Recruiting Animal

Assessing An Interview

Take a look at the judgements of the third presidential debate.

McCain looked and sounded like a man who is floundering and doesn't know what to do about it.

-- Editorial, The Age (Australia)

In my mind McCain won the last debate by some margin

-- Ron Liddle, TimesOnline (England)

Presumably both writers are well-informed, politically. Liddle, who supports Obama, was a speechwriter for the Labour party in England. And, yet, they disagree. What could possibly account for it? And does this disagreement reflect something that might happen when a candidate meets a number of stakeholders within the same firm?

Hat Tip: normblog

Analyzing Body Language

I'm a fan of the neo-necon. She's a psychotherapist who was raised as Democrat but swung to the centre-right. So, she's not voting for Obama.

The other day, she analyzed his body posture in a way that might be of interest to recruiters.

What’s up with Obama’s head tilt?

in conversation and interviews, Obama seems to have a perpetual head tilt

a head tilt to the side gives the message that the listener is intent on hearing what the speaker is saying. It reads as “open-minded, concerned, caring.”

these are characteristics of Obama’s that have impressed people from his earliest community organizing and law school days...

But a President is much more than a listener.... A President needs to take stands and to make decisions....

Neo does bring in knowledge of Obama's career but isn't she saying here that the persistent tilt of Obama's head disqualifies him for a leadership role -- because it means that he's a people-pleaser who lacks the guts to take decisive action?

Is she an incisive critic or has she gone too far? If someone has a pronounced way of holding himself physically, can we draw some bold conclusions about his fundamental mental disposition.

Would you venture to make this kind of judgement on a candidate?

Animal Show July 30 NOON EDT

GUEST: Jerry Albright, The Einstein of Indiana
TOPIC: Recording Your Calls

Jerry has a new invention that allows you to record your interviews directly to your hard drive then upload them to a website where your clients can actually hear your candidates answer questions (and vice versa)

LISTEN HERE

How To Be Liked

Source: Think Simple Now by Tina Su

You are more likely to be hired if the interviewer likes you.
And you can make yourself likeable.

1. Tina claims that people like you when you mimic their posture and facial expressions.

Comment: They like it more when you adjust to their style of talking. (But how can you carry on an intelligent conversation when you are busy trying to copy someone else's behaviour?)

2. Tina says: People are impressed when you remember their names.

3. They like you when you when you give them a chance to talk

Comment: They also like you when you have something interesting to say.

4. They like you when you pretend you are interested in what they have to say.

5. Tina says: tell yourself that you would like your desire to get to know a particular person manifest itself in some way. You don't have to specify exactly how it will make itself visible. But like a "tell" in a game of cards, other people will pick up your subtle signals.

6. Offer help first and give more than you take.

Comment: Offer help when people need it. The routine offers of help from business people whom you barely know are transparently insincere.

7. Smile

8. Be authentic

Comment: Feel free to be lively but you can't tell everybody everything -- if only because they don't want to hear it. This is certainly true in an interview. You have to sell what they want to buy and that doesn't mean let it all hang out.

Behavioural Interviewing

Israel has the best airport security in the world. Its approach was developed after an attack by three Japanese students in 1972. They arrived at the Lod Airport on Air France from Paris. Dressed in business suits, they carried musical instrument cases with semi-automatic machine guns inside of them. They killed 26 people and wounded 80.

In 2001, before shoe-bomber Richard Reid tried to blow up a passenger plane over the Atlantic, he was sent to Israel by Al Qaeda to test its security. His answers to the screener's questions before his return flight got him tagged as suspicious. He was searched and an armed, plain-clothes air marshal was assigned to the seat next to him.

People complain that the screening questions are intrusive but they work in a situation where something has to work.

Every passenger going through Ben-Gurion Airport undergoes questioning. Screeners ask a multitude of questions fitted to each individual. The questions allow screeners to assess behaviour patterns. The screeners learn exactly what to look for and how to rate a passenger as a possible threat. The more suspicious a passenger, the more intensively screened that person will be
- Fifth Estate, CBC

Hat Tip, The Contentious Centrist

Johanna Rothman on Interviewing

Johanna Rothman of Hiring Technical People was interviewed about interviewing techies. (Download it here). Here are some Highlights.

No flaky questions. "If you had three wishes what would they be?".

No whacky games. One interviewer had candidates engage in scavenger hunts around the office looking for paper clips and pens.

No Microsoft-style puzzles. They mean nothing in relation to the job and don't predict on-the-job behaviour.

Go for the jugular. Identify the things that would knock the candidate out of the running. Ask those questions first. (These are the key requirements of the job).

No Hypothetical Questions. "How would you do x?"

The Candidate talks, you listen. Interviewer talks 20% of the time.

If you ask a Closed Question like "What is the last technical book you read?", follow with an Open Ended Question like "Why did you choose that book?".

Techie Interviews should focus on questions about past behaviour and auditions which allow you to see the candidate in action.

Sample Questions:
What was challenging to you on your most recent project?
What were you happiest with in your career?
What's the most important lesson you learned on your last project?

How to outwit candidates who come with prefabricated answers? Ask a lot of Past Behavioural Questions about a number of their past jobs. No one comes with that many prepared answers.

Use the answer to one question as a jumping off point for a number of other questions.

Question: What was the most challenging thing you did on that project?
Answer: I learned about xyz.
Follow Up: Tell me how you learned about it.

You can't trust a non-technical interviewer. You have to be a technical specialist to ask in-depth questions. Hiring Managers should do their own 20-30 minute phone screen interviews to decide if the person is worth bringing in.

The Hard Life of an Interviewer

Here's what happens when you invite people who don't like to talk.

There is an interesting story behind these two guests. The guy was a member of a cultish group called The Lyman Family in Boston. He had an affair with his co-star during the movie and took her back to the group. She didn't like it and left.

A few years later, he and two other members robbed a bank for political reasons. They were caught and he died in prison lifting weights. The girl, Daria Halprin is now a dancing instructor.

How To Interview

Brazen Careerist gives interview advice:
1. Get the interviewee talking by asking about things she's already thought through.
2. Once the tongue is loose, ask about things she hasn't thought about or figured out

This makes sense. Things get interesting when you go beyond the commonplace but many people are unable to articulate even the commonplace well. They go into a job interview without having thought through their daily job functions for themselves. That means a lot of silence and looking at the ceiling while they do their homework there and then. And that’s not interesting at all

Dreaming in Technicolor

When Obama was spending time, at the beginning of the campaign, discussing policy, he was euthanizing his campaign. There is no policy wonking when he is speaking to the tens of thousands in rallies that make lesser candidates green the envy. -- Charles Adler, National Post

The moral of this story: dreams inspire, technical discussions don't. Recruiters are often advised to sell the sizzle when they present a job to a potential candidate. But, in fact, what are their dreams made of but opportunties to use their technical expertise.

Animal Show NOON EST

Guest: Lee Salz of Salesdodo.com
Topic: How to target and screen sales reps
Call to talk: 646-652-2754
Listen only: Hit Click to Listen button once show begins