Great article here from SellingPower.com – The Best Ways to Turn Off a Star.  I am a big fan of showing people how not to do something.  That is a powerful format for teaching.

In that light, here are 6 tips from the article (in a “what not to do” vein):

    1. Talk about yourself and your company. You really don’t need any information about the candidates; it’s all on their resumes anyway.
    2. Wait for them to call you.
    3. Make them wait. Hey, if they really want to work for your company, it’s worth waiting through your 40-minute phone call to your old college roommate.
    4. Bribe them. Offer a free microwave or golf cart to sweeten the deal.
    5. Never check references. They’ll just say nice things about the person anyway. It’s a waste of your valuable time.
    6. Make promises that you can’t possibly keep. Once you get them on board at your company, let them know gradually that you kind of stretched the truth about that five-week vacation, company car, and corner office.

Spot on, each and every one of them.  Unfortunately, we have seen every one of these play out in a hiring process.  Of the 6, I find the first one to be of the highest importance.  Many times hiring managers judge the success of an interview by how much information they shared with the candidate.

Remember, you are there to gather information about the candidate.  You have to sell your opportunity, but there is a time and place for that task.  The initial interview is not one of them.

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