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160 How to Hire A-Players
with her superior, the senior vice president, at the end of the day. By
that time, the interviewees really knew how to sell themselves and
wowed her boss. Why?
It turned out that that the other sales managers were spending
too much time talking about the company and not enough time
asking good questions. Instead of digging into people’s past sales
accomplishments, these interviewers were educating job candidates
about the company and its industry. Being salespeople, the candidates
used this information to hone their personal sales pitches. To
remedy this situation, the company moved to a team interview approach.
It controlled the questions that were asked and the amount
of information that was provided to job candidates early in the interview
process. This helped to reduce its hiring mistakes.
There is a time and place in the recruitment process for educating
people about your organization, but make sure not to overdo it
early in the interview process. Make job candidates do their homework.
Don’t do it for them.
Ask the Right Questions
Open-ended questions always trump closed-ended questions in the
interview process. Take a look at these two sample interview questions
and ask yourself how effective they are. In this case, the hiring
manager wants to probe into a candidate’s leadership skills.
Open-Ended Question
‘‘Tell me about a time when you had to lead your team in a new
direction.’’ Candidates will have to provide you with one or more
challenges that they faced and the specific steps they took with their
team to meet them. It will be clear to you if they fudge their answer
and if the experience is genuine.
Closed-Ended Question
‘‘Do you consider yourself to be a leader?’’ This question lets candidates
off the hook by allowing them to give a one-word (or at least
very limited) answer. You have learned nothing.