Interview – Lanka Talents

5 Tips for Hiring High Potential Employees

Lanka Talents Creation — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 04:51:05 +0000

The term “HiPo” has become a buzzword in the world of HR over the past few years. The theory behind hiring a high potential employee is looking beyond what they can do now and evaluating how you can nourish them to live up to their potential. The benefits are multifaceted: the employee can learn and grow, and the company benefits from having a talented individual working for them rather than the competition.

The challenge is identifying and hiring high potential employees. Here are five tips HR managers can use to find, recruit, and retain high potential employees.

Clarify Your Definition of “High Potential”

While the term “high potential” is somewhat self-explanatory, it could look slightly different from one company to the next. Before implementing a strategy to attract these talented candidates, HR managers and leadership must first clarify the definition of “high potential” as it relates to their business.

The characteristics of a HiPo can be both qualitative and quantitative. Perhaps they have a specific background or experience profile and score high on different skills assessments and personality tests. Alternatively, it could be more of an attitude or trait, such as powerful teamwork skills, the ability to be autonomous, and the drive to advance in their career.

Start by identifying high potential employees within the organization and outline what characteristics have made them so valuable. Then, use that framework to shape a definition of a potential HiPo in your business.

Look Beyond the Resume

When evaluating one’s potential, you’re taking into consideration an unknown future. That means it is vital to look beyond the resume and assess the whole person in the hiring process.

Keep in mind that a resume is just a snapshot of one’s experience and may vary based on whether someone created their own resume or used a service. If you take some time to learn about the resume writing process, you’ll see that it’s designed to appeal to HR managers and automated applicant tracking systems (ATS). So, that first impression may not reflect the true potential of the candidate.

It’s also essential to look at the story behind the experience and education on a resume. The drive and tenacity of someone who put themself through state college could be dramatically different from someone who received a scholarship to an Ivy League university.

Build a Strong Company Culture

To attract top talent, you’ll need to present your company to candidates as you would present your brand to customers. You can accomplish this by building a strong company culture with clearly defined values and a bold brand voice.

Create protocols and initiatives around employee wellness, engagement, and work-life balance. Ensure that everyone has a voice, can set goals, and is provided with the opportunity to learn and grow. Remember that your employees are your best marketers when trying to attract top talent.

Fit the Job to the Person

While job descriptions provide a great framework for baseline expectations within a role, they aren’t meant to be set in stone. When you find a high potential employee, it’s better to fit the job to the person, than to fit the person to the job.

Give your high potential employees tasks and projects suited to their skills, regardless of whether they fit the basic job description or not. Create more space for this work by delegating tasks that don’t fall within their core strengths; chances are, someone else will be better suited for these tasks anyway.

Create a Powerful Retention Strategy

Finally, develop a powerful retention strategy for your company. It’s not enough to attract top talent; you need a reason for them to stay.

Focus on giving employees what they need and setting them up for success. Create opportunities for growth within the organization, and be open to negative feedback that will help shape the future of the business.

With these five tips, you can attract, nourish, and retain high potential employees and enhance your organization.

The post 5 Tips for Hiring High Potential Employees appeared first on Lanka Talents.

Why Investing in Your Employees Can Benefit Your Company

Lanka Talents Creation — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 04:34:35 +0000

Your employees are your business, it is that simple. The people you bring on, train and put into strategic positions throughout the organization are what will make or break your success. From the bottom to the top of the hierarchy, your human capital is your most important capital. This is why it makes so much sense to invest in these people. From sending employees on a leadership career track to business school to simple online seminars or cross-training opportunities, professional development takes many forms. If you are considering an MBA for an employee, keep in mind that there are MBA admissions consultants out there to help you make the right choice.

Employers must start to think of human capital development in terms of ROI. With that in mind, below are some of the ways investing in employees can benefit your company.

Employee Engagement

A Gallup poll from 2018 indicated that only 34 percent of employees in the United States felt engaged at work, which was broadly reflective of a worldwide crisis of engagement. There are a variety of reasons for this lack of engagement, including feelings of burnout from job creep, organizations failing to align philosophically with employees, apathy that comes from a lack of job security but also, importantly, a lack of investment in human capital on the part of employers.

Too often employers see the labour force as mere tools and means to ends, rather than strategic assets to be developed. When employees feel that their professional development and career health is taken seriously by their employers, engagement will increase in turn. Engagement corresponds to more job satisfaction, bigger and better brand advocates for the business, better collaboration and better employee retention.

Attract New Talent

Another reason it pays dividends for an organization to invest in its current workforce is that doing so has future benefits for recruitment and talent acquisition. Surveys have shown that the vast majority of people are willing to trade less money for more meaningful work, which translates into a lot of different things, but among them is work that allows them to develop and utilize their skills and core competencies.

The implications for talent acquisition are easy to see and potentially enormous. If a business is able to establish a reputation as a place that nurtures talent, invests in its people’s professional development and provides opportunities to constantly grow and improve skill sets, it will be a much more attractive place to work for talented, ambitious people looking for a challenge and interested in lifelong learning.

Future-Proof

Investing in people should also be seen as a necessary part of future-proofing the organization. The rate of economic change that is taking place and will continue to do so obligates leadership to take a future-proofing approach to business. The pandemic proved that entire business models could dry up overnight and that the resulting skills gaps could potentially cripple an organization or industry. Your people are your best chance against being blindsided by the future.

Investing in employees can provide the organization with valuable skills–particularly digital ones–to ensure a more seamless transition to a much more digital business environment. It can also ensure that the mission-critical skill sets required for business success are always in supply. Having employees who are able to cover for one another, pick up the slack for absent coworkers and take on new responsibilities when necessary make the organization much more agile.

