July/August
2002
Fantasy
Interviewing Camp
HOW
TO MAKE CANDIDATE SELECTION A MAJOR-LEAGUE PROCESS
PROFESSIONAL
BASEBALL TEAMS have developed a lucrative sideline letting
middle-aged males sweat it out for a week at a real-life training
camp. It’s the dream of a lifetime for avid fans, and
their mates pay dearly to send them, usually in honor of an
otherwise depressing birthday.
Travel
with us instead to Fantasy Interviewing Camp, where Major
League players make the hard-to-master process of candidate
attraction and selection look easy. Note that we said “attraction”
as well as “selection,” because interviewing is
a two-way street. It’s great that you have chosen Mary
as better qualified than Joe, but what if she has not chosen
you?
Oh, yes:
And leave your baggage behind. If your organization is like
most others around the world, interviewing is a hit-or-miss
process, with more misses than hits. Let’s take a fresh
look.
Who
is the star of the show?
At Fantasy
Interviewing Camp, the candidate is king. That’s because
only one of two things can happen: The person will be offered
the job, or the person will not be offered the job. If the
former, one wants the individual to say “yes.”
If the latter, one hopes that he or she will have a positive
experience nonetheless. People typically tell 8 to 10 acquaintances
about good experiences – but three times that number
about a bad experience. Why annoy anyone who is in a position
to recommend your organization to others?
Kingly
treatment, of course, doesn’t happen by accident; it
requires careful planning.
Instead
of instructing interviewees to get there as best they can,
the host organization makes all travel arrangements –
including airport pick-up (when applicable) by a designated
employee, company car or commercial limo service. Out-of-town
candidates are scheduled to arrive the evening before, enabling
them to be fresh the next morning, while assuring the employer
that travel delays will not disrupt the interview schedule.
The choice
of hotel reflects both its convenient location and the acceptability
of its accommodations and service. In these days of corporate
belt-tightening, it is not necessary (and might send the wrong
message) to select a five-star resort for an overnight business
stay. On the other hand, sleep-cheap quarters will send an
equally disconcerting message, so seek the middle ground.
Of course,
a basket of fruit for the room has been arranged, along with
a welcome card and corporate information packet – if
not previously sent by the company or its search firm.
Dinner
that evening, except in the case of late arrival, provides
an opportunity for the hiring manager or another key executive
to spend time socially with the candidate in a relaxed setting.
And, to be perfectly frank, it’s a great opportunity
to check the candidate’s table manners and poise.
With
nothing left to chance, a great first impression has been
created. Before crawling into bed and turning on the tube,
the candidate calls spouse or significant other and says,
“Honey, you won’t believe how well-treated I have
been this evening. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
Redesigning
interview day
You know
the standard drill: The candidate catches a cab to the company,
whose receptionist has no idea he’s coming. Someone
from Human Resources eventually shows up, escorts him to a
cubicle down the hall and produces an application.
“But
I’m not applying for anything,” the candidate
protests. “You invited me.”
“It’s
our policy,” the HR representative explains.
Next,
the candidate receives a schedule – seven inquisitors
in five hours, including working lunch. Briefcase in hand,
he is escorted from office to office, where he stands in doorways
waiting to be recognized. The seven inquisitors ask him the
same questions over and over (“What is your greatest
strength … your greatest weakness … your most
important accomplishment?”). Eventually, the HR person
collects the candidate and promises that someone will contact
him “in due course.”
At Fantasy
Camp, the day begins differently. The candidate is picked
up at the hotel and driven to the company. (If dinner was
impossible the night before, breakfast takes its place.) Her
guide escorts her past the receptionist (who greets her by
name), provides a 15 to 30-minute walkthrough of the facility
and brings her to the employer’s choice of (a) a pleasant
conference room, or (b) a nicely furnished visiting office.
Some light refreshments sit on a credenza. In an amazing reversal,
those involved in the interviewing process will come to her
– or him, as the case may be.
From
roughly 9:30 a.m. to noon, the hiring manager and an HR professional
take the candidate through a highly structured interview that
can be repeated with other finalists for the job. Use of a
two-person team enables one person to concentrate on asking
the questions, while the other person takes notes.
The objective
of the interview is to obtain a detailed understanding of
what each candidate has accomplished throughout his or her
career, how they accomplished it, what the scope of their
responsibilities has been from job to job, and what insights
they have into their own performance and their relationships
with others. It is based on the theory that the more we know
about a person’s past performance, the better we can
predict their future performance.
(For
more about performance-based interviewing, read Topgrading
by Dr. Brad Smart [Prentice Hall Press, 1999] and Hire with
Your Head by Lou Adler [John Wiley & Sons, 1998]. For
the16 best interview questions to ask – and why –
request a copy of the September 2001 SRA Update, “The
Complete Interviewer’s Guide,” from your Sanford
Rose Associates search consultant.)
The last
half-hour of the morning is reserved for questions from the
candidate – which can provide additional insight into
the individual’s mental acuity, interview preparation
and interest in the job.
After
lunch and a short break, three or four key players are scheduled
at 30-minute intervals to meet the candidate in the conference
room or visiting office. (Refreshments have been restocked.)
A high-level marketing candidate, for instance, might be scheduled
to meet the department heads of sales, product development,
manufacturing and law. Aware of the morning’s in-depth
interview, they know to focus on explaining their interactions
with the position at hand and answering questions. While their
observations will be important, they will not be asked to
“approve” the candidate or take the blame for
a poor hiring decision.
Unless
the candidate strikes out, it’s time at last to visit
the office of Mr./Ms. Big – the final sign-off source.
Big’s digs are fancy and never fail to make a good impression.
Big, of course, has been briefed by then on the candidate’s
suitability for the position. Smart managers never tell Big,
“You will like this person” – which dares
him to disagree. Rather, they say, “We really want you
to sell this person on the position and the company.”
Given such an important mission, Big does a bang-up job.
Afterward,
the candidate’s host answers any remaining questions
and promises a speedy decision. Then it’s off to the
airport by company car. By the following morning, the search
firm has debriefed both client and candidate, identifying
any concerns that either has about the other. By the time
all three finalists have finished interviewing, concerns have
been resolved and the search consultant stands ready to present
an offer to the client’s top choice that is almost certain
to be accepted.
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