Bad Interview Techniques

Great post from Seth Godin this morning that makes a not-so-subtle point about typical interview techniques. Here is the post in its entirety: Omer sends in this riff from Peopleware: Juggler Interview Circus Manager: How long have you been juggling? Candidate: Oh, about six years. Manager: Can you handle three balls, four balls, and five balls? Candidate: Yes, yes, and yes. Manager: Do you work with flaming objects? Candidate: Sure. Manager: …knives, axes, open cigar boxes, floppy hats? Candidate: I can juggle anything. Manager: Do you have a line of funny patter that goes with your juggling? Candidate: It’s hilarious. Manager: Well, that sounds fine. I guess you’re hired. Candidate:… Read More

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The Silver Bullet

No, not Coors. I’m talking about interview questions. More specifically, is there any catch-all interview question that will reveal the essence of the candidate. No. I read many articles that discuss interview strategies and most of them are exercises in theory. Maybe my sales background taints my perspective, but interviews are qualifying events for both the candidate and interviewer. What I mean is that template questions tend to generate template answers. For example: Q – “Where do you want to be in 5 years?” A – “I hope to use my leadership skills to expand my responsibilities within the company and move into a leadership position.” That exchange was worthless… Read More

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Interview Blunders

CareerJournal.com references a survey from Korn/Ferry that identifies the most common interview blunders: Talking too much Lack of knowledge about company or position Over-inflated ego Appearing overly confident Inquiring about compensation too early in the process Unkempt appearance When selecting salespeople, an overly strong ego combined with a Dominant selling style is a recipe for disaster. These salespeople, at their worst, turn into a walking flamethrower. Their approach will aggravate most who come in contact with them – coworkers, customers and prospects. In case you were wondering (I was): unkempt = 1: not combed 2: deficient in order or neatness

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Finally Some Interviewer Tips – Part Deux

A few months back we posted on an article from CareerBuilder.com titled Top 10 Interview No No’s. One of the top 10 “no-no’s” is a topic that we discuss with our clients regularly. It is: 2. No Opening Monologue – It is often tempting to have a monologue at the beginning of your time with a candidate. Giving too much information about the type of candidate you are seeking, or providing a substantial amount of information about the position and responsibilities can be detrimental. Giving too many details upfront leads a candidate to tell you what you want to hear, instead of what he/she actually thinks. Do simple introductions and… Read More

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Selling to Women

I’m catching up on some reading and came across Selling Power’s recent Sales Management Newsletter which had this article, If You Sell to Women, You Better Clear the Clutter. Some interesting information about selling to women. According to a cruise ship survey women could recall details as small as the design on the rugs and the subject matter of each painting on the walls. In contrast, most men couldn’t even remember the color of those walls. Women account for more than 80 percent of all purchases in the U.S., $3.7 trillion as consumers and $1.5 trillion as business owners. And third and foremost in my mind was the authors final… Read More

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Interview Etiquette

Interview Etiquette Begins The Minute You Walk in the Door from CareerJournal is a must-read piece for Gen Y workers. I’ve seen some of these traits first hand in initial interviews or even email communications. I had a candidate this past week email me his resume and cover letter. Strangely, he wasn’t even close to fitting the clearly specified requirements of the position. He then followed up with the same email to me for the next 2 days. Except these times he had 5MB of attachments to his email. Finally, on the 3rd time, he sent the 5MB email to me 3 times in the middle of the night and… Read More

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Questions for the Interviewer

Tory Johnson from abcnews.com has a helpful article titled Turn the Tables in a Job Interview. She discusses what candidates should ask in an interview when the interviewer asks, “What questions do you have?” I’m always perplexed by candidates who simply state “None.” That response is always a red flag. Volumes of information are readily available with the Internet. Today’s candidate should have a general understanding of the hiring company’s business model, markets and corporate structure (privately held, subsidiary, etc.). Due diligence is easily completed with today’s technological tools. Back to the article – this question can and should be asked by every serious candidate: What are the biggest challenges… Read More

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Interviewer Styles

Monster.com has an entertaining article about interviewer styles. We’ve seen this “version” more times than we can count: The Unskilled Interviewer Problem: This is an interviewer who doesn’t know what he’s doing. Maybe the person was “roped into being there,” says Meehl. “Maybe they just don’t know what to do.” In a way, it is you who is teaching them how to be an interviewer, she explains. The article is a quick read and does provide some good pointers to interviewees when trapped in a poor interview.

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Interview Strategies

CareerBuilder has a new article – Top 4 Strategic Interview Styles – that provides some thoughtful approaches to interview strategies. However, I take umbrage with the opening sentence: Interviews are the most important piece of the hiring process. Wrong. Of far greater importance is knowing what traits lead to success in the position. This truth is even more evident when hiring salespeople. If we were to pick one of these 4 interview styles, we would go with the “panel interview.” From the article (emphasis mine): Panel interviewing method forces the candidate to react to a variety of questions and personalities, and will show if the candidate can handle a situation… Read More

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The Truth About Lies

Interesting article – The Top Seven Signs That Someone is Lying to You – that provides clues to look for when talking to others face-to-face. The article is a quick read and well worth your time. An excerpt: No eye contact. Generally, if someone is lying they will not look you in the eye, at least during a certain part of the conversation. Normally, people make eye contact for at least half of a conversation, so anything less than this could be suspicious. One caveat: there are some people who will take great pains to make eye contact with you even if they’re lying, simply to make you think they’re… Read More

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