Productivity

Investing in employees also has implications for productivity. Employees who are confident that their employer has their professional best interests at heart and are committed to providing them with opportunities to improve and increase their skills are more likely to want to do their best for the company. The management and organizational behavioural literature over the last year have been almost singularly obsessed with the phenomenon of decreasing productivity, what to do about it and when, if ever, it will be back.

Of the many things that we know about productivity and the influences on it, employees who believe they are supported in their professional development by their employers are more likely to want to exert themselves on behalf of the company and to make the best use of their working hours. The quality of the employee-employer relationship is dictated by many things, but among them is certainly the extent to which the former believes the latter is concerned about their careers and professional development.

Conclusion

The problem with many organizations is that labour expenses are seen as something to be kept as low as possible at all costs. Professional development and enriching the organization’s human capital takes a back seat with such a philosophy. What these businesses don’t realize is that they are shooting themselves in the foot in the medium to long-term. Investments in employees, and particularly promising people with a demonstrated desire to learn, improve and add value, are investments in the business.

The post Why Investing in Your Employees Can Benefit Your Company appeared first on Lanka Talents.

The Necessity of Sales Assessments When Hiring Salespeople

Lanka Talents Creation — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 04:28:39 +0000

Many attributes make up a talented sales representative, among which are natural charisma, sociability, comfort when interacting with strangers, empathy, and more than just a little bit of wit. Intelligence is also a given requirement since a proper impression cannot be made without knowing how to approach a potential sale.

However, trying to find the right person can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, as even though a thousand people might apply for such a position, only a handful are truly qualified or even remotely fit for the job.

Salespeople have a complicated job. Although the gist of it is fairly straightforward, which is to convince someone of the benefits of buying a particular product, the actual process of convincing them is not as easy as it would seem. A degree in Psychology would be of great help to such a profession, but if you have one, then you’re probably not going to work as a sales representative in the first place.

According to a 2017 study done by HireRight, an estimated 85% of applicants falsified their resumes in some way or another, whether minor or major. That is an extraordinarily high number, making it clear to employers from around the world on how important it is to test a candidate’s abilities before deciding to hire them.

To make matters worse, a regular interview is often not enough to determine a candidate’s true abilities, as there are right answers to every question, and a potential employee might have learned how to game the test, but not how to do the job.

In fact, a 2019 study conducted by the University of Guelph suggests 100% of respondents would lie or stretch the truth in their favor during an interview. This can lead to tragic hires that lead to a severe loss of revenue and a whole lot of bureaucratic stress.

The best way to determine whether or not a potential candidate is savvy enough to be able to conduct sales on a regular basis without breaking down from pressure is to put them through a sales assessment test, which is essentially a simulated situation in which they have to sell you the product in question.

Each company has a different sales assessment process. Traditionally, sales tests are done in person during the interview, although some rare companies choose to ask for them before they have even met the candidate in person. Regardless of choice, the sales assessment test must absolutely be done before a candidate is hired.

The premise is simple. You greet the candidate, break the ice, find out as much information as possible about them, and then spring the test, putting them under a bit of pressure to see just how calm and collected they can remain. Some companies choose to keep the testing separate from the interview, which means that they book two meetings instead of just one.

Seeing how they approach the sale is important as well, since delivering tailored presentations of the product is key in trying to gain customers. Sales representatives must be both social and able to pick the brain of the consumer in order to glean what exactly it is they want or need so as to use it to their advantage.

How Are Sales Assessment Tests Conducted?

Sales assessment tests consist of two parts, those being the verbal exercise and the written exercise. They are primarily used in order to determine the level of preferred qualities the candidate exhibits, those being, but not limited to:

Confidence – Very important for a salesperson, as they have to interact with total strangers and put them at ease, which is impossible if you’re nervous. No product can be sold without clear confidence in its ability to impress.
Communication – Being able to clearly communicate the product and its benefits is critical to making a sale, as the consumer has to have a very good understanding of what it can offer them before making a purchase.
Presentation – The way in which the product is introduced and presented is highly important, as making a good first impression will take you a long way. Shining the spotlight on the product’s most glaring qualities is half the battle to winning a sale – and a happy customer.
Research – Being able to research topics related to the product is a superb quality to display, as a skilled salesperson must always be on their toes and gather as much relevant information as possible when making a pitch. Not only that, but research is also useful when developing outbound strategies, which are the bread and butter of the sales industry.
Empathy – A high degree of emotional intelligence and empathy is a tremendous boon when making sales. Getting in the head of your customer and being able to replicate and surf the waves of their emotions is a highly successful sales tactic.

Determining how many of these qualities potential candidates possess is done through testing their verbal abilities, which is commonly prompted through the iconic phrase, “Here is our product. Try and convince me to buy it.” The candidate then has to display their sales skills and make an impromptu presentation about a product they know next to nothing about, which tests more than just their ability to speak.

The written part of a sales assessment can be done through emulating an email conversation string, trying to see how well the candidate answers and how they make use of learned techniques in order to hook the consumer. Some people excel at the verbal test, while some excel at the written one. The best candidates ace both.

Even good impressions can lead you astray, though. Despite data-driven skill assessment tools being way more effective than intuition when it comes to determining a candidate’s potential, it is important to pay close attention to their true character and drive. They could give the impression of having a lot of potential yet might not actually come forth with what was promised.

