I’m working through many phone screens today and came across a respondent who displayed one of the hallmarks of a schmoozer. A question I often like to lead with is some variation of this:
“Give me an overview of your skills and how they would fit into this position based on the ad that you read.”
A simple question that assumes they are familiar with the ad. Yet, you would be surprised how often the candidate does not have the ad in front of them or how little they remember from the ad. Some respondents are wise enough to state they don’t have the ad in front of them so could I clarify the question a bit. Many simply try to talk through it in broad, unrelated strokes.
One respondent today simply started talking about his skills which didn’t even approach the traits we listed in our ad. This behavior is often indicative of a schmoozer salesperson or sales manager. This guy’s resume looked good and his initial contact on the phone was excellent. However, once I started peeling away some of the veneer, it became obvious that he was not the right candidate for this position.