Forums

I am recruiting for a direct report with technical skills which are easy to screen, but also someone who people want to work with since our projects are usually done in informal teams. The interviewing team (including me) are introverts, except for 1 guy who is an extrovert and generally a good judge of people. I have been going to the extrovert to ask 'how do you think this guy would be to work with' and have gotten some good insight. But sometimes his assessment really differs from mine (a candidate I saw as mild mannered he saw as being too tightly wound, for example).

Any suggestion on how to weigh "soft skills" assessments from an interview team if they differ from yours, especially if they raise red flags that you didn't pick up?

Here's an article that was helpful, http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/06/becoming-a-better-judge-of-peo/

svibanez's picture

I am also recruiting for a technical position and I have my team leader and one of my technical team members interview the candidates to get a read on how they'll work together.  I don't think it matters much whether the folks are introverts or extroverts - it's about the chemistry between team members.

I give equal weight to all my team members' opinions because they're the ones who will be working side-by-side with this person.  I believe Mark referred to this as the "black ball" rule - if any one person says no, the answer is no.

So far that approach has helped us avoid one very bad hire.  The candidate was highly qualified technically and I thought they were right for the job.  The candidate said things to my team members in their interviews that they didn't say in mine and the team didn't feel they could work with the candidate, so we passed on giving them an offer.

Steve

DiSC 7114

engineering_mgr's picture

Very helpful. I'm looking for the relevant podcast and will post the link.

I will mention that those in the team thought he would be a good candidate, those out of the team (with different technical background) didn't.

mike_bruns_99's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

http://www.manager-tools.com/2013/06/ordering-multiple-interviews
 
Steve is absolutely right.  If ANYONE says no, the answer is no.  With very few exceptions.
 
One of the main people to ask, is your office receptionist. You would be amazed at how some candidates treat them.  Mine has full veto-power over any candidate that walks through the door.

DRD282's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

That's a great insight about the receptionist, Mike. I'll have to remember that. Thank you.

mfculbert's picture

 We have had great success using the Interview Creation Tool. (See Tools menu above) You may need to train your interviewing team about behavioral interview questions but it is well worth the cost and time.

engineering_mgr's picture

That podcast was really useful. I learned a ton (mostly what I have been doing wrong!) While it's too late for prior candidates, it inspired me to rearrange the interviews with an upcoming candidate next week so that he talks to the right people.

BenjaminLukas's picture

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

          The article was really helpful.

It will be more effective if make use of some more assessment resources. You must train the hiring team about some new hiring assessment and practices.

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

 

-->

Normal
0

false
false
false

EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE

The article was really helpful.

It will be very more effective, if make use of employee assessment resources. You must train the hiring team about some new hiring assessment and practices.

/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}