In fact, a 2018 study performed by CSO Insights shows that approximately 54% of all salespeople meet their sales quota, proving that candidates can very much belie their passion and dedication for the industry despite them not being a good fit.

On the other hand, another study also done by CSO Insights has shown that candidates chosen after being put through data-driven assessment tests were 13% more performant than their traditionally chosen counterparts.

What Is the Best Sales Assessment Test?

There are many ways to conduct a sales assessment test. You could do so traditionally, through developing your own test, and putting it in application during an interview, although you’re highly likely to realize very soon that it is not as effective as you would have wished.

Traditional sales assessment tests could be, for example, putting your candidate through a series of questions:

“Tell me about a time when one of your clients was unhappy and how you resolved the issue.”
“How long was your worst losing streak, and how did you eventually come out on top?”

“Did you ever have difficulty getting along with a coworker, and if yes, then how did you handle it?

A variety of sales assessment tests can be found on the internet, although they often don’t realize the true scope of a salesperson. Only a handful of tests provide an objective, data-driven, and highly informative perspective of a prospective candidate’s talents and abilities.

Here is our recommendation for the best online sales assessment test.

Good Impressions Count

In the field of sales, a good impression counts a lot. If your candidate passes through the interview with flying colors and shows talent when approaching the sales assessment test, then it is a sure sign of their potential to become a superb salesperson.

While they might pick the wrong answers once or twice, being able to recognize talent and nurture it is the mark of a top-tier hiring manager, so keep an open mind when hiring, as even a mediocre candidate has the potential to surprise and make you proud later on.

The post The Necessity of Sales Assessments When Hiring Salespeople appeared first on Lanka Talents.

What Is the Screening Process?

Lanka Talents Creation — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 05:04:16 +0000

I imagine every recruiter experiences a twinge of dread mixed with excitement as the resumes start hitting the inbox. Somewhere in that digital pile is the best candidate for the job. But all those resumes and applications create a mountain of data to sift through. If you’re like most recruiters, you’ve probably tried a variety of ways to screen candidates. But you may have wondered if your efforts to be more efficient led to a more ineffective screening method. The following screening process steps will help you save time without sacrificing thoroughness in your search for a great new hire.

Recruitment Methods for Screening

The types of screening methods you use begin before you receive your first application. A well-written job description can help applicants self-screen, while targeted application questions can help you focus on the most qualified applicants.

Your job description is your first communication with potential new hires. Before you can write a description that will “sell” the job to your ideal candidate, you must first have a clear idea of what your ideal candidate looks like. Start by reviewing the current job description with the role’s supervisor and even coworkers. Methods for screening candidates should include a list of your ideal candidate’s attributes, such as the ability to work without supervision or to work well within teams. Then write a job description to appeal to that person. An effective job description will do the following:

Clearly state the minimum requirements for the job.
Describe personality requirements as appealing benefits, e.g., “work with a close-knit team to collaborate on creative marketing solutions.”
Be upfront about undesirable aspects of the job, such as weekend hours or long hours standing.
Include a description of the company, as well as its vision and mission.
Avoid wording that undermines diversity efforts.

Discerning candidates should be able to tell if your company and position would be a good fit for them from the job description. You can further screen those who proceed with relevant application questions. These questions are examples of screening methods that will give you a glimpse into the candidate’s motivations and values.

Why do you want to work for our company?
Which of our company values do you think is most important and why?
What skills do you want to develop in your next role?

Screening and Selection Process

Your job description and application questions will help ensure that you receive quality resumes and are the first steps in your recruitment and selection process. Your next step in the screening and selection process is reviewing and sorting those resumes. Oftentimes, recruiters feel overwhelmed with the task of manually reading applications. An applicant tracking system can help you save time without sacrificing thoroughness in your new hire search.

The ATS can scan resumes for keywords so that you can find the most qualified applicants quickly. After you review each resume, you need a way to assign a status and place it in a digital “pile.” ExactHire applicant tracking software will allow you to create custom fields to help you move candidates though the applicant funnel. You’ll know right away, without rereading the resume, whether an applicant is under qualified or not a good fit. You can place applicants in the disqualified “pile” and move on to those with better qualifications. The software will store applicant information and your hiring notes to protect you against legal liabilities.

Look for applicant tracking software that allows unlimited user logins so that you can delegate tasks and work with a hiring team. Each login should apply permissions and assign access consistent with the user’s position in the organization. Entry-level employees can manually input applicants who turn in a paper application, while managers can review resumes. You’ll create the most efficient and time-saving recruitment and selection process when you can assign tasks and communicate with stakeholders from within your ATS.

Pre-Employment Screening

Throughout your entire pre-employment screening process, be mindful of liability issues surrounding your hiring process. Be aware of whether the local area where you hire workers allows you to ask about criminal history. If you use social media to screen candidates, make a plan for how you’ll address information you may uncover that is protected from employment considerations. Review with your hiring team questions that may violate state and federal laws.

Consider using pre-employment screening tests to measure applicants’ skills or uncover their hidden personality traits. These tests can help ensure you find candidates whose values align with your company’s culture. Hiring people with qualities such as honesty, trustworthiness and a drug-free attitude can strengthen your team and help reduce employee turnover.

Also consider using background checks to verify applicant information. Criminal background checks and a pre-employment screening drug testing can protect you from fraud and costly accidents. Another example of pre-employment screening measures includes checking civil records to uncover whether an applicant has been involved in lawsuits. Verifications will assure that the applicant has been truthful on her resume. You can verify past employment as well as educational records.

