As a hiring manager, you’ve probably seen it all… the no-shows, the ones who walk in late as if they are on time (no explanation, no apology), the ones who can’t answer a single question thoroughly, to the ones who spend a very, very long time answering your first question.
I once started an interview with my standard icebreaker – so tell me a little about yourself – and the candidate deep dove into his professional history from his first job at the DQ to every company thereafter. It was the director’s cut of his resume and lasted a full 40 minutes, the highlights punctuated by him rapping his knuckles loudly on the table. I’d never been bored and startled at the same time before. But you know the saying, you have to kiss a lot of frogs before one turns into your next A-player or something like that.
Some candidates are super helpful and tell you all you need to know with honesty to decide. I recently had someone tell me he’d always answer the phone at the end of the day unless it were a Friday before a three-day weekend because why risk it. Who says that?! Of course, it did make my job easier. Here are 9 more tips your interview is going nowhere.
But some candidates are more … creative. Take these scenarios, for example.
"I work through problems collaboratively," which you later discover means the candidate will be spending lots of time discussing weekend plans in the break room.
How about?
"I build consensus through multiple organizational levels," and that turns out to be "I plan to stop in everyone’s office at least once a day to discuss Game of Thrones and how much I miss it."
Or,
"I have high customer satisfaction across many industries," which ends up being a nice way of saying, "I have yet to find what I’m good at, so I change jobs… A LOT."
And finally, you discover that the candidate’s eloquent discussion of their thoughtful due diligence and contemplative attitude means they will sit and ponder things like;
“Why do we call them cupcakes and not babycakes?”
Interviewing is one way we get to know candidates to decide if they are the right fit for the job and our work culture. But a couple of hour-long meetings aren’t really enough time to peel back the layers and see the true person. As we all know, it’s easy to spin negatives into positives on a resume and even in person. Still, interviews are an essential selection tool and should represent about 30% of your overall hiring decision. But what about that other 70%?
Good question. That boils down to several other selection tools.
First, you examine the candidate’s work experience and skills, along with the potential for learning and growing in the job and organization. Some of that is done in the interview, but we also suggest testing for those hard skills that you require in the job. For example, if you are hiring an accountant, you might want to test some basic accounting tasks to ensure the candidate knows the difference between a debit and a credit. You might also consider a cognitive assessment – Omnia has a great one – to determine general mental aptitude.
Do they have the cognitive wherewithal to work through problems and take logical action? All of that should make up another 25% of your overall decision.
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Employment personality testing is a great way to complement the interview process. First, because it really does compliment the process; it doesn’t replace it. You want the icing and the cake. I’m all about getting my hands on as much data and insight as possible when hiring. When you’re dealing with people and human behavior, it’s complex, so the more you know, the better off you’ll be.
The Omnia assessment provides data insight into your candidate's innate behaviors, which you can use to determine the fit and future potential. For example, if you are hiring a salesperson, you want to make sure your candidate has the best innate talent for the job. Omnia’s pre-employment personality test can tell you the level of assertiveness your sales candidate has. A high level of assertiveness is the key behavioral trait found in most successful salespeople. Highly assertive people have the drive and competitive spirit of pushing past obstacles and closing deals repeatedly.
If you hire someone with a high level of caution, they might “go after” only the low-hanging fruit or take orders rather than make them. There is also a higher than average chance the employee will burn out quickly. It takes a lot of energy to work against your natural “grain.” Knowing in advance if your candidates have the basic competitiveness for sales is the first step towards hiring the best candidate.
Omnia’s personality assessment measures four behaviors – assertiveness, communication/thinking style, pace, and need for structure. Before the hire, you'll know if your candidate has the natural analytical aptitude to work as your bookkeeper or the strong attention to detail you want for your order entry CSR. Looking for a bold leader who can brush off criticism and make decisions with limited information? The Omnia assessment can give you that insight. And best of all, you can use this data for employee development throughout the employee’s entire professional journey within your organization. A behavioral assessment can be used for employee engagement, motivation, and workforce optimization.
Of course, there’s a catch. There’s always a catch. The candidate must be willing to use those innate talents for good (and not ignore that last phone call the Friday before a long weekend), which speaks to work ethic and integrity. The right candidate has all the right ingredients to be successful. By using a personality assessment, a cognitive aptitude test, skills tests, and a well-thought-out interview, you’ll have all the pieces you need to make the best decisions for your team, department, and company.
Using various tools to help make your next hiring decision, you increase your hiring odds and zero in more easily on the best candidate. When deciding who you want to work with you, availing yourself of as many tools and as much information as possible is the best way to hire successfully.
