A Surefire Way to Hire The Best Candidates
I’ve spent the week helping a few clients interview for some key new hires. I’ve kissed some frogs and found a few princes (or princesses, as the case may be). And there is one way I can quickly tell the difference between the duds and the superstars.
I base my hiring decisions on the quality of the questions candidates ask me.
When I hire people for my own companies, it’s easy to make emotional decisions or get stuck on a favorite candidate. But when I am filling a fractional role for a client and need to make hiring decisions, I can’t take risks on their behalf so I am more cut and dry about my criteria. And my number one criteria for any role comes down to questions.
Here’s what I am looking for:
- The questions they ask. Do they ask smart questions? Do their questions show they are engaged and thoughtful about the role & responsibilities? Do they display natural curiosity?
- How they ask the questions. How you ask a question is almost as important as the question itself. Someone who spews a bunch of inquisition-like questions is a turnoff. I’m looking for style, rapport building, and active listening.
- When they ask the questions. I start most interviews with “What questions do you have for me?”. What I am hoping for is someone to jump in and show their curiosity — about me, about the company, about the role…about anything. When a candidate doesn’t have any questions come to mind or wants to hold them till the end, that’s a red flag. I’ve had entire interviews where the candidate essentially ends up interviewing me. And when that happens I learn more about a person than I ever could in a standard interview. Their questioning shows me how they think, what they care about, their motivations and intentions.
- The conversational part of their questioning. If someone is just reading off a list of prepared questions, that’s a ding. Natural curiosity leads to good questions, which leads to more questions, which leads to responses and engaging conversation. If someone is listening to your answer, they will ask a smart follow up question, or share a relevant tidbit. There will be an engaging dialog about the question, not just a rote question after a rote question after a rote question.
Good questioning is a pass/fail for me. If a candidate has soared through the entire recruiting process with flying colors but hasn’t asked any great questions during the process, it’s a fail. Sometimes a heartbreaking one for me when I really like someone and think they could be a strong fit….but, this has to be cut and dry.
I know now from lots of experience hiring great fits and bad fits, the writing was always on the wall based on the questions they asked during the interview process.
Originally published at saasx.com on December 7, 2018.