Hope should not be a basis for hiring decisions
I don’t think of myself as a pessimist, but perhaps I am if pessimism is the opposite of the optimism shown by some managers when hiring. They have inadequate information about the candidates’ past performance and therefore must base their hiring decisions merely on the hope that everything will turn out right. Too often, it doesn’t.
Hope is the word that came to mind as I reviewed a list of questions that were asked when interviewing to fill a vacant support staff position. What did I think of them?
I thought they covered the right topics and I liked that they had identified criteria by which to assess the candidates’ responses. What I didn’t like was how the questions were asked—a typical office scenario was followed by, “How would you respond?” or “How do you proceed?”
The only questions that alluded to the candidates’ past performance were the first ones, which asked candidates to reflect on how their training and experience had prepared them for the job for which they were applying and about their familiarity with a software program used in the office.
Most of the interview script consisted of “what if?” questions which invite candidates to answer with how they hope they would respond if dropped into the scenario. If their response fits the criteria, the interviewer may hire them and hope that the new employee will behave as described during the interview.
Asked what they would do if approached by an angry customer, candidates could potentially respond with how they hope they would deal with the situation, how they hope they would be consistent with how they were trained to deal angry customers, or how they hope the interviewer would want them to respond.
But without evidence about how they have dealt with an angry customer in the past, how can the interviewer know how they will deal with a similar situation? Have they ever responded in the way they would hope to respond in the future?
A far better inquiry would ask the candidates to describe a time when they dealt with an angry customer.
Leaders should not dwell in a world of hope when hiring. Candidates (and their references) should be required to provide evidence of how they have performed in the past. Have they done the right things in the right way?
If they have, the interviewer will have reason to be hopeful that this is the right person to hire and to be optimistic about that decision.
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During Interview Right to Hire Right workshops, participants create questions to determine if candidates have done the right things in the right way, making them the right people to hire. Contact Nelson (email: nmscott@telus.net or phone/text: 780-232-3828) to schedule an Interview Right to Hire Right workshop for your leadership team or to learn more.
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