Currently, federal law allows employers to use credit checks in their hiring process. But recently lawmakers have considered legislation to ban the practice. Some states have already banned the use of credit checks for employment purposes. If your company finds it necessary to check applicants’ credit, be sure you comply with the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Ask the applicant’s consent to run the report and give them the opportunity to review information that influenced your decision.

Screening Questions

As you can see, you can accomplish much of your employee screening process before you speak to candidates. A concise job description and effective application questions will help you sort and organize candidates when you use a time-saving ATS solution. But at some point, you’ll need to start interviewing your short-list of candidates during your screening process for hiring.

Before you pick up the phone, prepare a list of questions for screening and evaluating candidates. Every applicant should receive the same questions. Your interviewers should have a clear set of criteria for documenting and scoring answers. A structured interview applied consistently for all candidates is one of your most effective tools in your employee screening process.

Since the first pyramid needed an architect, recruiters have grappled with the screening process for hiring. Knowing which interview questions to ask is one of the toughest steps of the selection process. But instead of asking candidates trendy, but useless, brainteaser questions, like “how many golf balls will fit in the Great Pyramid?” develop questions that actually help you find the best new hire.

Start by identifying the problems your new hire will face on the job and ask the candidate what steps she would take to solve it. Develop a few questions directly from the candidate’s resume. Ask her the steps she took to achieve a specific accomplishment. Ask how she plans to succeed in the role. Many roles within an organization may never have direct contact with end users. Asking your potential new hire how the position directly impacts customers will help you determine if the he understands how he would influence the company’s success.

Phone Interview Questions

Phone conversations are your most efficient and effective solution for first-round interviews. But interviewers often make the mistake of conducting phone interviews much like they do in-person interviews. Take into account the phone’s unique benefits and shortcomings when developing screening interview questions.

Silence is more awkward on the phone than in person. When speaking to someone in person, you can read body language to fill in the gaps in conversation. As a result, many people compensate by talking more when on the phone. While you don’t want your applicant to feel uncomfortable, avoid being overly personal to convey friendliness. Instead try speaking with a smile. Your tone will be friendly while keeping the conversation focused on the job.

Set a time limit for the phone interview. Remember, the applicant can’t read your body language either. He may overcompensate by over-explaining his answers. Start by letting the candidate know the phone call will take about 30 minutes. He’ll likely give more concise answers, and he’ll know when it’s time to wrap things up.

Remember, a level of transparency will improve your candidate’s experience. Even disqualified candidates can impact your company’s reputation. If you decide during the phone interview that the candidate is not a good fit, politely and respectfully let them know. Or let successful candidates know to expect a follow-up phone call to schedule an in-person interview.

Final Thoughts

You shouldn’t have to choose between saving time during your pre-employment screening process or conducting a comprehensive search for the best candidate. Creating a screening strategy that begins with your job description and includes structured interview questions will help you tame the hiring process chaos while uncovering the best applicant in a mountain of resumes. ExactHire’s applicant tracking software can help you save time while creating a more effective screening process during each stage of your new hire search.

Source – Tom Branson

The post What Is the Screening Process? appeared first on Lanka Talents.

What is top grading interviewing? Our favourite tips

Buddhika Perera — Thu, 06 May 2021 03:40:23 +0000

When you interview job candidates, there are numerous ways to go about it. The hiring manager can screen, interview, and hire all on their own. Or, you can add top grading interviewing to your evaluation process.

Top grading interviewing allows you a lot more insight into a candidate, and (importantly) it will enable the candidate better insight into the company.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is top grading interviewing?

The term top grading comes from a 1997 article by Bradford D. Smart and his son, Geoffrey, called Top grading the organization. Their definition is:

“Top grading simply means proactively seeking out and employing the most talented people available, while redeploying (internally or externally) those of lesser ability or performance. More specifically, we view top grading as employing only A players.”

But, it’s more than just seeking A players; it’s about structuring interviews and making sure the process is rigorously targeting the right people. The Smarts talk a lot about talent rather than skill or experience, theorizing that the most talented people will bring the most value to your organization.

And to do that, it’s not just about the interview questions; it requires a well-written job description that reflects the company culture and goals and the individual job responsibilities. Without this critical information, you can’t attract the right people for the job.

Typically, when you use top grading, the candidates face multiple interviewers to find the best people who fill these critical core competencies: Intelligence, vision, leadership, drive, resourcefulness, customer focus, hiring, team-building, track record/experience, integrity, and communication.

This all comes together as part of a 12-step process in hiring.

These twelve steps are:

Measure and improve the current hiring process: You need to look at your current methods before making changes. What works and what does not?
Create a job scorecard: This is a rigorous process to determine what you need for the position. You do this before you begin recruiting, so the scorecard reflects the company’s needs rather than allowing candidates to sway hiring managers with charm.
Recruit candidates: Make sure you have a detailed job description.
Screen candidates with work history forms: These forms include detailed questions for all candidates that include compensation history (illegal now in some states and jurisdictions), “boss ratings, reasons for leaving jobs, likes and dislikes in job, self-appraisal, and more.”
Conduct telephone or video interviews: This should be an in-depth screening that lasts about 45 minutes. This narrows down your field.
Do competency interviews: These focus on proficiency and behaviour.
Conduct a top grading interview: Top grading interviewing is intense and focuses on the candidate’s entire career history, with questions about every position.
Provide feedback and coaching to interviewers: This helps you improve your process by giving each other feedback.
Write a summary: Each interviewer writes up a summary of each candidate, used for comparing.
Have the candidate arrange reference calls: Top grading theorizes that good performers have good relationships with former bosses and will enjoy this process. You then conduct the calls and categories the candidates according to their perceived potential.
Coach the new hire: The process doesn’t end on the candidate’s first day. You have to make sure to make this a good environment and an excellent place to grow.
Measure hiring success annually: When you establish a baseline and regular tracking of recruitment metrics, you can identify opportunities to finetune and improve your hiring process.

