Only 1 of these job candidates is a top performer
Carter is the Co-Founder and CEO of a commercial real estate company. A mutual acquaintance introduced us because Carter was frustrated with his track record of hiring salespeople who looked great during the interviews, only to quit or get fired within a few months.
Carter’s track record for successful hires (still with the company 12 months later) was 1 out of 6. I asked Carter how much money the 5 hiring mistakes cost his company. He softly said, “Probably $20,000 each.” I agreed.
Carter had fallen into The Hiring Trap.
- Most interviewers lack the knowledge of behavioral science predictors of on-the-job success, so they don’t ask the right interview questions.
- Applicants are incredibly well-rehearsed with perfect answers for every interview question you might ask.
The result is hiring mediocre mismatches that can’t do the job and/or who don’t want to do the job.
Carter desperately needed to hire the right people. If he had another year of poor sales, he would go out of business.
There is a better way.
I asked Carter if he wanted me to teach him the process or watch me do an interview. He said yes to both.
A candidate was coming into the office in less than two hours, but Carter had a lunch meeting with a company looking for office space. Before Carter left for lunch, I asked him several questions to define an ideal candidate using factors that were highly predictive of success on the job for this sales role.
When Jacob, the candidate, arrived, Carter interviewed Jacob. After the interview, Carter said Jacob reminded him of his current sales rep and that he wanted to hire Jacob.
I interviewed Jacob in the office next to Carter’s office so Carter could hear our conversation. I asked regular interview questions in addition to the questions that were highly predictive of whether Jacob would be successful on the job in this sales role.
Sales seemed appealing to Jacob. However, it was evident that Jacob would not do the amount of prospecting required (resilience) to be successful. Jacob also preferred relationship selling to transactional selling. His first two years at this company were going to be highly transactional.
When I asked Jacob for examples, he provided one good example but was unable to come up with any additional examples. He gave me answers, but they were either generic or unrelated examples. I told Carter that hiring Jacob would be another $20,000 mistake.
Asking the right questions requires an understanding of how human behavior actually works. Once you understand the factors that are most predictive of on-the-job success, you have the right tools to dramatically improve your interviewing skills for every interview you conduct in the future.
Cutting through canned, rehearsed, and perfect answers also requires some expertise. However, there is a shortcut. Ask for an example. Listen to the candidate’s canned, rehearsed, or perfect example. Then ask the candidate for a second example. Listen carefully to their answers. Make sure they provide a specific example. Then, ask the candidate for a third example…and then a fourth example.
The candidate’s first example will be perfect. The real test is how well the candidate does with coming up with three additional examples. Does the candidate struggle with providing additional examples? If so, this is an indication that their experience is limited or nonexistent. On the other hand, if the candidate provides 4 examples and is ready to provide more, you have a candidate who possesses the experience with the task you are looking for in this role.
Do you want to improve your interviewing skills, avoid hiring mistakes, and hire top performers instead of average or mediocre performers?
Put us to the test.
We help companies use human behavior science to hire more than their “fair share” of 4X top performers.
Ask us to perform a 4X Talent OS™ Audit. We will:
- audit your hiring processes and your recent hires.
- identify gaps and show you what to fix.
- Prepare a list of action steps specific to your situation to immediately improve your interviewing and hiring results.
The project fee for the 4X Talent OS™ Audit is $2,850. Compare that to the cost of one $20,000 hiring mistake. You’ll improve your hiring results dramatically.
We can also teach members of your team who regularly conduct interviews to dramatically improve their hiring results. If you’d like, we’re also glad to conduct in-depth interviews for you.
Let us know how we can be a resource for you.
Hire, grow, and retain more than your “fair share” of 4X Top Performers.