Haven’t you always wanted to be a fly on the wall during an interview, just to see what the interviewer(s) ask and how prospective candidates answer? Well, CNBC’s “The Job Interview” is doing just that and we thought we’d take a look at the good and the bad in what we are calling “After the Interview.” Join our very own Jay Floersch, Vice President of RPO & Talent Solutions, as he recaps Week 2 as our guest blogger!
Having just poured a glass of "sweet tea," I settled in last night to take in week 2 of CNBC’s The Job Interview. It was the perfect beverage to offset the not-so-tasteful tact used by Makai Properties when they first met with their candidates. For those of you that did not see the episode, the interviewers sat behind a desk and intentionally left the candidate without a chair. This trick was positioned as a way to put the candidate in an “uncomfortable” situation to see how they react. It felt odd. I slept on it, asked my colleagues about it and just recapped it again with my wife (aka my voice of reason). I wanted to give this idea a fair shake before judging. The verdict is in. Greeting, shaking hands and welcoming a candidate to your interview should NEVER include a hidden chair trick. Candidates are already uncomfortable in an interview situation, why make it worse? Ok, it is entertainment TV, I get it, but I was hopeful for entertaining AND informative, not verging on fictional.
That all being said, there were positives and takeaways from this episode. Makai asked the candidates to sell the room to them. They intended to see if the candidate immediately put the focus on the room itself or if they tried to understand their buyer first. Effective sales reps work to understand what the buyer’s pain points are before determining what and how to sell. I loved this. It’s a trainable skill and a great way to see where the candidate lands and what kind of training they may need. Makai also asked the question, “If you had a magic wand that could accomplish anything, what would you do with it.” Fun question, it gets at the core of who the candidate is and what they care about most. It’s a great way to see if the candidates’ values align with the organizations’ values.
Think Latitude, a mobile app development company, interviewed several candidates for a Marketing Manager role. I enjoyed their interview style. They asked several questions that keyed in on the tasks the role would entail, for example, “What do the following acronyms mean: CRM, SEO, SEM?” They even asked candidates to evaluate a list of leads and suggest sorting logic to bring high-potential leads to the top. All great questions that help the interviewers understand how qualified the candidates are. I came away with the following: =If(Candidate=”Does not know excel formulas”, Decline, Offer). If you can understand that, then you may make for a great Marketing Manager at Think Latitude!
What got little attention was the candidate summary following Think Latitude’s interviews. The offered candidate went with another organization. That made me wonder where did the Think Latitude team lose him? Advice for employers, the best candidates will have other offers. Research shows that not only do candidates accept an offer and continue to entertain other offers, but once they accept a job offer, a majority (58%) of employees would consider other opportunities if they did not hear from the hiring organization before their first day of employment! Employers, your courtship is not over at the point of offer acceptance. Put intention and thought into pre-hire and onboarding process. Engaging with your candidates (during the hiring process) and new hires (once the offer has been made) reduces the likelihood that they will go another direction.
For more information: Our talent acquisition experts at Engage2Excel can help you determine how your organization might best use RPO & talent solutions to infuse highly-engaged employees into your corporate culture. To schedule a discovery call, click here.
