The 1 Interview Step 50% of Companies Are Skipping

Companies often ask us for hiring and recruiting advice ? everything from the job description, to retention & onboarding. We find there is usually room for improvement in all steps of the hiring process, and it’s surprising how a little change can achieve significantly better results. The great news is: we’re here to help!

Over the years the one thing we see at least 50% of the companies FAIL at is completing references on a regular basis.

And when we ask companies why they aren’t doing this, they say to us: “Well what’s the point? We know they are going to only give us a list of people who will say great things about them.”

OUR TIP: When it comes to checking candidate’s references, our rule of thumb is simple: Don’t Ask, TELL!

Tell a candidate exactly whom you want to speak with. After all the time spent together in an interview, the interviewer should know exactly what co worker, manager and/or client they want to speak with to get an honest reference and that is who they need to talk to.

In addition to TELLING the candidate whom you want to speak with, here are 3 questions we always make sure to ask:

 

1. What improvements did you see the person make over the course of time working together? What did they still need to work more on? This question sounds basic but can reveal a lot about the candidate’s ability to continuously improve, grow and learn.

 

2. How did others in the organization perceive this person? Give me a few examples. This question measures culture fit, which is one of the main reasons why new hires don’t work out. It’s important to screen for culture fit before committing to hire.

 

3. What advice would you give their next boss in order to get the best results possible? This will give you quite a bit of insight about the person, not focusing on the positive nor negative, but getting a true sense of what is going to allow them to be successful.