Overcoming the Second Biggest Hiring Mistake

The sole purpose of an employment interview is to investigate whether the candidate can succeed in the open position. Uncovering that information requires a rigorous, disciplined interview process that leaves no question unasked and no stone unturned.

Yet, according to a research study we conducted the second most common hiring mistake at the executive level involves just the opposite.

In too many cases, executive hires involve a sloppy, undisciplined process that fails to put candidates under the magnifying glass, verify claims or check facts. And when hiring managers accept at face value everything candidates say during job interviews, a bad hiring decision almost always follows.

“In our workshops and training sessions, we routinely ask executives what percentage of job applicants embellish or exaggerate their accomplishments during the interview?” In most cases, we hear a number from 100 to 125 percent, because many candidates embellish more than once.

Granted, not every job candidate is guilty of what we call “interview puffery,” but it does happen on a regular basis. And unless you take adequate steps to guard against it, you can easily end up with a hiring decision that ends in failure.

So what is the solution to eliminating candidate puffery and avoiding hiring mistake #2?

Become a great interview detective and that requires a rigorous probing process.

Put The Candidate Under the Magnifying Glass

To validate the candidate’s answers to the five key questions, we recommend the “Magnifying Glass” approach, a technique that involves asking for multiple examples of each answer to make sure the behavior isn’t the exception to the rule.

Put on your reporter’s hat and ask ‘who, what, when, where and why and how’ questions. In other words, ask candidates to describe, in specific terms, who did what, where and when they did it, how they did it and why they did it that way. Then ask for the outcome/results to determine if their approach succeeded.

Examples of generic magnifying glass questions include: Could you give me an example of that? Can you be more specific about that? Can you give me a bit more information about that? What were the most important details about that situation? Tell me about another time when you faced a similar situation.

The idea is to gather as many specific details as possible about each key question. To drill down further, ask questions more focused questions, such as:

What was your role in the project? How did you define and measure success? Can you give me a few examples of your personal initiative on the project? When have you faced a comparable challenge? How did you and the team make mid-course corrections? What did you learn from this project? With the benefit of hindsight, what would you do differently next time?

Be prepared to spend 15 to 30 minutes exploring the details of each example the candidate gives you. Keep going until you uncover what you need to know or it become apparent the candidate is being elusive or outright lying, at which point you might as well cut your losses and end the interview.

Your goal is to assess their analytical, problem solving and presentation skills in your work environment.

Successful interviewing is all about drilling down and getting to the facts. By asking for example after example, you will discover a critical truth about the interviewing process — that candidates can’t make up false answers quickly enough. They have either done what they say they have done and can describe it in infinite detail, or they will implode in front of you.

To ensure that your interviewing process uncovers the information you need to know, ask the five key questions (see our book You’re NOT The Person I Hired) probe for relevant details and give a meaningful homework assignment. You will get a very accurate picture of the candidate’s ability to perform on the job and, more important, you’ll make better hiring decisions.