How to Hire A-Players: Finding the Top People for ... - GIT home page

Take Candidates with You
Interviewing and the Economic Value of Good Looks 169
their skills for the latter role, we created a role play. The hiring
manager plays a vendor who is showing her company’s new line
of products to the buyer, played by the job candidate. The candidate
must quickly sort through the different products being
sold and make decisions about which ones to carry. She is then
asked to explain her rationale for her recommendations. Finally,
the candidate must put together a simple Excel spreadsheet that
indicates how many units of each product will be purchased and
how these purchases fit into the store’s overall buying strategy.
This test helps the store manager to see candidates’ decisionmaking
skills in action. Do they make good decisions? Are their
thought processes logical? Do they combine a good aesthetic
sense with good business sense? Of course, you can and should
ask questions in the interview that get at these issues. But why
not create an exercise where you can see these abilities (or the
lack thereof) right in front of your eyes?
A-Player Principle: The best interviews use multiple data
sources to make informed hiring decisions. Use live-fire
exercises to get to know job candidates more thoroughly.
Another great way to see job candidates in action is to take them
along with you during the course of your business day. Observe how
they handle the tasks and interpersonal communication that are a
part of your everyday experience. This extended time together gives
you valuable insight into how people will operate after they are hired.
When Tom McKendry (executive tailor for Tom James Company,
introduced in Chapter 5) is considering a new person for a sales
position, he will take a serious candidate along with him on client
visits for two full days. He instructs the candidate to ask his clients