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224 SNAKES IN SUITS
choice. The following suggestions or guidelines are based on interviewing
best practices, and are useful when interviewing all types of
candidates.
stick to the plan
Armed with questions designed to get a reasonably accurate picture
of the candidate’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes, the interviewer
should make sure that all the questions are answered to his or
her satisfaction. The more information gleaned from the interview,
the better the final decision making. Psychopaths as well as other
clever interviewees will attempt to shift the interview to a friendly
conversation about themselves and, if the interviewer is predisposed,
a discussion of the interviewer. While this may leave the impression
that the candidate is a good conversationalist and generally open and
friendly, it misses the point of the hiring interview, which is to get
the facts. Better to stick to the plan and get as much information
about the candidate as possible in the time allotted.
ask for work samples
It is customary in the arts and entertainment field for job candidates
to show up with examples of their work in the form of a portfolio,
which may include photos for models, movies for visual media professionals,
and articles for journalists. This allows the hiring manager
to see the actual product of each candidate’s efforts and judge its
quality, style, and appropriateness to the open position. In the case
of business job candidates, the hiring manager should ask to see examples
of actual reports written, presentations made, and projects
completed. These, of course, should have any identifying or confidential
information blanked out, but the great bulk of the work can
be read and judged. If a candidate cannot provide copies, ask that
they be brought to any subsequent meeting for review on site, should
there be a follow-up meeting.
While we would not be surprised if an enterprising psychopath
created a phony report or found one on the Internet just to satisfy a