Other than thoroughly reviewing a job candidate’s past employers online, dig around on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to see how they portray themselves. Social Networks are public domain, so don’t feel like you’re infringing on anyone’s rights.  Some of the things you find may surprise you!  Read on, and get more insights here too.

Formulate a list of questions related to the preferences you’ve already decided you need in a candidate. Your preparation should give you a list of areas to delve into deeper. I love making my questions right on their resume and then, once I’ve got a ton of questions written down, putting a number beside each in the order I’ll ask them to ensure I cover it all.

One-on-one interviews should always be two hours and can often go as long as four hours if you’ve really prepared and really grill the candidate, asking multiple questions around each area.

The setting for the interviews should be appropriate. Use your intuition to know whether a more or less formal atmosphere is appropriate.

The interviewer explains this stage of the process to the candidate. Build rapport with the candidate, but don’t do all of the talking. The interviewer has to stay in control of the discussion, so don’t let the candidate control the time or the questions. They’ll have their turn to ask questions later.

Always look for transition points in their job history because that’s where the most illustrative stories lie, and if a candidate shares them, you’ll begin to see more of them as a person. Moving between jobs, schools, career changes, and marriages help you get a better idea for who the candidate is as a person.  Probe into the transitions –respectfully – and find out why they happened. Don’t assume all transitions are bad – ask the candidate why they made the choices they did in order to get a comprehensive picture of them as an individual.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from interviewing is that everyone lies, or they at least exaggerate a little bit.

When you’re interviewing people, you must make sure that candidates actually have experience doing what they say they do. You’re not looking to see if they know how to do it.  There are lots of great books out there for people to read to learn how they might do something.  You want to find people that have proven past performance.

You want someone who has the practice and has perfected their craft. Your business deserves nothing less than that.

Don’t be afraid of grilling people hard in a one-on-one interview.

Even at the employee recruiting stage, your company’s Painted Picture helps ensure alignment.

Have your potential employees read your Painted Picture before their first interview so they’ll know if the job/culture will feel right to them.  Doing this ideally weeds out unqualified candidates.

One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. You don’t want an employee that doesn’t want to make your Painted Picture a reality—not only will they be a drain, but they’ll bring others down, too.

How do you ensure that you don’t hire someone like that? I tell the CEOs that I coach to set up an email auto-reply so that all candidates sending their resumes to your company via email instantly get a response that says, “Thanks for applying to work for us.  Please read the attached Painted Picture that describes what our company looks and feels like three years out.  If this sounds like the kind of company you’d like to help build, send us an email with the words, ‘please interview me’ in the subject line.”

It’s an awesome system that saves everyone so much time by not interviewing candidates that don’t like what the future has in store for them. It also shines a spotlight on candidates who are paying attention, and take the time to send a reply back following your directions.

Also, have all of your employees and suppliers re-read the Painted Picture every quarter.  When every employee reads it, the process of alignment starts taking place. Every quarter, have each person read the Painted Picture quietly and circle the key words or sentences that resonate with them. Then go around the room have each person read out the areas they like.  It provides alignment for the whole team before the brainstorming process takes place, and can assist in planning and prioritizing future projects.

More great tools for recruiting here…

For more information on this topic, check out: Building a World Class Culture.

OK – My Feb 16th blog post sucked was way too much of a sales pitch.  Yes, I believe in recruiters- at the right time, however, I also know companies can get great at recruiting & interviewing. You deserved more than me just pushing recruiting firms at you…

Here are some tips:

• The best employees aren’t looking for jobs, you have to know where they are, and go find them.  They work for the top companies to work for in your market, or the INC 500 winners, the Top 40 Under 40, Best Workplaces etc.  A Players work at the best companies.  You’ll find them on FaceBook & LinkedIn too.
• A Level employees change jobs for alignment, culture, clarity of roles, and opportunity.  They aren’t going to jump ship to just any old company, so make sure that you’ve set your company up to really attract them.  Ask your current employees for 5 things (that don’t cost money) that would make your company a best place to work, and put them in place now.  It’s a start.
• Job Ads MUST attract – don’t be boring…  Here is one I used (it fits my culture) and was for an Exec Assistant.  The ad helped me find a person who is a perfect fit.
• Behavioral Traits – Think in advance about the key traits the person must possess.  Make a list of them – like: Leadership, Attainment, Tenacity & Introspection…
• Interview Questions – Once you know the traits you’re looking for, come up with 3-5 questions you can ask to probe for answers on each trait.
• Scorecard – Describe in detail the 10 things the person being hired will have to get done during their first two years in the role.  Then interview them in depth to ensure they have done similar work before.  Hire for Experience and Cultural Fit.
• Group Interview – Use a Group Interview to look for cultural fit.
• Reference Checks – Do as many as 10 if you have to.  Draw out names of people to call during the interviews.  Don’t just call the names the candidate gives you.
• Raise The Bar – Every new hire should raise the average skill set of your group.  Just like a sports team, work to keep bringing awesome employees into your company.

