Part 2 of 4 in the Hiring Right Series
Identifying the required competencies and experience is one thing, validating them is another. When deciding on your questions, you need to identify questions that will go beyond surface-level answers. These questions will reveal depth and, more importantly, authenticity.
Once you identify the skills needed, what questions can you ask to ferret out whether the person truly possesses those skills or is merely appeasing you? What are the key competencies that lead to success? What behavioral questions can you ask that will uncover the competency or reveal if the candidate needs development in a specific area?
Experience is a indicator that a person has built the necessary skills or competencies. Past behavior is the best predictor of future performance. That’s why experiences matter. The easiest way to check for experiences is to look at a resume. Understanding a person’s resume will tell you what they have done and answers several of your questions. However, don’t assume that the resume tells the whole story. It often presents the version the candidate wants you to see. In fact, in today’s world, recruiters are seeing candidates who not only embellished their resumes using AI, but also some candidates who created the whole resume using AI. Some candidates don’t even know what’s on their resume because of this. Because of this, the recruiter or hiring manager has to do some validation. The resume is a launching pad to probe into those experiences in search for the skills you need.
Currently, there is a shift from experience-based hiring to skills-based hiring. Many companies are prioritizing skills over specific experiences (such as working for a particular company in a specific role with a specific education background). The essence of experience is to demonstrate that the candidate has acquired the necessary skills. I’m not suggesting you skip the experiences – not at all! Experience is the fast track to the likely skill. However, if a candidate lacks direct experience, probe for the underlying skill.
If you find that your person has gaps, decide for yourself, are these gaps that I can train or grow within them, or are these gaps that I need filled from the onset?
As you embark on the interviewing process, document your questions. Understand the core reasons behind each question. Was your question a key competency or fit-related question, was it to explore the experience a person had? Was it a probing question? Probing questions to understand a prospect’s answer will vary by prospect, but the key competency, skills, behaviors, traits and drivers that you trying to uncover should be consistent with all of your prospects.
You can’t ask one person about their ability to create data analysis in visuals and another person about their ability to consult with others, and then compare the two responses. These are not like-for-like comparisons, and your decision-making process should be designed to reduce as much bias as possible.
Interview questions are key. Some takeaways for managers:
They should be focused the same skills, competencies, traits or drivers for the same role.
You can ask different people different probing questions, but the basic questions should be the same across all candidates.
Keep interviews down to 5-10 questions max. Sometimes a good behavioral interview may take 5-10 minutes of discussion. If you have more than 3 behavioral interviews, consider breaking up the interview. But also, if you need too many interviews, consider whether you can consolidate down to the core competencies that drive performance outcomes.
Now let’s find out how to take this magic and multiply it. Hiring Right: Don’t be a Victim to Your Blind Spots .
After that: Hiring Right: Interview Tips & Tricks for Managers
Incase you missed it: Hiring Right the First Time
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