Why your company should utilize top grading

Top grading interviewing isn’t the best idea for every company and every position. It’s an intense process that doesn’t make sense for call centre employees but makes sense for CEOs and senior vice presidents.

When you hire someone into a leadership position, you need to be absolutely sure of their skills and abilities. After all, you are entrusting your business to their decision-making skills. This can help weed through multiple candidates to find the best of the best.

However, there is a caution: you will find great candidates who aren’t willing to jump through your hoops. This is a risk you have to take when you dedicate your process to top grading.

Example top grading interview questions

Top grading interviews are broken into four parts: Early influences, work history, plans and goals, and self-evaluation.

For example:

Early influences: “Tell me about the high school teacher who influenced you the most? How did that impact your future?”
Work history: “What is a problem you had to overcome in [specific position]? How did you solve it?”
Plans and goals: “What are your career aspirations? What do you hope to achieve in this role?”
Self-evaluation: “What are the things you struggle with? What are your strongest talents and skills?”

Candidates can answer none of these questions with a quick yes or no. They involve thought and require the interviewer to listen carefully.

Incorporating top grading into your interview process

You don’t have to switch to a complete top grading process to use some of its best aspects. Using job scorecards for all positions can help ensure that your interview process is fair and as unbiased as possible. Having multiple interviewers meet with each candidate also gives the possibility to tease out different skill sets. If the job has technical aspects, but the hiring manager isn’t a technical person, you want someone who understands those aspects to be part of the team. Otherwise, you may not get accurate answers.

As noted above, some aspects, like a compensation history, are illegal in some states and jurisdictions and should be avoided altogether, as it helps promulgate earlier discrimination problems. Look instead for growth in positions, regardless of salary.

Having candidates reach out to former bosses can make reference checks much easier, but keep in mind, just as there are bad employees, there are bad bosses. If someone has a bad relationship with a former boss, it doesn’t always mean that the candidate was the problem.

The best aspects of top grading are careful, detailed planning, and consistent candidate evaluation. It really can help you get the people you need into the position.

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4 unique interview questions to help you find the best employees

Lanka Talents Creation — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 03:58:56 +0000

The last time you conducted a job interview, did you ask unique interview questions specialized to the job? Or, were the questions more along the line of “What’s your biggest weakness?” and “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Or did you try to be creative and ask things like “How many dentists are there in Cleveland?” and “What’s your favorite book?”

Interviewing is a difficult task, and most hiring managers don’t do it very often – so they don’t have time to get good at it. But, asking unique interview questions can help you better evaluate candidates to land someone with the proper knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Why you should ask candidates unique interview questions

Usually, by the time people get to the interview stage, you know that –at least on paper – they meet the qualifications for the job. But, resumes and cover letters can be deceiving. When someone writes “developed new system for X,” the truth might be; “I was in the same room as the people who developed the new system for X.” That’s the type of stuff you want to tease out. That’s what you can do in the face-to-face interview.

If you simply keep to the same template for all positions, you won’t find the answers you need. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t ask similar questions to candidates for the same position – you should, in fact, to ensure a standardized process – but questions need to be uniquely tailored to the individual candidate.

This requires a bit more work from the hiring manager – you have to pay closer attention to the resume and cover letter – but it can pay off handsomely when you now know the candidate you’re hiring is the perfect fit for the job. Increased engagement, lower turnover, better productivity – there are numerous payoffs in a higher-quality hire.

Examples of unique interview questions

1. Tell me about the moment you came up with the idea for X.

When someone lists their accomplishments on their resumes, asking this question helps tease out if they really did what they said they did. Were they the ‘idea’ person or simply someone who implemented someone else’s idea? (It’s not bad to be an implementation person! It’s just a different skill set.)

Someone who developed the idea will almost always have a moment they can describe. “I was in my car on the way home, listening to a podcast, when the person said, ‘plastics.’ I was like, ‘Woah, plastics. That’s what I need to do.’”

When you ask a candidate about an accomplishment on their resume, you find out their level of involvement with the achievement, and you find out how their mind works. It’s a great question for anyone in a leadership or creative role.

2. Tell me about some of the most difficult problems you worked on and how you solved them.

This so you may argue that it’s not unique. What makes this a unique interview question is that you get to find out strengths and weaknesses that directly pertain to the job.

If you ask, “What is your biggest weakness?” you’ll get some drivel that won’t help you find the right candidate. If you ask this, the candidate can give you a tailored answer.

3. What made you go into this field of work?

This unique interview question helps you ascertain a cultural fit. You need to know what you are looking for in the answer to this. Is the candidate excited about their field of work? It gets you the background information you want and (often) insight into where they want to go in the future? Is this a stepping stone? A stop-gap measure? Or a job the person really wants?

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” is one of the more popular questions to get that information, but it’s reviled in these times of uncertainty and shorter tenures. The above question will give you better insight into the candidate’s longer-term objectives.

4. Here’s a description of a problem we’re working on. Can you give me a five-minute idea of where and how you’d begin solving this?

This puts your candidate uniquely into the job and not on general principles around the role. Note: this isn’t an assignment to create a three-hour presentation, and it’s not an attempt to get free consulting out of a candidate. It’s a five-minute look at where they would start.

