How to interview Job Candidates so you don’t get Snowed!

Before You Run a Pre-employment Background Check Hold a Productive Interview

You’re applying due diligence by using HireShield’s affordable online pre-employment background check to separate the wheat from the chaff, but suppose you could sleuth out more insights into job candidates simply by asking the right interview questions?

We take a page or two from the insightful book, “Work Rules!” written by Lazlo Bock a few years ago. His methods and theories drive the hiring practices of folks at Google. Shouldn’t you use them, too?

You may already know that typical, unstructured job interviews rarely predict how someone will perform once hired. Bock calls most interviews “a waste of time because 99.4 percent of the time is spent trying to confirm whatever impression the interviewer formed in the first ten seconds.”“Equally worthless are the case interviews and brainteasers,” he adds, because there is so much research available that can help a candidate practice beforehand.

So, what should you do when conducting an interview?

Ask a candidate to perform a sample work test that shows how they would perform it were they were already on staff. Results don’t have to be perfect. And if the test-taker admits that the task would be easier if he had other staffers to collaborate, you already know that this person likes to work as a member of a team.

Where to get this work test?

Start a file and fill it with projects assigned to people in various departments. Pull out the appropriate one out when you’re in hiring mode, and then follow this up with a general cognitive test that calls for right or wrong answers. These showcase one’s capacity for learning.

Yes, you can throw in behavioral questions like “Tell me about a time your behavior had a positive impact on your team.” But remember, it’s the pairing of a “real work assignment” plus general cognitive testing questions that deliver the critical one-two punch, says Lazlo.

Then comes the hard part: Don’t leave the hiring decision up to just one person. Get input from anyone with whom the candidate would come into contact if she gets the gig. Lastly you should always run a pre-employment background check and verify important information like education and work history before making a hiring decision.