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6. This hiring team (generally 2-4 people) is organized and trained to work in an integrated fashion to interview candidates.
7. A set of First Round Interview Questions is engineered. When used as directed, they will enable the internal team members to probe for key skills and traits based upon the candidate profile. Interviewer responses are recorded and analyzed.
8. A set of Second Round Interview Questions is devised. That tool enables further exploration for critical skills and traits and enables the interviewer to size weaknesses uncovered in the previous interview. Again, interviewer responses are recorded and analyzed.
9. A behavioral interview is performed. A colleague of mine, Debra Howard, is a trained behavioral interviewer. She and I both recommend conducting a "behavioral interview" for all candidates that make it to the final round, especially for those applying for sales leadership positions. Deb says, "This is a rigorous interview technique that's been in use for a long time, and has been shown to significantly increase the accuracy of predictions about a candidate's future job success. Behavioral interviews are difficult to conduct, which is why most companies hire an expert to train their recruiters and HR staff, or they ask an expert to conduct and code the interviews directly. A behavioral interview takes two hours or less, and can assure you that the candidates you hire are high-performers, not losers taking you for a ride."
10. A highly effective reference checking process is employed that validates candidates' claims and uncovers inconsistencies. If interested, you can order my article on "How to Perform Reference Checks for Sales Candidates" here. The article goes through different categories of references, sample questions to ask, and how to harvest names of references from candidate interviews.
11. Final candidates are required to participate in sales call and presentation simulations. The candidates are evaluated against required skills and personality traits derived from the profile.
12. Individual ramp-up plans are engineered. These assure that the gaps between the profile and the candidate's proven skill set will be closed during the first thirty to ninety days of employment.
13. Continuous improvement component. In order for this process to continue to work into the future, there must be a mechanism that will provide the stakeholders with feedback.
Initially some executives and managers who are exposed to this have reacted somewhat negatively. "It will take too much time," is the most commonly voiced objection.
But it has quickly become clear that the actual number of candidates making it to the final stages is limited. This process in fact, works like a sales funnel, with numbers of candidates "qualifying out" of the process along the way. The result is that the hiring team has time to focus on the most qualified candidates. In addition, candidates are left with the impression that the company with whom they are interviewing is serious and well-managed. Finally, both the candidates and the company have awareness of the gaps between the candidates' capabilities and what is required to get the job done.
-- By Dave Stein
Before he founded his consultancy, The Stein Advantage, Inc., in 1997, Dave Stein was employed by several leading-edge high-tech companies in a diversity of roles.
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