The Job Interview Will Soon Be Dead
The Job Interview Will Soon Be Dead. Here’s What the Top Companies Are Replacing It With This strategy may quite possibly make the job interview extinct. Most companies rely on the traditional in-person job interview to make hiring decisions. But I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t work. In fact, it’s a terrible tool. Here’s why: 81 percent of people lie during the interview. No joke, 81 freaking percent! That’s according to Ron Friedman. He is an award-winning social psychologist and the author of The Best Place to Work, which should get on your Amazon wish list. Friedman says we are creating a condition where people are being dishonest because, well, plain and simple, it’s the only way for them to get a job. In other words, let’s say I’m interviewing for one of your jobs. If you ask me about a skill I don’t have, it’s pretty clear that if admit that I don’t have that skill, I’m not going to get the job. The only option I have is to talk around it and give you, my potential boss or colleague, a false impression. The result: Employers are consistently getting spoon-fed dishonest answers, and they’re eating it up like candy. How Our Brains Sabotage Us During Interviews This is now adding insult to injury, but think about it: Even if you were getting 100 percent honest answers from a job candidate, there’s a real question about whether you would be accurately evaluating the person in front of you. Friedman says this is because of the ways our brains operate. We have unconscious biases when we look at other people and evaluate their skill set. Chances are you’ve probably interviewed an attractive female, a tall person, or someone who speaks with a deep voice. Here’s what science is saying on each, according to Friedman: People who are good looking tend to be evaluated as being more competent, intelligent, and qualified than their less attractive colleagues, despite not being objectively better at any of these things. People who are taller tend to be evaluated as having more leadership skills than their shorter counterparts. The same results also held for women, though the effect was not as large. Also, decades of data have revealed a clear relationship between height and salary at every age. People who speak with a deeper or lower-pitched voiceare viewed as possessing greater strength, integrity, and trustworthiness. Did your brain trick you into believing any of those things? The research suggests that we can’t help being swayed by these factors, and they affect the way we conduct the interview. Friedman says that if you, as the interviewer, assume that a job candidate is extroverted, you’re going to ask you a question like, “Tell me your experience leading groups.” But if you assume that a job candidate is introverted, you might ask a slightly different question, like, “Are you comfortable leading groups?” While both of these questions may be getting at the same topic, Friedman says when interviewers frame these questions differently due to their assumptions about a job candidate, it leads that person to answer in a way that confirms your (the interviewer’s) initial impression or bias, which may be dead wrong. The Solution: Job Auditions Friedman’s argues that we should disrupt the HR process of live, in-person interviews and replace them with “job auditions” that are relevant to the tasks for the job. It makes sense. Musicians and singers have to audition. Actors have to audition. The people employing them don’t sit down and dart scripted questions their way. They want to see them play, sing, perform. Doesn’t it make sense to audition a prospective employee for the same reasons, before they sign an offer letter? For example, if you’re looking to hire a sales rep, bring the candidate in for a few hours and have that person sell you and members of your team on your product. If you’re hiring Web designers, bring them in and have them design a landing page for you. In either case, your first impression will be based on seeing them do their job, rather than how well they’re answering your scripted questions. The same goes for behavioral interviews. The data from Friedman’s research confirms that when we choose auditions versus interviews, we can create a far better approach to hiring people, and a better workplace that has the right people you want for your jobs and your culture. Case Study: Menlo Innovations This Michigan-based software developer calls it “extreme interviewing,” without a single question fired at applicants. When applicants arrive for their audition, CEO Richard Sheridan tells them in his introduction, “This is not about what’s on your résumé. This is our best attempt to figure out are you a good fit for our culture.” In an effort to simulate their work environment, they bring in 50 job candidates at one time and pair them for 20 minutes. This is because work at Menlo is done in pairs, two people sharing a single computer, passing the mouse back and forth while brainstorming ideas. They give them an exercise typical of the kinds of work done at Menlo. While the pair work together, a staff member observes their interactions. At the end of 20 minutes, everyone will get new exercises, new partners, and new observers. Twenty minutes later, they will switch for a third time. What’s being evaluated in this audition process is whether job candidates bring out all the best qualities in their partners and make them look as good as possible. Menlo’s culture thrives on an open-space, collaborative setting. Sheridan says they look for candidates demonstrating their best “kindergarten skills” and how well they play with others. In this type of hyper collaborative space in such close quarters, culture fit is beyond a must. The audition is designed to ensure that no person comes on board unless everyone on staff is happy to have the person. After extreme-interviewing sessions, Menlonians (as they are affectionately known) collectively decide which candidates to invite back to a full-day’s audition, for pay,
