Introduction: Here is a framework for interviewing people to find candidates that have the personal characteristics that resonate with your purpose and vision. Most people interview for skills and knowledge, but don’t know how to assess character in an interview.
This isn’t about sorting good versus bad people. That’s too simplistic. You’re interviewing to find a fit between their style/approach/character, and the personality and values of your organization. There are good people who won’t fit the formula that you’re using to create extraordinary execution.
The process is called behavioral interviewing, because it draws a sample of the person’s behavior that can be used to get to know a person well, and in a surprisingly short period of time. Consider this example:
If, during the interview, you ask candidates, "Are you smart?" they’re likely to say, “Yes,” and you can write down their answer in your interview notes as if it were true. In a behavioral interview, you ask a question that requires candidates to think out loud, in other words, to demonstrate their typical thinking behavior, which gives you a sample of their thinking skills in action. You can believe what you do see demonstrated, rather than just described.
Also, the best predictor of future performance is past behavior. While you can get a person to demonstrate his/her thinking style, by asking a question that requires thinking out loud, you cannot get a person to actually demonstrate a past behavior.
Rather than asking, “what if?” scenarios, which ask a person to tell you what they think they’d do in a given situation, you should ask, “what did happen?” sorts of questions. Ask someone to think of a situation in which they found themselves with a certain kind of problem or issue to solve, to describe that situation, and then, to tell you how they dealt with the situation. In doing so, they will be describing their past behavior, which is the best predictor of their future behavior.
And, how they reacted to the situation in the past is a good predictor of how they’d react to a similar situation in the future (did they handle it well, with creativity and confidence? Did they react by becoming stressed out, or overly emotional? How did they work with others in the situation?
Did they solve the problem, or if not, otherwise manage it to some sort of successful resolution? If not, were their reasons valid to you? Did they accept responsibility for their actions, or blame others? Etc.)
There are three mistakes that family business and other executives often make during the interviewing process. First, they talk more than they listen. The more they talk, the less they learn.
Second, they begin by selling their business as a desirable place to work. They talk about what they’re looking for in a candidate. They basically tell a perceptive candidate how to interview successfully.
Third, they don’t know how to interview for character.
Avoid the first mistake by listening more than you talk. You can sell the company at the end of the interview, if you’re still interested in attracting a candidate to your company, thus avoiding the second mistake.
This interviewing format is designed to help you avoid the third mistake, by enabling you to interview for character.
Instructions: You’ll find the instructions interspersed in the text below.
Clarify The Goals Of The Interview:
Talk enough at the beginning to set the stage. Be appropriately friendly and welcoming. Tell the person how the interview will progress.
Explain that you’ll entertain questions at the end of the interview, but that you want to get to know the other person first. Put the person at ease and then begin to ask the candidate to answer your questions.
Remember, the purpose of the interview is to learn about the person who is sitting across from you. You are trying to gather information:
- That you can’t learn elsewhere.
- You can verify the resume in any number of ways, but the only reliable information about the candidate will come from the sample of behavior that you gather here.
- To explore relevant competencies that will help ensure a good fit between this person’s perspective role and your requirements for success.
Stated another way, you want to find out what the person would bring to work if you hire him or her. They’ll bring their:
- Traits
- Habits
- Perspectives
- Attitudes
As you consider the questions you’ll be asking in your interviews, develop questions that will result in information relevant to each of these elements. And, be sure to ask each candidate for the same position to answer the same questions, so that you can compare and contrast their answers.