From this, you learn their background, problem-solving approach, and ability to comprehend the situations they will face in the job.

How to incorporate unique questions during your interview

The point of these unique interview questions is to target them specifically to the job and the company. By the time you conduct an interview, all the candidates have already been determined that they can likely do the job. Through these questions, you get to learn a lot more about the individual and how they would fit into your department and team.

So many canned interview questions have the candidate thinking, “What does the hiring manager want to hear?” rather than “Here is what I have to offer.” These questions directly engage the candidate’s unique experiences and the unique struggles of the business. You’ll have a better understanding of the candidate with this type of questioning.

Use these questions as part of your general process. Depending on the role, you may want technical questions, hypothetical situations, and questions about their career progression. But, with everyone, you want to know how well they’d do in the job. These questions help.

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Called Back for a Second Interview? Prepare to Answer These 10 Questions

Lanka Talents Creation — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 05:44:15 +0000

After submitting a polished resume and cover letter, you aced the answers to common interview questions during your phone screen and/or first-round interview and got invited back for the second interview—in other words, the real deal.

Second interviews can take many different forms, but there are a few things you can count on. You’ll likely be speaking with the hiring manager, either one-on-one or as part of a panel interview, and either as a standalone meeting or part of a series of interviews. Many phone screens are with a recruiter, so this could be the first time you speak directly with the person who will ultimately decide if you get the job and who might become your boss. A second interview might also involve meeting with other team members or even your future boss’s boss—or it might be your second conversation with the hiring manager after you’ve completed other interviews or steps in the process (such as an interview assignment).

How you do in the second interview is often what the hiring manager will base their final hiring decision on, so if there was ever a time to shine it would be now. Wondering what’s the best way to make sure you dazzle your future employer?

Be prepared. Practice answering questions you’ll likely get in a second interview. Or, in other words, read on.

How to Prepare for a Second Interview

So what exactly does being prepared involve? In short, reflect on what you learned from your first interview to help you prep for your second.

First, consider what caught your first interviewer’s attention. Was there a specific skill or experience of yours they were especially keen to learn more about? Generate “examples of how you’ve navigated challenging work scenarios in the past and what projects or accomplishments you’re proudest of” that are relevant to what you’ve learned about the role, says Shanna Hocking, founder of Be Yourself Boldly and the host of the career development podcast One Bold Move a Day. These are what you’ll use to help make the case that you’re the best hire.

Next, review what you learned about the upcoming goals or the vision of the team or company. How does this role fit into that picture? “Do your research on the company and the problems they’re working to solve,” Hocking says. Spend time thinking about ideas or potential solutions. How might your experiences make you uniquely equipped to solve this problem?

Once you have some good examples and ideas lined up, the next step is to practice answering sample questions aloud. “Preparing and practicing ahead of time will make you feel much more comfortable and confident when you’re face to face with the interviewer,” says Muse career coach Jennifer Smith, founder of Flourish Careers.

It can be especially helpful to go ahead and structure the examples you’ve prepped in a way that highlights the relevant parts of each story. “Outline your stories with the following framework: objective, actions you took, and result. And then practice them over and over,” Smith says. Knowing what details to include and what to cut before you go into your interview will help you make the points you want to make and sound more polished.

With all that in mind, here are 10 questions that you may be asked in a second interview—plus some pointers on how to best answer them.

1.

Tell Me About Yourself.

No surprises here. A lot of interviews start this way. Interviewers want not only to find out who you are, but also to learn about you in the context of the job you’ve applied for.
In other words, this is your opportunity to introduce yourself to your interviewer and connect your story to the company’s needs.

How to Answer

My go-to strategy for this interview opener is to start with your present, talk about your past, and then finish with your future. Your present is what your current role is along with any specific expertise or interests you have. Your past is the previous experience you bring and how you acquired your skills (your education, for example). And finally, your future is how you’re hoping the rest of your career is going to play out, at least for the foreseeable future.

For a second interview though, you’re going to want to center your response a bit more on the company and what you’ve learned about the role from earlier interviews. The obvious place to pepper in what you’ve learned about the role is in the “future” part of your answer, but you can also add a bit in the “present” in the form of things you are currently working on or excited about that pertain to the new role or the “past” by highlighting relevant experiences or skills.

For example:

“I’m a product manager at Alpha Tech with an interdisciplinary background and a soft spot for the design side of things, which is why this role at Beta Tech is so interesting to me—since design thinking is the foundation that Beta Tech was built on. In the six years I’ve been at Alpha Tech, I’ve led teams, pushed products through to their launch, and kept communication channels clear. When I joined Alpha Tech, I did a rotational program where I got to see how several different teams worked before settling into my current role, an experience that I think would help me get up to speed more quickly at Beta Tech given how the role oversees many of the same kinds of teams I’ve worked on before. Before that, I got my bachelors and masters in EECS [electrical engineering and computer science]—which gave me a background in coding that will help me with some of the more technical aspects of this role that Sahil mentioned on the phone. Now I’m really looking forward to taking on a more senior product management role in a place where I can work with industry leaders known for thoughtfully integrating the design and tech sides of their business.”

2.

What Makes You a Good Fit for This Role?

More likely than not you’ve already been asked some version of this question in round one, but in your second round you’ll likely be talking to different people so there’s bound to be some repetition. A repeat interviewer may also be interested in knowing your answer now that you’ve learned more about the role and the company in earlier interview rounds and conversations. Either way, your interviewer wants to know how your qualifications connect to their job opening directly and to make sure that you understand what the role entails. So don’t short change this question just because you’ve answered it before.

