Developing a Professional Portfolio Posted
My column over at the Fast Company/Inc hiring site is up. See Developing a Professional Portfolio. You can’t leave comments there, so please leave comments here.
Add comment December 28th, 2005
Archive for December, 2005
How Would You vs. How Did You
I led a very short interviewing class when I was in Israel, mostly teaching project management. One of my classes wanted a few tips on how to interview more successfully. I asked them what they were doing now, and they claimed to be asking behavior-description questions and using auditions. Those techniques should work, so I asked for example questions and auditions.
Turns out they were using logic puzzles instead of real auditions. I’m not sure I convinced them logic puzzles are not at all similar to the problem solving people perform at work.But I was able to make some headway on their question types. Many folks were asking questions of the type, “How would you…” instead of “How did you” or “Tell me about a time you did…” We practiced a bit so they could feel the difference in question type.
Hypothetical questions can be useful. But they’re not as useful as behavior-description questions for seeing how people have worked at work. With care, you can turn any question from a hypothetical (How would you) to a behavior-description question (How did you).
Add comment December 27th, 2005
Ask for Candidate’s Most Significant Accomplishment
I saw this gem of advice: ask for a candidate to explain his/her most significant accomplishment when sending a resume. (Found on Recruiting.com.) This is a great screening device (better than technical tests, in my opinion).
Candidates, this means you need to be thinking about your significant accomplishments (work-related please, unless you can make a real case for a non-work related accomplishment) and be able to write about them.
Hiring managers, you can use this as a screening device. If a candidate doesn’t include a paragraph, you don’t have to read the resume. Make sure your resume intake system allows you to grab the paragraph as well as the resume.
1 comment December 9th, 2005
Assessing “Executive Intelligence”
Take a look at HBS’s Working Knowledge,Hiring for Executive Intelligence. Some quotes that rocked my world:
IQ test questions don’t assess the practical, on-your-feet thinking skills needed in business. What’s more, these tests have been repeatedly accused of racial and gender bias. Yet, despite these very real shortcomings, IQ tests are still a better predictor of managerial success than any other assessment tool. [HUH??? --JR]Because each question in the behavioral interview essentially assesses the same qualities, there’s no need for the grueling three-to-four-hour sessions favored by hiring managers today. They need only ask enough questions to get a reliable appraisal of the candidate’s work experience, job knowledge, and social skills. [Excuse me, but that's not been my experience --JR]Despite their advantages, behavioral interviews really only establish a candidate’s minimum qualifications; they don’t identify star talent. [Of course behavior-descriptions are not enough by themselves. --JR]
The article goes on to say …tests should focus on the particular cognitive subjects associated with executive work: accomplishing tasks, working with and through others, and judging oneself.
Ok, so now the good folks who publish in HBR agree that auditions are key to evaluating a executive’s potential for a position. The example they use is actually a good example.
Auditions for senior management are harder to develop than auditions for technical staff and first- and mid-level managers, but they are certainly not impossible. Any audition that requires the exec to disclose the questions he/she has about the circumstances and leading to a decision and the ability to make a decision is useful. Executive auditions do look more like case studies and need to be evaluated that way.
Add comment December 6th, 2005
Upcoming Webinar: Detecting Cultural Fit Issues
I’m doing a webinar for Kennedy Information Systems next Friday, Dec. 9, 2005. The webinar is Detecting Cultural Fit Issues. It’s updated from the webinar I did in February. Please use the Kennedy link to register for the webinar.
And for those of you who are wondering, I’m fine, just crazy-busy, which is why I have not been blogging much. I hope to be blogging more in the next couple of weeks.
Add comment December 2nd, 2005