So, you want to be an expert recruiter ?  You want to get strong at interviewing ?

In all likelihood, this will never happen.  MOST CEOs and Entrepreneurs have far too many things on their plate to get good at this.  I’m not talking about being competent, I’m talking about being awesome at it.

As Malcom Gladwell says in his book Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something.  Let’s say he’s exaggerating, let’s say it only takes you 1,000 hours, or even 100 hours, are you really prepared to put that much effort into getting great at interviewing & recruiting, if you’re not – then it’s easy – outsource it to the professionals.  Especially when it comes to key hires.

I’ve personally spent close to a thousand hours interviewing and working on my interview skills.  I can stack up with the top 2%.  That’s why I finally decided that instead of simply training CEOs on how to recruit and interview their key hires, I’d source 2 TOP Recruiting companies who could do it for them- for the key hires at least.

I’ve found two:

-one focuses only on C-Level roles where the total comp is $300,000 or higher.

-the second focuses on VP, Director, and C-Level where the comp is $150-$250k.

It you’re interested in having them do retained searches for you, drop me an email, let me know what you’re hiring, comp etc., and I’ll happily intro you.

OR, spend a thousand hours, and perfect your recruiting & interviewing skills, and do it yourself…

The following interview questions are from a survey I found years ago and also include a bunch of my favorites.

I only listed the ones I really like best, categorized according to personal background, skills and abilities, academic preparation, and other topics.

This list of questions would be an excellent resource to use when preparing for interviews with prospective employees.

ABILITY TO DEAL WITH ADVERSITY, THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

• What are your personal goals, and have you achieved them? If not, why?
• Who was the most difficult person you’ve dealt with? How did you respond?
• Describe a frustrating experience from work. How did you deal with it?
• What are some of the greatest personal challenges you have faced?
• How do you handle rejection?
• What aspects of your past jobs were most frustrating?
• What life experiences have given you the greatest reward?
• Can you tell me about the toughest job you’ve ever had?
• What was the most difficult aspect of obtaining a college degree?

CAREER GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

• What are your career interests?
• What are your standards of success/goals for a job?
• What are your goals and aspirations for the next three years?
• What are your long-range goals and how are you preparing to achieve them?
• If you could create the perfect job for yourself, what would you do?
• Please tell me about your plans for the future.
• What work would you like to do that really interests you?
• What is your timetable for achievement of your current career goals?

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

• What skills do you possess that will help make you successful in this job?
• Why should we hire you?
• Have you ever worked in a similar position with another organization, and what did you enjoy most about and least about it?
• Please discuss some of your past jobs and what you accomplished in them?
• What prior work experiences have you had?
• What were your accomplishments in these prior work experiences?
• Please tell me about the duties/requirements of your last job.
• Elaborate on one of the work experiences listed on your resume.
• What did you enjoy most about your previous job experiences? Least?
• In addition to your educational and professional experiences, what else would you like us to know about you in order to make an appropriate decision?
• What skills will you bring to the job that will enhance our team or company?

LEADERSHIP

• What are your major strengths and weaknesses?
• What did you see as your major strengths and/or weaknesses on this job?
• What would your last two employers say about you, good and bad?
• How would you describe your supervisory/leadership style?
• Who or what had the greatest influence on your life?
• Describe the difference between motivation and inspiration, and how these apply to you in the work environment.

INITIATIVE AND FOLLOW-THROUGH

• What are your greatest achievements at this point in your life?
• Tell me about your accomplishments during college that make you proudest.
• If friends/colleagues were to describe you to a stranger what would they say?
• What do you consider most important when evaluating yourself?
• What were your most significant achievements?

COMMUNICATION

• How would you describe your style of communication?
• Tell me about a time you had to sell an idea to someone else.
• What do you enjoy doing most?
• Tell me about a time you had to present information to a large group of people. How did you feel and how successful were you?

WORKING EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS

• How well do you work with others?
• What are some of the pros and cons of working on a team project?
• When have you led a team to achieve a specific goal, what were the results?
• What have you admired in people who have previously supervised your work? What haven’t you admired in these individuals?
• How would you resolve conflict in a group situation?

CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

• What changes would you make in your school’s academic program?
• Tell me about a time you found a new and better way of doing something.
• What was the largest, most creative project you’ve been involved in to date?
• Tell me the most creative solution you have come up with to solve a problem.
• Tell me a time when you had to bring out the creativity in others.

