We were talking over here at Select Metrix about strange interviews so I decided to google the topic and found this site. There are some great, bizarre stories that will make you laugh. A few teasers: “She wore a Walkman and said she could listen to me and the music at the same time.” “… she threw-up on my desk, and immediately started asking questions about the job, like nothing had happened.” “… asked if I wanted some cocaine before starting the interview.”
Continue ReadingSalespeople Are Professional Actors
Inc.com offers this article – When Is It Safe To Hire? The focus of the article is a software manufacturer’s assistance to their rep companies in hiring salespeople. Basically, the manufacturer will provide $10,000 to the rep company to assist them in hiring salespeople. The money can be used for assessing, training, supplementing salary, etc. Apparently this approach is relatively common in the software industry. The article discusses the pitfalls of hiring salespeople in the context of small business owners ($1-2 million revenue). This ground is well travelled by us. I am convinced that in companies this size, sales hires are a make-or-break proposition. And when I say “break” I… Read More
Continue ReadingAn Even Tougher Interview
Interviews are stressful for candidates as we posted this morning. If you want to gain an even more in-depth knowledge of the candidate, take them out for a meal as part of your interview process. Selling Power has a quick article worth the read – Out to Lunch? In case you were wondering what to watch for at the meal: Business etiquette expert Barbara Pachter says that by taking a candidate out to a restaurant you will be able to observe interpersonal skills that you may not be able to witness during a more formal interview. First, is the candidate on time? How do they treat the server? What do… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Fear Factor
CareerJournal.com offers this article – Facing Down the Fear Factor When You’re in a Job Interview. We talk about the fear factor in face-to-face interviews often. Personally, I like to see a touch of fear, or maybe nervousness is a better way to put it, in a sales position interview. Of course, there are limits at both ends of the spectrum. An overly-nervous candidate does not project confidence and is difficult to imagine them running a successful demonstration in front of a grade A prospect. If the candidate is too smooth and calm, the slippery sales schmoozer image is conjured up in my imagination. It is a fine line to… Read More
Continue ReadingCandidate Questions
We always say that interviewing is a two-way street. Both the hiring company and the candidate have to be impressed with each other to continue the process. Either one can terminate the process at any time. That being said, BusinessWeek has an interesting article dedicated to candidates titled Ask The Right Question. The author provides a strategy to 3 styles of questions all candidates should ask in an interview: Here’s My Brain Working Questions My Turn Questions What Happens Now? Questions I’ll let the author lay out the strategy for the questions (which is quite well developed). One overly simplistic tip I will share from our experience – candidates should… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Working Interview
I came across this article in Monster’s resource for candidates – Work the Working Interview. The article has three main points: How the working interview helps employers evaluate you, Show your stuff and Ace the working interview. Basically, the article provides tips for candidates on how to perform well in a working interview. Stephen Morel, President & CEO of Pro Staff, is quoted: It helps employers evaluate soft skills, like commitment, loyalty and work ethic, plus it shows attitude and abilities in real time,” he explains. Employers can also evaluate whether a candidate’s personality will be a good fit with the staff. Monster provides a link for candidates to evaluate… Read More
Continue ReadingHire Great People: 10 Simple Rules
Monster has some great resources for candidates in preparing, practicing and improving not only their interviewing techniques, but their chances of receiving job offers. Unfortunately, their employer resources are somewhat limited. I did find a good article on hiring – it is a list of 10 simple rules to follow. Rule no. 1 is by far the best and one we preach here at The Hire Sense: Rule number one is clear, but very counterintuitive: Don’t ever, ever hire somebody just like yourself. Why not? Because from the beginning of time, executives have been unconsciously cloning themselves, stocking the shelves with vanilla young men from impressive schools. And what has… Read More
Continue ReadingWhen Google Hires, People Interview
Google Adjusts Hiring Process As Need for New Talent Grows provides a glimpse of the extended hiring process of a suddenly large company. When I write suddenly, I mean this: During the quarter, the company brought in an average of 16 new employees daily, up from 13 the quarter before. Its breakneck hiring has boosted staff from 1,628 at the end of 2003 to 3,021 a year later and 5,680 at the end of 2005. The article illustrates the hiring challenges that occur when a company experiences explosive growth. The large company effects can be seen in that they have brought in a new, young VP of HR with new… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Spiderman Interview
Ragan Jones writing about bizarre candidate interviews. Trust me, a great read to end the work week.
Continue ReadingWork-life Balance When Hiring
Anthony Meaney from Recruiting.com has a great post today unpacking a CareerJournal.com article titled Acing a Dicey Interview Question:Why Did You Leave Your Last Job? Straight from Anthony’s keyboard: Work-life balance has become a key issue for people these days with employees striving for it and employers gushing about how their company supports work life balance. Yet we are supposed to look askance at candidates who want to knock two hours of commute time off their day? The only person who can legitimately scoff at shorter commute as a reason for leaving is someone who is doing a longer commute. I couldn’t agree more. We are located in the Twin… Read More
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