We spend a lot of time with CEOs and hiring authorities helping them find, identify and hire top talent.  I’m surprised at the lack of an executable plan for the interview process within companies both large and small.  It would appear as if hiring managers believe that everyone in the company knows how to interview, understands the ideal profile they are interviewing for and is actively interested in making a great hire.  Think again…

As a hiring manager you’ve taken the time to build a comprehensive (and exhaustive) list of requirements, qualifications and responsibilities for each open position and have a very clear mental picture of the person you are looking for.  Then, you dutifully deliver this document to the HR department so that they can do their job. 

Have you met with your internal recruiting team or HR department to describe your vision for the absolutely amazing candidate in detail? 

You’ve announced to your department that you are hiring a new person and expect them to help during the interview process.  You’ve selected your top guys to help interview and told HR to schedule time for qualified candidates to meet with these people because they are doing a similar job and will be able to help technically qualify folks.

Did you meet with your interview team to whiteboard the ideal qualifications and prioritize exactly what is important for a person to be successful in THIS particular role?

Interviews are scheduled, and everyone on the team seems to have a different understanding of the candidates, their qualifications and whether or not they would make a good hire.  Each individual applied their own interpretation of the meaning of “interview” to the process.

Have you trained your team on HOW to interview effectively for YOUR company?

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