The Jobless Graduate Myth
Graduate unemployment is a vanishingly small problem in South Africa, at least if you don’t call the thousands of people moving through the Further Education and Training, and private college system, “graduates”. Liberal think-tank Centre for Development and Enterprise published a study it commissioned from Stellenbosch University professors Servaas van der Berg and Hendrik van Broekhuizen. The headline findings are that graduates from universities have an unemployment rate of about 5% – “low even by the standards of prosperous economic times in western Europe”. Those who have some other kind of post-matric diploma or certificate have an unemployment rate of about 16%. While white graduates have an unemployment rate of 2%, black graduates have a rate of 6.7%. The research seems to be a comprehensive reply to labour broker Adcorp’s much-maligned Employment Index publication, wherein analyst Loane Sharp regularly produces alternative labour statistics and attacks the official numbers of Stats SA. Sharp last year published an estimate that 600 000 “university graduates” are unemployed, which sparked significant publicity. The Centre for Development and Enterprise contends that “the facts and the arguments are wrong”, and lashes out at the “myth” of large-scale unemployment among especially black university graduates with humanities degrees. The real figure is about 50 000 out of the country’s 1.1 million university graduates. The think-tank’s report, based on Stats SA’s labour surveys from 1995 to 2011, draws a number of myth-busting conclusions. In that period, South Africa more than doubled its pool of graduates from 463 000 to 1.1 million and the majority of them have found jobs. Based on the latest Stats SA figures from the end of 2012, “diplomates” – people with matric and with non-university diplomas – have an unemployment rate of 14%. – Dewald van Rensburg, Fin24.com
Salary Expectations
For Recruiters… Follow these tips for achieving winning offers for your candidates: Market Research – Know what the market range is for the geography and similar types of positions. Be sure to be a real expert in your specific job market and location – understand the nuances of niche skill sets and educational requirements so that you can be a consultative resource to both your candidate and client. Set Expectations – Discuss with your client up front the salary range and push back if they are seeking an unrealistic candidate for the range they are paying, make sure that this discussion is documented in an email or job description so you have something to refer back to. New recruiters won’t do the push back initially, and will instead spend a lot of time and then go back to the client. Save yourself the time and talk to the client now. Working or Unemployed? – Is your client only looking for a candidate who is currently working or working at a competitor? If so, ensure they know that it will take a higher salary for a qualified, working candidate to leave their job in this environment. Note that the difference isn’t discriminatory, it’s paying for the working candidates risk they are taking by changing jobs in an unstable economy. Make sure that your client understands just how risky it is to change jobs and be “the new guy”. Also, be sure to advice clients that they should always be willing to consider great candidates that are actually unemployed as well – changes in logistics or layoffs happen to everyone. Candidate Expectations – Discuss early on with your candidates what their pay requirements are and then confirm this in an email with your candidates. Salary should be a question to ask immediately. If candidates give you a range, don’t accept it. Get very specific about their feelings. A quick rule of thumb? No one wants to make less money. If they say they will for the “right” opportunity, approach it with a good deal of skepticism and be sure to explore the issue further. Trade Offs – Is your candidate lacking experience in the industry of your client? Are they trying to make a career change? Let the candidate know up front what tradeoffs they will make in order to change careers or industries. Confirm their understanding of a potential salary changes in order to make that change occur. Try to develop a real understanding of the candidate’s feelings and how they will weigh their ultimate decision. Is it job function they want, a different industry, or is it really as simple as a better location? Communication – If you know you’re client is not paying in the range the candidate is looking for, give the candidate the option of looking at the position. If the candidate agrees to interview, ensure that the client knows the situation up front. “Client, I have a candidate who I think is very qualified for the job. She currently earns about $20,000/year more than the salary range you quoted. Is there room to negotiate if you find there is a good fit?” If the client says yes, get a few more details about their salary range – and then ask again. And again. Be sure that the client understands that the candidate will decline an offer of less than X. Employers often attempt to get the candidate in and then negotiate after they have “hooked” the candidate on the role. Make sure they are aware of the limits of that negotiation. Don’t Promise Anything – Don’t state your opinion as fact, i.e., “I know my client, they’ll pay you what you’re currently making to get someone with your background.” That puts everyone in an awkward position and you don’t know what limitations the client is working with on their side around salaries. If you yourself aren’t making the decision, you