervous or tense to relax (unless of course “calm under pressure” is a trait you want).
MAKING YOUR DECISION
Once you have gone through these three stages, there’s no magic to making the right decision. In general, assess the candidates against the criteria you established at the beginning of the process. If you have a clear sense of what you are looking for and a sufficiently strong and diverse pool of candidates and you have effectively gathered information about them, your decision might be straightforward.
In making the decision, listen to your gut: Would you be thrilled if this person came to work for you? If you have concerns or aren’t excited about bringing the person into your staff, pay attention to your instincts. Both of us have ignored our instincts and ended up regretting it. Also, listen to the opinions of others who have been involved in the hiring process, and take seriously any warning signs that more than one of these people brought up.
If you’re uncertain and think more information would help, modify the process to gather what you need. For instance, it is perfectly acceptable to explain to a candidate that you view this as a big decision and that you know she has already been through an extensive process, but you realized it would be helpful for her to meet with your board chair so that you could get one more opinion, or that you’d like her to give you one additional writing sample. You may never be 100 percent certain, but you should gather the information you feel you need to make the best decision possible.
NO PHONE TAG
If you’re having trouble getting in touch with references, put the burden on the candidate. Tell her, “I can’t move forward until I speak with your old boss, but she’s not calling me back. Do you think you’d be able to get her to return my call?” Often when the candidate hears this, she’ll make sure you receive a call that day.
KEEP PEOPLE POSTED
At every stage in the hiring process, make getting back to people quickly a priority. Not only do you risk losing good candidates by moving too slowly or not sharing information about your time line, but you also send the wrong messages about your culture. You want the person you hire to have begun picking up messages about “how we do things here,” meaning being responsive and moving with a sense of urgency. And when there are delays, don’t underestimate the power of sending a quick e-mail saying, “Although I told you last week that I would be scheduling interviews this week, I’ve had to push that back to next week. I’ll be in touch by Monday.”
And sometimes, after reading all of the résumés, conducting all of the interviews, and checking all of the references, you may realize that you are not excited enough about any of the candidates. If this happens to you, no matter how desperately you need to fill a vacancy, rather than hiring someone you think might not be right, you will almost always be better off keeping the position open and searching for short-term solutions. You might consider shifting responsibilities among your existing staff members to meet your highest-priority needs, bringing in temporary help to fill gaps, or as a last resort putting work on hold. In the long run, you will spend far more time and energy dealing with the consequences of a bad hiring decision than you will save by filling a vacancy with the wrong person.
SELLING THE POSITION AND MAKING THE OFFER
All along, you have been evaluating candidates, but once you’re ready to make an offer, the focus shifts to the candidate’s evaluation of you and the offer you will make. After all, two things need to happen to make a hire: you must choose the candidate, and the candidate must choose you.
Selling the Position Throughout the Hiring Process
The best way to ensure that this stage goes smoothly is to have been selling the position throughout the entire process, not ju
st once you are ready to make an offer. This doesn’t mean convincing someone at all costs to join you, but rather painting an authentic picture of the benefits of working with you so that the candidate can make a wise decision. In fact, you want to paint an accurate picture so that candidates who will not thrive can self-select out.
Some of this work occurs through the interview process itself. For instance, by meeting some of the staff during the process, the candidate will see what types of people work for you. In addition, one of the benefits of having the candidate complete activities that mimic the challenges of the position is that often the right candidate will be intrigued by the possibility of taking on that kind of work.
You can also talk about potentially enticing culture factors directly. For instance, Alison tells candidates during phone interviews, “One thing about our culture is that we hold ourselves to high standards. We strive for excellence in everything we do, the work ethic here is higher than anywhere else I’ve worked, and we’re direct about addressing it when things aren’t working out. Some people absolutely love that, but it’s definitely not for everyone.” Candidates who will fit in well with that culture become excited and more invested in the job prospect at this point, and candidates who aren’t good matches tend to reveal that through their responses or drop out on their own.
Beyond the interview process, ensure that working at your organization is in fact an attractive proposition. Word-of-mouth about what it is like to work at the organization, and for you as a manager, may be the most important determinant of candidates’ interest in the position (one of the many reasons not to be a tyrant, as we’ll discuss in Chapter Ten).
In addition, you may want to make strategic decisions about your benefits package, knowing that building an organization of strong performers is generally the most important investment you can make. Among other things, consider salary levels (finances permitting, seek to have salaries that at a minimum are not a barrier to someone taking the job but that ideally might be an active selling point for the position), other benefits (including vacation time, which might be slightly more affordable than salary or other perks), and titles (which are cheap).
Perhaps most fundamental, you need to be able to communicate a clear story about your organization, the position, and the impact that the right person in the position can make. For people in the nonprofit sector, the most important benefit is often the opportunity to make a difference in the world, and you should communicate that opportunity to candidates throughout the process.
Making a Great Offer
Having sold the position throughout the hiring process, don’t let it fall apart when you make the offer. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes: making the decision to join a new organization and team of people is anxiety producing, and having an offer conversation that is enthusiastic, organized, and thorough versus mechanical, unprepared, and uncommunicative can have an important impact on whether the candidate accepts the offer:
Create a sense of excitement. Let your enthusiasm show when you make the offer. Tell her how excited you are at the possibility of having her work with you, why you think she will do a great job, and why you think she’ll enjoy the position and organization.