DECISION-MAKING

• Please tell me about a conflict and how you resolved it.
• Tell me a time you had to make an important decision with limited facts.
• Tell me a time you had to make an unpopular decision.
• Tell me about a bad decision you made and what you would do differently?

DELEGATION AND ORGANIZATION

• How do you organize your day?
• Tell me about a time you delegated a project effectively.
• Describe to me a time when a supervisor delegated a task to you when you had a full workload. How did you handle the situation?
• Describe what your closets and garage look like today.

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SALES

• What personal qualities do you bring to this firm?
• Tell me about when you dealt with an irate customer.
• What does the term “the customer is always right” mean to you?
• What’s the best example of awesome customer service you’ve provided?

GENERAL

• What starting salary do you expect as an employee?
• When comparing one company offer to another, what factors will be important to you besides starting salary?
• Please tell me about yourself. How would you describe yourself?
• Name three people who have inspired you and why.
• What personal qualities do you bring to this firm?
• What do you know about our company?
• Why are you interviewing with us?
• Why do you want to work in the position you are seeking?
• What are your expectations of us?
• Why did you select us?

When interviewing job candidates, use what I call ‘The Reverse Sell.’

It involves being in a position of power throughout the interview and getting the candidate to sell themselves on the company and also on their skills in handling the job. When the interview is over, if the candidate is more excited than ever and really knows they can do the job and that you’ve raked them over the coals and might not offer them, then you’ve done your job.

Ensure any fears the candidate has are addressed during the interview.  Don’t handle them as they come up – instead, jot down their concerns or fears until later in the interview for just the right moment. This ensures you will handle them so the candidate isn’t worried about them and sees a few reasons within your system to minimize them.  “So, about an hour ago you asked about…”

Reverse selling occurs by emphasizing how hard a position will be and getting the candidate to sell you on why he or she is right for the job.

In addition, ‘reverse selling’ also occurs by stating the concerns you might have about a candidate’s weaknesses. For example, you might say, “It appears your computer skills are very poor and will hurt you. Can you address that with me?”

And all of your questions should be asked by the end of the interview. Leave no stone unturned.

Regardless of what department you’re hiring for, if someone can’t passionately sell themselves to you on why they’re what you’re looking for, walk away.  You’re doing them a disservice if you hire them.

By the way, this works in franchising too – don’t sell franchises, award them to qualified candidates who really sell you on their skills.

If you’re not currently setting goals to be in better shape, you know what you need to do.

Trust me – your back problems and evolving double chin will disappear faster than you think.

“Ya I just don’t have time to work out.” Neither does Barack Obama, but he’s hard in the gym for an hour in the morning, 6 days a week.

Don’t you hate it when I’m right?

Also, when recruiting, look for athletes and hire people who play sports actively.

Look for team players.  Look for those with athletic goals as adults.  Those who wake up working out hard will work hard in their jobs.  Those who sit on the couch watching TV that makes them dumber will produce similar results at work.

pic Eden Prairie News

I once traveled to Boston with a colleague to hire for a position. After three intense days of back-to-back interviews, we ended up flying home empty-handed. We interviewed sixteen candidates, in multiple interview rounds. We combed through close to 150 resumes. Still, we walked away because we just didn’t find the right person.

There are 300 million people living in the United States and 35 million in Canada.  The right people exist for every role. You just have to keep looking. Trust your gut, too.  When your gut says, ‘no’ don’t let yourself keep trying to make it say ‘yes.’

Patience is a virtue when you’re hiring. Be willing to wait for the right person.

Most “A” players aren’t out there looking either, so you might just have to shake the tree a few more times…

For information on this topic, check out: Leadership at 100MPH.

In my second year of university I took an organizational behavior course. One day my professor was teaching us how to hire people. I remember thinking, “This is stupid. It’s all textbook stuff that he’s just reading to us. I’ll bet he’s never interviewed or hired anyone.” So I threw my hand up and asked him point-blank, “Um, have you ever actually interviewed or hired anyone?”

“No, have you?” He replied. Uh, wrong question!

I replied, “Yes, in fact, I have. I have nine people working for me now in a house painting business I started.” 
Wrong answer!

The whole class turned around to look at me after my response, and right then and there I began teaching people how to hire great employees as I went on a fifteen-minute diatribe of what it’s really like to hire awesome people. This is the time I actually started using my business coaching and mentoring skills.

I didn’t become BFFs with the prof, but I got a cute girl’s phone number and serious classroom clout.

Just a quick reminder to put down the books and start doing it – you’ll learn more than the books can teach you.