can’t really promise anything to either side. If you follow these tips and an offer still comes in too low, you should now be armed with documentation to discuss with your client. You can also fight for your candidate with the market research data that you have. You can be honest with your client about approaching the candidate with that salary. See if you can get them to come up a bit before presenting to the candidate. Don’t strong arm a candidate into taking a lower paying job, also – it’s not your job to be a bully for employers, but rather to be a skilled consultant and broker that works with both parties’ best interests in mind. Managing the job offer starts the minute you start taking the job order from the client – it’s a constant process of rationalizing expectations and clarifying intention and communication. If you get the process right, you’ll make more placements and ensure the recruitment process is smooth for both your candidates and clients. – Marie Larsen, Recruiter.com
7 Questions Great Candidates Ask
For Recruiters… At the end of the interview when you, the interviewer, ask the candidate, “Do you have any questions for us?” it’s often hard to know what to expect. Will the candidate ask a couple of superficial questions just to be polite, or will he or she ask deep, probing questions? If a candidate appears to be simply going through the motions at this point, this is often a sign of a candidate who is not fully engaged with your brand and the hiring process. On the other hand, a candidate who probes and asks questions of substance is a more engaged candidate. The person is trying to form a picture of your business to see if it is the right cultural fit, job fit, technical fit and career fit for him or her. This more discerning approach is likely to be taken by the best candidates. But, what questions are these more engaged candidates likely to ask and how should you respond? Below, I have set out seven interview questions that great candidates might ask and given some suggested responses. 1. Why did the previous job holder leave? The candidate wants to know the fate of the former job holder, that is, was he or she fired, promoted, or did the person resign—and your answer will have a great bearing on the viability of the role for the candidate. Of course, if the former job holder was promoted, shout it from the rooftops, as it shows career progression potential in your firm. If the worker resigned amicably to broaden his or her horizon, explain this too. If it was an aggravated resignation or dismissal you might want to prepare an answer along the lines of: The candidate and the role did not prove to be a good match and despite us both working together diligently to rectify the situation, it did not work out and we unfortunately parted ways, which is not something we relish as we want all our employees to succeed. We followed all the correct procedures and best practices and wish them well in their career. This shows that you can handle the ups and inevitable downs professionally and should reflect well on your business. Fudging or fogging this response will make top candidates suspicious. 2. What are the training and development opportunities? A PwC study tells us that one of the main reasons that people leave businesses is due to a lack of career progression. Candidates know that training and development improves their skills and increases their chances of career progression; so, top candidates will want to know about training and development opportunities. Make sure to respond in detail, explaining your formal and informal training and development opportunities. Also explain how candidates can access this training. If training budgets are small, focus on how your business uses coaching, mentoring, experiential learning, stretch assignments and job rotation to train staff. 3. What is the career progression potential at your business? Top candidates want to progress, so explain where internal roles are advertised and how they can apply, and describe one or two employees who have started low and progressed through the business to really demonstrate career potential in your firm. If you are a smaller business lacking formal role-based, career progression, explain how candidates can grow and increase their responsibilities and salary in your firm. 4. What is the company culture at the business? Culture fit is key today, not just from the employer side. Top candidates want to work in a positive culture that they respect and is line with their values. So explain the values by which employees and managers operate in as positive and as honest a light as possible. Make sure it’s not too glossy (unless it truly is perfect!) as it won’t sound credible; so, you might want to outline one or two areas for improvement too. 5. What is your personal management style? Studies show that one of the main reasons that employees leave and fail to meet their performance goals is a lack of rapport with their direct line manager. Good candidates know that it is important to gel with their line manager. So be open and honest about your management style, e.g. hands on/ hands off, or democratic/authoritarian etc., so the candidate can make an informed decision about his or her potential fit. 6. How do you plan to deal with changes in the market? The best candidates will be commercially minded and will have SWOTTED up on your business model. They will know the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in your business area and will want to know how your business is planning to address them. You need to show that you are a strategically led company that can adapt to the environment by outlining how you plan to address any known weaknesses or risks to your business and/or how you plan to exploit emerging opportunities. 7. How do your employees wind down? All employees who work hard and smart know that they need time to wind down to sustain performance and health over the long term. You don’t want to give the impression of supporting a workaholic environment, so, of course, explain how you value employee health and talk about your wellness programs and commitment to work-life balance. – Kazim Ladimeji, Recruiter.com