How to Answer

Your goal is to respond in a way that is more specific to the role and company now that you know more about what the job is and what kinds of challenges the team or organization is facing. Find the intersection of what you have to offer and what the company needs. Hopefully at this point you have some idea what that might be. If you’re not sure where to start, Smith suggests leading with a “service mindset and enthusiasm for the job.” You want to get across to the hiring manager that you not only have the right skills and the right attitude for the job, but also that you’re intrinsically motivated based on the trajectory of your career. In other words, talk about what you can do for the company, not what the company can do for you.

For example:

“In our last conversation, we talked about how fast the company is growing. It’s definitely an exciting time to join, but I know one challenge will be the process of onboarding and training a lot of new account managers. Aside from having over a decade of experience as an account manager, I’ve spent a lot of time training and mentoring new staff—first because it was just something I enjoyed doing, but then later more formally as my supervisor noticed that it’s something I’m good at. I’d be thrilled to help formalize a thorough and supportive training program for new account managers in addition to being one myself.”

3.

What Would You Hope to Accomplish in the First Few Months?

Here the interviewer is trying to suss out which candidate will hit the ground running. This question is intimidating, but also a truly excellent opportunity to show off all the research you’ve done about the role and company. That said, you obviously don’t know everything about the job, so your interviewer will also be interested in how you’d fill in those gaps in your knowledge.

How to Answer

Giving the interviewer an idea of how you plan on learning about the issues they’re working on and how you plan on acting on what you’ve learned is key here. Your goals are to show what you already know about the role, how you would learn the rest (including who you’d talk to), and how you’d contribute once you’re up to speed.

For example:

“It’s been exciting to hear about some of the new initiatives the company has started in our previous conversations—like the database project and the company-wide sync, but I know there’s still a lot for me to learn. The first thing I’d do is line up meetings with the stakeholders involved in the projects I’d be tackling to help me figure out what I don’t know and then go from there. Hopping into a database project halfway through can be tricky, but I’m confident that once I know what all the stakeholders are looking for, I’ll be able to efficiently plot out our next steps and set appropriate deadlines. From there, I’ll be focused on hitting the milestones that I’ve set for the team.”

4.

What Is Your Experience With or How Would You Deal With [Challenge or New Initiative the Company or Team Is Currently Tackling]?

When interview questions get specific like this, it means this is a critical piece of the job. The hiring manager is really trying to envision you in the role and how you might help them. So go into detail how you would tackle their immediate challenges. Do yourself a favor and answer as comprehensively as possible. Answering something like this poorly can be a dealbreaker.

How to Answer

It can be tricky to answer a question about a new initiative (or the like) at a company you don’t work for yet. Rather than diving into hypotheticals or specifics, you’re much better off talking about your own experience with a similar situation. Start your response off by connecting what their company is going through with something you’ve worked on in the past and then focus on what you did and the takeaways from that experience.

For example:

“It’s been interesting to learn more about the plan to give employees an opportunity to ‘share’ jobs to create more flexibility for working parents. I’d definitely like to learn more about how this initiative started and what work has been done around it already. From what I know though, it seems somewhat similar—in terms of execution—to my experience spearheading a new career track for administrative assistants at my current company. I led our people ops team in developing new training, creating new policies, and implementing new procedures. It was difficult to get something brand new off the ground, but ultimately this program not only improved retention, but also became something we started talking about when recruiting. Throughout the process, I’ve seen how important it is to get buy-in for any new program, not just from management but from the employees it’s supposed to benefit. The program itself was different from the one you’re working on, but I think there’s a lot of overlap in terms of implementation that I’d be happy to discuss further.”

5.

What Management Style Works Best for You?

Aside from using the second interview to see if you’ll be able to do the job, the hiring manager is going to want to make sure you’ll work well with the existing team. This question is an attempt to understand what kind of manager or boss suits you best and whether or not your preferences match up with their work style (or the work style of whomever the position reports to).

How to Answer

Be honest about what type of boss works best for you. You don’t want to work somewhere where you won’t thrive. Questions like this might seem like they’re begging for answers filled with platitudes and buzzwords like “lead by example” and “team player,” and it’s fine to include them, but make sure you take it one step further and give an example of a management style that worked well for you.

For example:

“I’m not really a ‘beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission’ kind of person. I really value clear, upfront communication with my manager and try to be as open as possible about what I’m working on. I’ve been lucky in my current role and have had a really great relationship with my manager. Even though she trusts me to do my own thing, she makes it a point to really lay out her expectations at the beginning of every project and make sure that we’re on the same page. Other than our weekly check-in, she gives me the freedom I need to work independently. She trusts my judgment, which I appreciate, but she also makes it clear she’s available for questions or to help out with any unanticipated roadblocks. So overall I’d say I work best with a manager who allows me to work independently because they trust that I’ll always keep them up to date on what I’m working on, but is willing to check in and answer questions when I need it.”

6.

Tell Me About a Time You Disagreed with a Colleague.

Similar to the previous question, this question also gets at how you’d work with the current team, but the interviewer is also looking for some additional insight into your problem solving strategies. More specifically, they’re trying to find out what kind of conflict resolution skills you have.

How to Answer

Don’t tiptoe around this by giving an example where there isn’t really a disagreement. Conflicts happen at work and by avoiding the question you’re showing that you might be the kind of person who is afraid to voice their opinion or, worse, is oblivious to conflict happening around them.

