What’s the Point?
Posted on in Recruiting Strategy
“If you were a candy bar what kind would you be and why?”
Years ago, someone told me they were asked that question in an interview. I laughed and said that I would have told them I’m a plain Hershey bar. What you see is what you get.
But then I took a step back and thought about it a little more. This might be the dumbest question I’ve ever heard! What does that have to do with someone’s ability to do a job? I no longer thought it was cute or clever.
I forgot about this until just a few days ago.
I’m currently in the middle of a big transformation project where I’m working with a client rebuild their entire leadership team. We’ve spent weeks getting back to basics by developing success profiles, creating marketing collateral and campaigns, and designing a high touch recruiting process that is both efficient and effective. So far we are getting great results and I’m in heaven!
I was leading the interview teams through a training session to educate them on the purpose, goal and expected outcome of the new interview questions. We got to the end of the session and I was asked……” where is the question about their favorite book?” I was at a loss for words. I calmly asked, “help me understand how that question provides insight into whether or not they can perform the job?” The individual paused and said, “I guess it’s BS.”
We all laughed.
The moral of the story is this. Take a look at your interview questions and ask yourself “what’s the point?” If you can’t clearly see how a specific question elicits the information you need to determine if someone has the knowledge, skills or abilities to do the job, eliminate it and replace it with a better question. Invest the time in crafting the right interview questions. It will make you more efficient and effective in hiring the right talent.
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