How Resumes Get Read… the 30 Second Rule
For Recruiters… Ever heard of the thirty second rule? The one about how long recruiters actually spend reading resumes? Good recruiters, that is. It takes a lot of practice to accurately read resumes at the speed of a QR code scanner. Note the word “accurately”. It’s one thing to make a brief read of a resume. It’s another thing entirely to achieve a high quality assessment at the speed of light. New and inexperienced recruiters tend to spend a lot of time trying to knock square pegs into round holes. They waste a lot of time trying to match jobs to candidates instead of candidates to jobs. Tenured recruiters tend to know how to quickly size up a resume. So rather than focusing on those thirty seconds as if it’s a negative thing, let’s dive into what should happen inside those thirty seconds. Here are some strategies for reading resumes at the speed of light while still catching every qualified candidate that makes their way onto your desk. For job seekers, know that this is the way a lot of recruiters will read your resume – prepare your resume as such! First ask yourself: Does the candidate live near where you’re recruiting for or have they clearly stated that they want to move to that specific area? If not, you just saved yourself thirty seconds. Hold the resume at arm’s length: Really. Look at the way the resume is formatted and laid out on the page. Is it five pages long? One? Is it highly stylized? What’s the font tell you? Does it look like someone else, like a professional resume writer, wrote it for them? Compare this first impression to your perception of other qualified candidates in the domain that you’re recruiting. Does it look like other people’s resume or does it look weird? Weird isn’t bad, but it might cause an outside of the box search. Next, read it backwards: Just figure out where they went to school, if they went to school, and if it looks like they did a good job and value education. It’s important, especially if your company or client organization values education. Then read their current job: Determine their core industry and what the person did on a day to day basis. Try to ignore job titles. If you’re recruiting for people to process annual reports, does it look like the person regularly processed annual reports? It couldn’t be simpler. But it’s hard. Just get out of the way and ask yourself, has the person been recently doing what the job requires? Determine if the employer is in an comparable industry or type of company. Think like you’re dumb. Insurance companies like to hire employees at other insurance companies. Startups like people from startups. Now figure out their “big” job: Everyone had their break somewhere. Don’t pay as much attention to chronology and the formatted length of each job description – look for the job that gave the candidate the bulk of their experience. Oftentimes because of a natural tendency to favor the most recent, candidates will spend more time detailing their latest three assignments – even if those assignments comprise only 5% of their overall career. Find that big, real job where the person spent the majority of their career. In trying to figure out what a person does, that’s where the money is. Do a check for job hopping: Then look again, it’s vital. In general, you want to see a solid work history with long(ish) tenures at their employers. However (and this is also necessary), you have to figure out if the person either A) consulted a lot or B) had an incredibly fast and regular progression through job titles. Consulting work is fine, but you want to see a long history of success with consulting. Fast climbers will also tend to move through employers rapidly, as they jump for new opportunities – this can be good or bad, depending on the opportunity that you have for them. When you’re scanning for job hopping, what you’re really asking yourself is “Does this candidate seem to have a rational progression and a history of success?” Anything else usually can suggest a low performer. Finally, do a gut check: Ask yourself if you think the person could do the job that you have for them. This means not just trying to line up past experience with the required experience, but rather asking yourself if your job feels like a natural progression for someone with that background. Certain job titles tend to slip naturally into the next. Other times, you have to make a reasoned leap of faith – if the person doesn’t even have a previous position that would normally fit into yours, do they have a background that could indicate success? Have you had “luck” with people from a particular company or with a certain set of skills? Your gut is the part of a recruiter that needs the most training to be strong. If you’ve lived inside a certain geography or industry, recruiting day in and out, you’ll be able to trust this last step more than any other. If you’re just starting out, don’t give yourself the luxury – think dumb and simple matches. A recruiting machine and nothing more. Do you have a solid feel for the resume? Can you imagine the person doing what they do? Do you have a sense of their real job and skills beyond their simple job titles? If so, then you have done your job well. Have thirty seconds gone by yet? If you’re getting all the right signals, it’s time to pick up the phone. And get down to all the easy stuff. Salary requirements. Culture match. Hopes and dreams – really. But that’s another discussion entirely. – Recruiter.com