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  2. The Three Biggest Interview Mistakes #3

The Three Biggest Interview Mistakes #3

Mar 1, 2015

Overview of Episode #3. The following topics are covered:

  • How to Avoid the Top Three Biggest Interview Mistakes
  • How to Look for Two Superior Performance Skills
  • Interview Questions You Should Use
  • One Thing You Can Begin Doing Right Away!

Full Shows Notes Here.

Topic #1 - The High Cost of Turnover:

Timing on Recording: @ 2:45 ---

  • Faulty hiring is the silent killer of corp profitability.
  • High cost of turnover is equal to 1.5 to 8 times a person's salary.
  • An example:  25 person team,  2 people are let go or leave; that's <10% turnover.
    If the average salary of those two people was $50,000 - the cost of turnover for that team would be: $150,000
  • Topgrading, a book by Dr. Bradley Smart shares that those costs come from:  the loss of productivity: before a person is terminated, while the position is vacant, of the manager and team who are filling in and the time it takes for the new person to ramp up.  In addition you have potential loss of customer issues and recruitment costs.
  • Refer to this one page - two-sided handout - for the turnover formula, sample interview questions and more.

Topic # 2: Interview Mistake One -  Assumption and Bias

Timing on Recording: @ 7:20 ---

  • The Warren Harding Error.  He looked so ‘Presidential’.  Stated to be one of worst presidents ever.   Malcolm Gladwell, Author of The Tipping Point and Blink: The Power of Thinking without  Thinking –calls this: “Unconscious influence” - which is our personal and often unconscious bias toward stereotype. Gladwell shares, “They didn’t dig below the surface. The way he  looked carried so many powerful connotations that it stopped the normal process of thinking, dead in its tracks.”
  • SOLUTION to overcome Assumption and Bias in interviewing: Fixate on What the Job Needs
  • TOOL:  Have an interview process (this is the eight step process I recommend) so that you are thorough
  • TOOL: Create a Dashboard for the Job. Video How To, Here. The Dashboard is important because then you can use it to pick the top behaviors, motivators and personal skills, needed for success on the job. 

Topic # 3:  Interview Mistake Two -  Focusing Too Much on Background and Experience

Timing on Recording: @ 15:13---

  • Study of 100,000 people who were fired or let go within 18 months. Managers shared that 90% of them were: unable to manage their emotions; they couldn't accept feedback;
    they were not motivated; or they did not not fit the job or company culture.  Notice that lack of experience or the wrong background was NOT one of the reasons for firing 90% of the time!
  • SOLUTION to overcome Focusing Too Much on Background and Experience in interviewing: Remember that Intangible Skills Matter.  Intangible skills are things like: teamwork, diplomacy and tact, personal accountability,  decision-making, customer focus and more.

    "We have the energy to do what we want to do, and we don’t have the energy to do what we don’t want to do. And we want to do our top strengths/motivators –  which are the intangibles I want you looking for.
  • Get away from these ideas:  “Anyone can be trained to do any job.” and “With enough training & try hard enough any one can excel.”  People bring who they are to the job – and who  they are is not only their background and experience, but their natural style, personal skills, individual strengths and their top motivators.
  • TOOL: Superior Performance Hiring Worksheet helps interviewers focus on more than exp and background. Sample Completed Worksheet for a Previous Candidate.  Once the superior performance worksheet (something I walk you through in my book or online class) is created you will pick and create Competency-Based Behavioral Interview questions.
  • Competency behavioral-based interview questions - are questions that have the candidate describe past behaviors and actions in specific situations. Past behavior is one of the best predictors of future performance.   “Lip Service Lies, Past Behaviors Don’t.”

Timing on Recording: @ 23:52 ---

  • TOOL: TWO SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE INTANGIBLE SKILLS WITH SUGGESTED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ON HANDOUT.
    1) Personal Accountability - Someone With Strong Personal Accountability Will:
    •be responsible for the consequences of actions and decisions
    •embrace all decisions; will not shift focus or blame elsewhere
    Bottom Line:  An employee who has strong personal accountability skills NEVER blames others for problems. 

    2) Time/Self-Management - Someone With Strong Time Management Skills Will:
    •Prioritize and complete tasks  and deliver desired outcomes within allotted timeframes.
    •Independently pursue business objectives in an organized and efficient manner, even without direct supervision.
    •Minimize disruptions and time wasters.
  • TOOL: Write all position postings so that you include intangible skills as well as background and experience.

Topic # 4:  Interview Mistake Three - Eliciting Only Rehearsed Answers from the Candidate

Timing on Recording: @ 33:06 ---

  • You want and need to know: "Will you do the job?  Will you love the job? Can we tolerate working with you?"
  • SOLUTION to Interview Mistake Three-  Talk Less Listen More.

    Candidate should talk 75% of the time, and the interviewer 25%.   This is a BIG shift for most - almost everyone talks too much when interviewing.  And if the candidate "looks good"  we tend to do talk even more!
  • TOOLS TO HELP:Print this sign (TALK LESS, LISTEN MORE)  and put it in your interview folder to remind yourself to talk less. Be prepared with your dashboard, hiring worksheet and interview questions in advance.
  • Learn to leverage the power of silence.

Timing on Recording: @ 3640 ---

  • Make a Response Neutral Face

Topic # 5:  Solutions Recap and Resources

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