Interview Best Practices
Engaged and Aligned
WGLL
What Good Looks Like
Hiring Bar - Company Values/ Job Specific Requirements
Trade-Offs - What you can train vs. what is not trainable
Ramp Time- How long will they need to get up to speed?
Review Sample Profiles
ALIGNMENT
Misalignment = Failed Searches
Define key goals for the role
Describe the ideal candidate *
Describe the role **
How to sell the role ***
Determine focus areas
Continuous calibration
Post-interview discussions****
ENGAGEMENT
Qualities of Effective Hiring Managers:
Takes ownership/drives process
Responsive
Provides/solicits timely feedback
Brand Ambassador
Leadership around diversity
Upfront alignment on target compensation
Methodologies - Predicting on-the-Job Success
Methodologies
Past Achievements: Targeted, probing behavioral interviewing
Present Performance: Situational/problem-solving interviewing
Skilled and aligned interviewers
Excellent process
+
Gather Evidence
Skills and Knowledge
Attributes
Achievements
Motivations
=
Objective Evidence
Inclusive Process
Decisive Interviewers
Quality Hire
Fair Decisions
Positive Candidate Experience
Setting Up The Interviews
Focus Area
Discuss these in the pre-interview meetings
Ensures both depth and breadth of information
Eliminates repetitive questions
Send a reminder once interviews are confirmed
Interview Team
Combination of technical and business leaders
Hiring Manager
Peers
Stakeholders/Business Partners
Executive
Board Member
Veto Authority - determine who has it *
Number of Interviewers
How many interviewers do you need to make a quality decision?
Minimum of 4 - less could result in false positives due to lack of evidence
Maximum of 6 - more than could result in false negatives due to lack of consensus
Does not include reverse interviewers **
Length of Interviews
Maximum of 3 rounds - Initial, 2nd and a 3rd for 1 or 2 finalists
Effective interviews should last between 45 - 60 minutes
Short interviews could result in the interviewer running out of time
Short interviews could result in a poor candidate experience
Sample Interview Structure
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Introduction
Overview of your background and the candidate’s background
Discuss the role
Easier general questions
-
Past Achievements with Pivot
Ask 1-2 questions about how they have accomplished things that you will need done in your environment
Dig and probe
-
Skills
Focus on the knowledge, skills, and experience required for success in this role
-
Traits and Motivation
Leverage 1-2 questions to determine if the candidate’s motivations and personality traits align to your org culture
-
Problem-solve w/Constraints
Have the candidate walk through how they would approach solving a real-world, job-specific problem
-
Q & A
Wrap up
Ask what questions they have
Sell the opportunity
What to Look For
Skills, Knowledge & Abilities (What)
Do they have the skills and experience needed for this role?
What will they have to learn and how long will it take?
Traits (How)
Do they have the personality traits and attributes that will make them successful in your company and your organization’s environment?
Accomplishments (How/What)
Do they have a track record of success delivering in their prior roles
Do their past achievements align with expectations for this role?
Motivations (Why)
Are they naturally motivated to do this work?
Do they connect with your values?
Does the candidate understand your business?
Can the candidate articulate why your business resonates?
Gathering Evidence
Past Performance Using Behavioral Interviews
What have they done?
Get examples from their past achievements:
Tell me about a time when…
Give me an example of how you were able to…
Where and how have you used (skill) to achieve (result)?
Walk me through…
Present Performance Using Situational Interviews
What can they do now?
Have them show you how they would approach solving a real-world problem
Demonstrate a skill
Role play
Use white board or computer to design something
Case study
Get Specifics
-
DETAILS
Dissecting the project or program:
Summarize
What part did they own?
How did they coordinate resources?
What was the result?
What would they change?
-
ROLE
Dig and Probe:
Who were the project team/stakeholders?
What were their roles?
When was the project?
Where were you working?
Why was it important?
How was it achieved?
-
CONTEXT
Resources?
Timeline?
Budget vs. Costs?
Difficulty?
Pressures/challenges?
Results vs. Goal?
-
SPECIFY
Exposure vs Expertise?
Participant vs Owner/ Leader/Stakeholder?
Point of involvement:
Start, middle, end, entire project?
The Pivot
Demonstrate Past Performance
Start with a past problem, accomplishment or result.
Ask them how
Add a Pivot
The Pivot:
Resources
Timelines
Budget
Features
Role
Performance
Scale
Turn to your Environment
Ask them how and…
Get evidence that they can pivot
Get evidence that they can adapt
Get evidence that they can scale
Get evidence of a growth mindset
Introducing Constraints
Illustrate Past Performance + White Board Techniques + Case Studies
Start with a real-world problem and ask them how
Introduce complexity and constraints
Constraints:
Resources Timelines
Budget Features
Scale Risk
Information Access
And ask them how
Gets evidence of:
How they tackle challenges
How they handle change
How they think spur of the moment
How they scope problems and get to the root causes
Engages candidate
Turns interview into a 2-way collaboration
Gives candidates insight into the challenges they would face
Gets evidence of a growth mindset
Evaluating Candidates
Demonstrate the ability to “yo-yo”?
Challenge assumptions?
Have creative solutions?
THINK:
Holistically?
Long term?
About scalability?
Did the Candidate…
CONSIDER:
The business context?
Sustainability?
Costs?
Downstream impacts?
Edge cases?
Performance?
The simplest solution?
Clarify the problem?
Test the solution?
Ask….”Did I deliver what you wanted?”
SHOW:
Poise and speaking style that facilitates executive-level communication and presence?
The ability to effectively speak to the most technical audiences?