Lead with a strong, clear offer. Don’t low-ball people on salary. Open with your strongest or close-to-strongest salary offer to show the candidate that you really want her. And if your budget allows it, be prepared to negotiate, within reason, so that you don’t lose the right person over a small amount of money.
Give the candidate time to think it over. Many candidates ask for time to think over the offer before giving you a decision; usually it’s a few days, but sometimes it is longer. Although you don’t want to rush your best candidate into saying no and you should always be willing to give at least a few days, your circumstances should inform your judgment about how much time you can give. If a top-notch candidate says she needs several weeks because her partner is waiting to find out if his company will transfer him to your city, that’s a reasonable request that likely makes sense to accommodate. However, if you have an excellent second-choice candidate whom you might lose if you wait too long, you’ll have to decide how much risk you’re willing to tolerate in order to wait on the first candidate. A good rule of thumb is to be as flexible as you can while protecting your own interests.
Get a sense of the candidate’s thought process. Ask directly what factors she’s considering so you can respond to them. For instance, when making the offer, you can say, “So, do you have any initial reaction?” and if you sense the candidate isn’t sold, you can ask, “What, if anything, might make you hesitate?” This will help you understand the candidate’s thought process so that you can tailor your discussions to address her concerns.
Make it clear you really want her to say yes! If you really want to get the best people, you can’t make an offer and then sit passively by waiting for the candidate to respond. Although you don’t want to badger your potential new employee, you do want to make sure she feels valued. Call periodically to check in, offer to answer any questions, ask whether she has any hesitations, and convey your excitement. Find others to call and do the same as well. Calls from future peers, other senior managers, or the head of your organization or board chair can be remarkably persuasive. You can make it more comfortable to do all this by letting the candidate know that you might, saying something like, “Unless you object, I might pester you before the deadline we set just to hear any new thoughts you’ve had, and I might ask my board chair to give you a call because I’d love for you to hear her thoughts about your potential role here.”
Wrapping it up. Ideally the candidate will accept your offer and you will set a start date. But if she turns you down, try to find out why and suggest that you keep in touch in case other opportunities arise.
LEGAL ISSUES
Hiring can raise a host of legal issues that go well beyond the scope of this book. If you are at all uncertain about the legality of something you are doing in the hiring process, consider checking with a lawyer. That said, here are a few specific issues to be careful about:
Record keeping. If a rejected job applicant sues you, you will need to be able to articulate why the person was not selected (and general statements such as “not the best qualified candidate” may not suffice). Establish a record-keeping system if there is not yet one that allows you to capture that rationale at the time you make your decision (at the minimum, begin a file for your interview notes, which you use to jot down your quick rationale). Be sure to preserve such records for the length of the local statute of limitations period.
Diversity considerations. If you are taking race or sex or other similar factors into account in the actual selection (as opposed to recruitment) process, there may be significant legal concerns. Consult with counsel before you engage in this kind of a program.
Interview questions. This area of the law has many gray areas, but the bottom line is not to ask questions that might create a suspicion that you are going to make your hiring decision based on an illegal criterion, such as the applicant’s race, religion, marital status, sex, or national origin. In addition, do not ask any questions that may elicit information about a disability that is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you are not sure what is acceptable, check with a lawyer.
Disparate impact. If you’re using employment tests or selection criteria that might have a disparate impact on a protected category of applicants (such as members of a particular racial or ethnic group or applicants of a particular sex), consult with legal counsel about the possible applicability of the disparate impact doctrine.
TRAINING PEOPLE RIGHT FROM THE START
Congratulations on your new hire! But don’t rest just yet. Now’s the time to make sure that you prepare for and train your new employee effectively.
If you’ve ever started a new job and discovered your employer wasn’t prepared for you the moment you walked in the door, you know that the impression you
make on an employee’s first day can send messages about culture and expectations from the start. By being prepared and organized when new employees start, you send the message from day one that you’re organized and efficient and that you care about using employees’ time effectively.
Here are three concrete ways to ensure your new staff member’s first few weeks go smoothly, plus a bonus tip:
Create an initial training agenda. Before your new staffer starts, develop an agenda for a series of meetings that lays out everything that you’ll cover with her early in her tenure. Tool 6.10 provides suggestions on the types of topics you might cover.
Ensure logistics are ready in advance. Make sure the staff member’s computer, phone, and e-mail accounts are set up and working before her first day. Have a list of passwords waiting for her so she can immediately log in, set up her voice mail, and so forth, and ensure that her work space is clean and stocked with supplies.
Check in regularly. Check in more frequently with your new staff member, not only to provide more detailed input than you’d give someone who has worked with you longer, but also to see how she’s adjusting. What is she finding most challenging? What sort of help might she need?
Bonus tip. Never, ever refer to this process as “onboarding.” Your staff won’t, or at least shouldn’t, respect you if you use jargon.
KEY POINTS
Managers often overvalue specific knowledge or prior experience and don’t put enough weight on underlying skills or qualities that are harder to develop and in the long run are much more likely to differentiate high performers.
The key to success in hiring is to build a strong pool of candidates in the first place. View yourself as a headhunter, and go after the people you want.
