AUGUST 19, 2024

How To Screen And Interview In A Mis-Aligned Hiring Market

As I write this, the hiring market is a mess. Employers are inflating titles to attract new hires, and people without the needed experience are getting bigger job titles. The result is that the work simply isn’t getting done.

In an earlier post, I wrote about how recruiters and hiring managers can better collaborate to get through this. In this post, I give advice on the hiring and interviewing process.

My advice can be summed up as: Get back to basics, people!

We have the experience to know that our tried-and-true best practices work, so stick to them, even in a crazy market.

The goal is fit, right? Find someone who can do the job and contribute to the culture.

Unfortunately, this wisdom is being thrown out the window, as many employers scramble to get bodies in the door.

Recruiters and hiring managers need to be more upfront with candidates as to what’s expected of them, really expected to do the job.

Candidates deserve to not be set up to fail.

Yes, you can tell candidates something along the lines of, “Here’s what we expect of you, and if you can’t handle those expectations, maybe this isn’t the right job for you.”

Of course how and when you say this is important.

Let’s take a step back and clarify what a solid hiring process looks like.

An Effective Hiring Process

The job description should be super clear on duties, responsibilities, and expectations.

Then there’s the sourcing.

Then there’s the screening, narrowing down, sourcing more, screening more, narrowing down more.

At OAIB, we recommend a panel does this work, not just the recruiter, so it’s a collaboration of people who know the job and those who have a stake in the hire. Make it a group of people who are doing similar jobs, people the new hire will partner with, and people who are influencers to the culture.

This panel should screen for technical fit, and the capacity to do the job itself. Use a bank of interview questions about the skills, situations, technical challenges, etc.

Use the C.A.R. technique to structure questions around Challenge, Action, and Results.

Ask situational questions like, “How would you handle…” or “Give an example of when you…” or “Tell me about a time when you led a difficult project that had three people on it who X and you had to solve for Y”. Drill down past the surface level into the minutia to determine if the candidate knows their stuff.

The panel should know enough about the work itself to press and prod and probe to determine if someone actually has the technical capacity.

Very few candidates – three is ideal – should make it past the panel to the hiring manager’s desk, and all of these finalists should have the technical skills required to get the job done.

This frees up the hiring manager to determine the strategic and cultural fit for the teams they’ll be working on.

The process for the hiring manager is similar but with the goal of determining how the person will fit in with the team.

Ask to hear examples of how they are aligned to the mission, vision, and values. No one person will be fully aligned, but you can listen beyond the words for something that will ground them in your organization.

Use your personality assessments here. Think about gaps on your team. Do you need a truth teller who can give direct feedback, call out problems, or say the thing everyone else is scared to? (I’m always looking for truth tellers). Do you need a stabilizer/diplomat who is steady and calm? Do you need a cheerleader who can rally the troops on a stalled project?

Most importantly though, I’m always looking for a change agent, so I ask questions to determine if they’re self-managing and capable of making change, also using the C.A.R. method.

It’s in this final round of conversations where you’re both more invested, where you have a lower risk of them being scared away by the truth of the job, that you can be frank about your expectations for the job, whatever that may be for you.

But be clear and honest.

It’s only fair to yourself, and to them, to let your candidate know what to really expect.

They can decide what’s best for themselves, and you can minimize the chances of hiring the wrong person for the job.

If you’re challenged by the current hiring market, check out our Recruiting Services.