SlackerManager agrees with me in his How do you hire great people?. I said Hire for Intangibles; You Can Teach Technical Skills.
It’s a person’s attitude, passion, and ability to work with other people that counts.
1 comment February 23rd, 2008
I met a software developer recently, who studied physics as an undergrad. He’s now working in an IT organization on financial processing software.
He’s part of the interviewing team for his organization. They’re trying to hire 6-7 more developers before the end of the year. He told me, “I like to ask a question about physics, to see how smart the candidates are.” I asked him how many candidates he’d rejected due to his question. “Only 2 out of 5.”
Ouch. He rejected 2 potential candidates not because of an answer that’s relevant to the job, but to an answer that is irrelevant to the job.
Instead of asking a question that you think will get you information about how smart a candidate is, ask questions that really tell you what you need to know.
All of these questions are much better than asking a candidate about physics, art history, Spanish, or anything else you took in school. And, they’re relevant to the job.
Don’t ask about physics. Ask about job-relevant experiences. You won’t be falsely rejecting potential candidates. And you won’t be opening yourself up to a lawsuit about discrimination. Ask about issues relevant to the job you have open now, not experiences you had in school.
10 comments October 3rd, 2007
If you’re a hiring manager, read Mike’s Life Is A Hire Way: 5 Tips For Startup Hiring. Great ideas, Mike! (And not just for startups.)
Labels: hiring decision, hiring strategy, interview, recruiting
1 comment March 1st, 2007
Jason Yip’s Hire squirrels instead of turkeys has a link to a discussion of Harvard’s hiring of Faust as the new president. Looks like Harvard got smart and thought about cultural fit, and those critical influencing and negotiation skills. (See my other post A Perfect Example of Insufficient Cultural Fit.)On the other hand, read Seth Godin’s Sheepwalking, where he describes people putting in time at their jobs, instead of being creative and solving problems.The first part of a smart hiring decision is to know what non-technical qualities, preferences, and skills you need. That’s why you need to think about the deliverables and activities the employee will perform on the job. (That’s why I put so much emphasis on the job analysis.) Technical skills are easy to train. Finding people who can solve problems and do the hard work you need them to do–that’s hard. And that’s what’s necessary for a smart hiring decision.
Labels: hiring decision, job analysis
Add comment February 13th, 2007
I write a “management fix” column (alternating with Esther and Elisabeth) for Better Software and February’s column was “Two Candidates, One Position.” Enjoy!
Labels: hiring decision
Add comment March 3rd, 2004