Hiring Tips Podcast

In Part One we discussed how prepared the salesperson was for the interview with you. In this part, we're going to take a different look at our salesperson's qualifications.        

The first thing you can do is find out how prepared your sales candidate is for his interview with you.          

Now that’s an interesting question. As if not one of us hasn’t hired someone at one point or another that we ended up not needing. And that’s understandable. In this tip, however, let me make the question a bit more precise: Would you hire someone that you knew at the time of hiring that you didn’t need?

This is a superb area to discuss in an interview. Let's first ask our candidate what "stress" means to him.

If your company has a story, especially a compelling story, make it known to your applicants and find out how they can connect with it.

It's not unusual for people to get bored "on the job" but I think it would be a good idea to find out how bored your candidate gets and how they deal with it.

Many of us have interviewed the person who wanted us to feel sorry for them. They wanted to use this line of sympathy as a reason to be hired.

Asking your candidate to describe herself in just one word could provide a very interesting insight.

Some people spend a good deal of time criticizing those around them. This person will often tell us "it's for their own good" or "it's constructive criticism." They want you to believe they are doing you a favor by pointing out the faults of others.

You're sitting down with Matt who is interested in the stock clerk position or the telemarketing position or perhaps the Office Manager position. You've read over his résumé and you've asked him several questions in the interview. And you've decided Matt's a decent candidate for the position. Then let's cut right to the chase with: "Matt, how can you benefit this company?"

Ask your applicant how well she got along with others at her last job (or last several jobs). The first responses will usually be “social responses” and they’ll tell you they got along just fine. Do a bit of digging on this. 

Let’s say you have a pressing need to fill a position. You put the word out, interview some applicants, and you hire the person most suited for the job. You then give this new hire an explanation of what’s needed and wanted and send them off to their work area. What are your expectations of this person?

Some of us are very close with our staff or a number of them. And some of us choose to have a strictly professional relationship. If you are inclined to developing friendships with some (or all) of your staff, then this fact should also be considered during the hiring process. What if you have a great prospect in front of you, the right skills, superb test results, a real depth of experience at the position but they rub you the wrong way? What if you cannot see ever inviting them on a camping trip?

We all like to recall the good times. And we'd much rather talk about our accomplishments than our failures. From a hiring perspective, though, it would be very helpful to find out HOW our candidates handled the tough times. Did they cave? Did they relish the challenge? Let's find out.

We've heard the term "fit" for quite awhile now. Is someone a good fit for your company? Will they fit in? Well, it's worth a fast definition: fit: suitable or good enough for something; similar enough to belong to a group That second definition is interesting: Are you looking for someone who is similar enough to belong to your group?

Have you ever made a new hire of an exceptional talent who felt he had the right to make wholesale changes? And then did so.  

With so many possible qualities to sift through in a candidate, how much importance should we give humility?  

If hired, will this person you're interviewing improve the people around him? And what exactly does that mean? In what way would or should the people around him be improved?

Let’s say you’ve got just the right people working for you. Every key position is filled with someone that you trust and competence abounds! Even the less key positions are filled. Now you can put all of your attention on the other areas of your business. If something comes up, if someone wants to move [...]

Group interviews could have distinct positives and distinct negatives.