What Have I Found

Andrew Taylor touched on a topic today that was close to my mind. He discusses a new trend in search processes that is more akin to roleplay than interviewing.

The topic of interviewing processes has been in my mind recently because it appears I might finally have an assistant. (Joining in time for the last two performances now that I have finally gotten half the hecticness under control!)

However, despite my happiness at having found an assistant, I have begun to question the search process. To begin with, despite all the paperwork that had to be filled out, the question of whether she was allowed to work in the US was never asked until after the offer had been tendered. Now I am in the process of filling out visa paperwork because she was still a fairly strong candidate. Whether we can get it approved and in time remains to be seen.

There were also a couple other little things that have happened that have been nagging in the back of my mind about the process that has had me wondering if other elements should be altered. Nothing major, just a few little tweaks that we might be able to effect to provide us as interviewers with a clearer picture of the abilities of the person before us beyond how adept they might be at interviewing.

The way the director of human resources told us to frame our interview questions was as “what if” situations where we could assess the answers rather than as yes/no questions like–“Do you enjoy doing X” The answer may be no, but the person may be very good at doing it. They just truthfully don’t enjoy it. Ask a parent if they like changing diapers–then witness the love with which they do it.

What Andrew Taylor points out extends that a bit further–make them perform in the “What if” situation. The only weakness of this approach is that you can only use it in person. If you don’t have a lot of travel funds available for recruitment, it may be difficult to give all promising applicants an opportunity to strut their stuff.