This guidance recommends the best way to take notes during interviews.

Taking notes is something people seem to find difficult at the best of times. We frequently get asked how to arrange notes in a notebook, what symbols or shortcuts we use and how we find things again.

When it comes to interviewing, those notes become even more important. It's not because they're a legal document, though some people will tell you to be careful what you write because they are. It's because you need to be able to make a decision about whether to hire based on evidence. The only way to remember what you heard and what conclusions you drew is to have good notes.

What to write and where?

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In this cast, we conclude our conversation on how to interview candidates by conducting multiple interviews.

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In this cast, we continue our conversation on how to interview candidates by conducting multiple interviews.

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This guidance describes how to interview candidates by conducting multiple interviews.

Interviewing candidates effectively is the most important thing a manager does. We don't get to say that - "the most important thing a manager does" - but one dime, so when we say it, we mean it.

Unfortunately, interviewing candidates falls under the Christmas rule. We don't do it very often. It's really important to us. Therefore, most of us STINK at it. And to make matters worse, the only way many of us have seen it done is poorly...so with no other model we're likely to repeat doing it that very same way.

This is BAD. This is, in fact, VERY VERY BAD.

To alleviate this, let's learn how to interview others effectively. We start by learning that one interview is never enough. Never, EVER enough, even for our best friends whom we've known for years.

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This cast describes how big to size a team when forming it.

We get asked all the time, what's the ideal size for a team to be? The simple answer is that there's no ideal size – it depends on a lot of factors. But, we realize that when we get asked, someone's probably got to form a team to accomplish something, and so our answer, though right, isn't initially helpful. The question probably ought to be, "how big should I make this team I'm forming ..."

If you've got to form a team, and are wondering how to do it, this cast starts our answer by giving guidance about how big it should be.

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This cast describes a technique for measuring your team and/or organization's ability to recognize talent.

Many managers mistakenly fail to connect the process of hiring with the later successes and failures of the organization. When someone doesn't work out, particularly if it's 3-5 years after they were hired, very few managers think that the problem started when they were being interviewed. But the fact is, just like our elected leaders in a democracy, we get the people we deserve. If we hired them, we MUST have wanted them? Right?

Somehow, though, this kind of analysis is never done. While it's probably not terribly helpful for those who leave the company after 20 years, there ought to be a way to evaluate managers' abilities to find and hire good, talented people ("talent") for the company.

And now there is: The Manager Tools Talent Scouting Average.

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More and more, companies are using psychological and behavioral tests as pre-employment screening devices. They supplement their interviewing processes in order to ensure less false-positives.This is wise, in our judgment, based on what we see of interviewing. Too many companies don't screen rigorously enough, and have started enlisting more cerebral and/or technical techniques to be certain of new hires.

Even if you haven't experienced one yet, it's becoming more and more likely.

What does this mean for you? What's the best way to approach and be successful at pre-employment tests? This is Manager Tools, and we'll walk you through it.

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Interviewing candidates for your organization is one of the most important things managers do. And yet, somehow, it's one of those things that doesn't seem to get taught anywhere. What this means is very few managers know how, or at least, they just do it "their way". That's not a very effective approach for an organization to have regarding the key talent screening process that it has, but the data are overwhelming: Your interviews stink! Most managers simply don't have a good way to always ensure that they are conducting an effective interview. Some managers routinely create false positives with shallow questions, little probing, and a lack of understanding about the role. Other managers routinely create false negatives...and usually, for the very same reasons on the surface. Conducting Effective Interviews is too big a topic to cover all at once..unless you wanted a 30 hour cast! So, in this cast, we'll talk about the steps effective managers take to get ready for an interview.
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This cast explains a simple way to make a job offer to a candidate.

If you're a manager, you've got people working for you. If you have people working for you, you're going to either lose some, or your team is going to grow. That creates an opening, which, if you're lucky, you'll get to fill. And that means interviewing, and hiring someone.

While we think it's funny (and sad) that so many managers don't like the hiring process, it seems silly to punish ourselves by not knowing how to do it. Look, even if you hate the process, why mess it up and increase your chances of having to do it again right at the very end? It's like being in the lead of a mile long race, only to fall down and then have to run an extra mile.

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This cast shares our most important principle in The Manager Tools Effective Hiring Process: Set the Bar HIGH.

We believe that the biggest invisible organizational personnel failing is hiring poorly. It's that simple: the vast majority of companies do a terrible job - compared to what they COULD DO EASILY - in hiring the right people.

We've said what follows a hundred times. We have systems to test the quality of raw materials coming in to our plants. We reject anything that is even a LITTLE off. We have non-destructive testing methods for inbound materials, and for our own manufacturing processes. Tolerances are incredibly tight. We have financial standards for investing capital that are incredibly rigorous, and monstrously difficult to prepare for at times. We have RIGID standards for EXPENSE REPORTING, for heaven's sake.

And then, for the most important decisions we make - personnel - we leave the decision to some senior manager who's never been trained, never been given feedback, is never held accountable, and mostly goes with her gut.

This is like trying to make a gorgeous wedding cake substituting dirt for flour, and adhering strictly to every other step in the process.

We can't cover the entire process in one cast. But we can start.

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