art of interviewing

04/11/2023Dr.Sarma/Interviewing

As CEO the final call is to be made on selecting a senior resource. IF you are one of the lucky CEOs in large corporation then you have the support of head hunters, other senior managers to help in decision making. I am writing this piece for those CEOs who have the task of running SMEs.

Should CEO interview?

1


experiment

2

MY writing is based on my own close observations while mentoring CEOs .

Years back we had faced situation of losing every candidate after the final interview with CEO whom i was mentoring. we were both concerned as to why this is happening. To give full credit ‘ the CEO was pretty open to figure out the reason. we decided that i shall be silent observer when he interviews next time.


The outcome

3

At the end of this experiment here is what we found out. The interviewer’s style – more of aggression and authoritarian

Another CEO was always wanting to ask few IQ questions.His logic was if he cant answer simple IQ questions he is no good.Every candidate he interviewed for senior roles just got scared away


What is the test?

4

we agreed to set up a goal that then onwards his performance will be measured as "excellent" only if the candidate comes out of the interview and asks the question as to when can he join. Sounds good?read on

I had to tell the CEO, as no one else will tell- that he was just spoiling the show and suggested that he should not interview candidates, rather he should do such a good job of selling the company and the job.


Tip 1-Opening gambit

5

The following tips were given and he decided to adhere to them strictly.opening the interview with the traditional question “tell me about yourself”.is the worst strategy. If you are the third or fourth interviewer this is the most frustrating opening you can ever produce .The candidate is fed up already ,by facing this many times in your company. Better never do that


Tip 2

6

If your HR staff or any retained agency has sent the candidate to you, start the interview with the opening remarks as follows- so our HR person told you a about the company and the job. If you have any more question on that i can help.

Or even ask what the HR told him about the company. it helps in two ways.

it helps to find how well the HR did do the job of branding and how much miscommunication happened; next questions may be : Hope you visited our website. Do you have any further question about our company.What did you find that is unique about our company- if the candidate cannot then go and tell what is your USP.


This is first negative

7

• Now watch for the response. Most candidates say that they did not get any time or they did not visit the site. This is first negative. Especially if you are hiring a senior person it is legitimate that you expect him to do research about the company . Afterall, if it is just another job he is looking for he is not worth hiring.


Big plus

8

if the candidate has atleast looked at the site or had done some home work he maybe able to say what business you are in , where all you operate and how he loves to be part of your venture etc. that is the first big plus Such candidate must be encouraged to ask for more information from you. The advantage is that you sell your company then the job . here is an opportunity to present the vision, plans growth strategy etc


core subject expertise..

9

Next line of questioning must be to check the knowledge and application of knowledge. Ask him about his core subject expertise.(concepts).and Business understanding are must.Generally candidates do not expect this question. For example whenever I asked this question to senior candidates they end up saying they lost touch with subjects long ago. I do then prompt them to get into discussion about latest book article they read on the subject or on management...

04/11/2023Dr.Sarma/Interviewing10

Recently I asked a candidate for HR VP job this question and some how brought him around the topic of HR tools like HR score card, FIRO B, MBTI c. psychometric tests, personality tests etc; to my surprise he had not even heard of any of these . He had over 10 years in HR.


Is he a manager or business leader

11

always test the business understanding of the candidate by asking question about latest trends, sources of research data that he relies on etc .if the person does not mention Gartner or Gallop or similar sources he is just not in tune with the time


innovator?

12

•It is always useful to ask about any new idea that the candidate experimented with.. This question generally can help in finding how much knowledge the person has and brings to the table. He who has not tried any of the concepts is not worth the salt


organisational alignment

13

•One question that will invariably must be asked is “how much and what value he can add to your organisation. •This will test not only the self confidence but the organisational alignment capability


Had dream roles?

14

Ask which of the previous jobs the dream one was. Check if the candidate comes out strongly in favour of atleast one previous assignment. We never forget our dream assignments. Anyone who did not have a dream assignment in the past cannot be expected to make this as his dream job .the chances are less. Atleast you can check back what or which job or company he enjoyed working with


What success means

15

Ask what success means to the candidate- I have seen this question makes candidates to think. Name fame money what else? If the candidate just says that success means delivering far and beyond what is expected he is one sure guy who will win .he surely ahs Think Win/WIN paradigm


Use a tool-

16

I had extensively used Thomas profiling for all senior hires. Get the HR person trained in Thomas profiling. Get the report to help you arrive at proper decision


Look for 4Es- The 4 E's of Leadership

17

Energy - Individuals with energy love to "go, go, go." These people possess boundless energy and get up every day ready to attack the job at hand. High energy people move at 95 miles-per-hour in a 55 mile-per-hour world. Energizers - know how to spark others to perform. They outline a vision and get people to carry it out. Energizers know how to get people excited about a cause or a crusade. They are selfless in giving others the credit when things go right, but quick to accept responsibility when things go wrong


4Es

18

Edge - Those with edge are competitive types. They know how to make the really difficult decisions, such as hiring, firing and promoting, never allowing the degree of difficulty to stand in their way. Execute - The key to the entire model. Without measurable results, the other "E's" are of little use. Executers recognize that activity and productivity are not the same and are capable of converting energy and edge into action and results.


Conclusion

19

Welch took 20 years to develop this model, you can benefit from all the effort and re-working that went into getting to this all encompassing set of dos and don’ts

art of interviewing

Documents