First a little background. My hiring process has evolved over the past several years -- in part to make sure an assessment of cultural fit became an important part of the process. When someone looks good on paper, and after confirming that their salary expectations are in line with what we plan to pay for the position, I'll first conduct a phone interview. The focus on this screening interview is almost entirely on career history and skills.
Where did you go to school? What did you study and why? Tell me a little about each position you've held. What did you do at each? What major things did you accomplish? Why did you move from place to place? What do you think your strengths are? What are you looking to do next?
Almost all of this is usually on a candidate's resume, but the point is to get the person talking about themselves, their skills, and their decisions. And all the time I'm listening. Does this person have the skills and experiences they need for success in this position?
If a candidate passes the phone interview, I'll ask them to come in for a face-to-face meeting. I've already decided that their skills are a fit, so in this second interview I turn my focus almost entirely to the culture and values of our organization, and whether or not the candidate is a fit there as well. And this is where I was with the candidate I interviewed this week.
After some ice breaking conversation, the questions in this second interview begin. Sometimes I go over the same ground as the phone interview, but now I'm listening for something entirely different. As the person begins to answer my questions, I try to turn the back and forth into a casual conversation. I'm less interested in the concrete answers to whatever questions I'm asking. I am much more interested in seeing if I can relate to the candidate, if I can envision interacting with them in a staff meeting, on an airplane traveling out to a conference, over a coaching lunch, or in a disciplinary discussion. How would this person, I mentally ask myself, conduct themselves as a member of my staff team, or in front of my board?
One way to turn the interview into a conversation is to invite the candidate to ask questions of their own. Most times, in fact, I find myself encouraging the candidate to ask as many questions as I am. I want dialogue, not just responses to questions. And it was one of the questions that the candidate asked me this week that practically stopped me in my tracks.
"Are there any aspects of my skills or experiences that you think are lacking?"
I quickly recognized it as one of those savvy questions that coaches tell candidates to ask of their interviewers. I'm supposed to answer it in one of two ways. I can either tell the candidate where their skills are lacking (which gives them crucial information about how to position the rest of the conversation) or I can admit that the candidate has no skills gaps relative to the position (which is supposed to implant the suggestion in my mind that I should really be hiring this person).
But, as with many things in life, there is a third path.
"No," I told the candidate flatly. "Your skills are a great match for the position. We wouldn't be having this second conversation if they weren't. But I'm no longer interviewing you for skills. I'm trying to figure out if your a good cultural fit for our organization."
In other words, you've passed the skills test, but there more to this process than just skills. And what was amazing to me was how much this admission threw the candidate off their game. I think the candidate thought they had the position locked up, and only suddenly realized that there was another series of tests that they needed to pass.
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This post first appeared on Eric Lanke's blog, an association executive and author. You can follow him on Twitter @ericlanke or contact him at eric.lanke@gmail.com.
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https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/interview-tips-how-to-prepare-for-the-most-common-types-of-interview-questions/
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