For most “Tell me about a time when” questions, you’ll want to tell a story and include a moral—or what the interviewer should take away from the story. You never really know what the interviewer is going to focus on in your answer, so you’re best off telling them what to focus on. You can do this either at the beginning of your answer or at the end.

For example:

“You’re probably familiar with the phenomenon that happens in all labs: Everyone needs the same piece of equipment at the same time. So in my current lab there’s a calendar system where you book time on a piece of equipment’s calendar to claim it. It works pretty well, but there’s an unspoken protocol where if you need to use something urgently enough, you can basically boot someone out of their slot. I did this once, when I was newer to the lab. I thought I was following the rules, but the person I booted was absolutely livid. I was not aware that there was another aspect of this loophole that involved seniority. When confronted, I tried to explain why I needed to use the piece of equipment and why it was time sensitive, but I also mentioned what lab rule I was following. That’s when I found out that lab members didn’t invoke this protocol for someone more senior than them. If I hadn’t gone back and specified exactly what rules I was following, my colleague would never have told me the bit about seniority. Once I figured out what I did wrong, I apologized. In general, when I’m dealing with conflict with a coworker, I try to really understand what the actual issue is—this one being an information gap on my end and not knowing where I was coming from on my colleague’s end—so that we can solve it together rather than talk around it and past one another.”

7.

Why Do You Want to Leave Your Current Job? (Or: Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?)

Don’t be alarmed. Second-round interviews tend to get a bit more probing than first-round interviews, so you should be prepared for interviewers to want to dig a bit deeper. The interviewer is going to try to find any red flags from your previous experience, including why you are leaving or have left your most recent role. Were you fired or are you just looking for a more challenging role? Was there something else you weren’t getting from your last job that this job will offer you? Or are you likely to leave this job quickly for similar reasons?

How to Answer

Try to be honest without going negative. Even if you literally only have bad things to say about your current or previous employer, keep your answer neutral to positive. It almost doesn’t matter what your story is, going negative only makes you and your own experience look bad. Instead, focus on what this job has to offer that your previous job did not.

For example:

“I learned a lot in my last role and I enjoyed the work that I did—it was really an incredible introduction to the publishing industry—but I’m also looking for ways to expand my understanding of the field, so I began searching for roles related to the marketing side of things. This role seems to be the perfect way to build on the foundation my last role gave me, while focusing more on marketing.”

8.

What Are Your Short- and Long-Term Career Goals?

Again, this is an attempt to figure out if your career path and the company’s goals overlap—one of the company’s goals being that this role stays filled for a long time. So it’s not surprising that they’ll be wondering how likely it is you’ll want to stick around for a while. Onboarding and training a new employee, even if they have relevant skills, is a labor intensive and costly process. Hiring managers are generally not that interested in investing in someone who plans on leaving in the next year or two. Goals that indicate a strong match and your willingness to stay put could be the things that give you a leg up over the other candidates brought in for a second interview.

How to Answer

You can be pretty specific with your short-term goals. And they should obviously align very closely with the role you are applying for. For your long-term goal, you can be a bit more vague. Go for something that implies an upward trajectory—like managing a team or leading a project—but you don’t necessarily need to say you want it to be at the company you’re applying for unless that really is your goal. In other words, be honest—just not so honest that you disqualify yourself.

For example:

“I feel like there is always more to learn in supply chain management. In the next couple of years, I’d like to continue learning the ins and outs of the field, pick a specialty, and really become an expert in that speciality. For that reason, I was especially excited about how large and varied your supply-chain management operations are. In terms of the future, one of the things I’m definitely looking forward to doing—hopefully within the next few years—is getting more management experience. I’ve only ever managed interns at this point, but I’d love to lead my own team one day.”

9.

What Is Your Target Salary?

It’s likely you’ve already talked about salary in your first interview. Most hiring managers want to make sure they can afford you before bringing you in to meet the team, so if you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably more or less on the same page. Still, it may come up again—particularly if you didn’t really give a firm number—and you should have something ready to go.

How to Answer

Money is always a little awkward to talk about, but you can blunt the awkwardness and leave some room for future negotiation by giving a salary range. There are several online resources that you can peruse to get an idea of what your salary should be, such as the LinkedIn Salary Tool or PayScale. From there, take into account your own experience and current salary.

Don’t forget that you can always demur and ask the interviewer what the salary range for the role is first.

For example:

“Based on my previous experience in marketing and the job duties we’ve discussed, I would expect something around $65,000 to $75,000. But I know salary is just one component of a job offer—I’m definitely open to talking about this in more detail later on.”

10.

Is There Anything From Your Earlier Interview(s) That You’d Like to Discuss?

Interviews are, in theory, a continuing conversation between two parties. The hiring manager isn’t just evaluating you, you’re also scoping out the company. This question is a way to continue the conversation from your first interview and is actually a nice gesture from the interviewer. They’re giving you a chance to lead the conversation.

How to Answer

It can be very tempting to just say, “Nope!” and call it a day. After all, interviews are generally nerve-racking and not fun. But I would encourage you to resist cutting your interview short and really consider if there was anything you could have answered more comprehensively or something that you forgot to mention entirely. This is one of those questions where you can really make it anything you want it to be. If you could say anything to the hiring manager, what would you say? This is another chance to make your case—or a second chance to say what you meant to say the first time around.

Remember when you were preparing for this interview and you came up with a few good stories to talk about that really represented your work and experience and skills well? If you haven’t already talked about all of them, semi-open questions like this one or “Is there anything else you’d like me to know?” are golden opportunities to share the ones you haven’t gotten to yet. You just need to find the right transition into the story.

For example:

“Since our first conversation, I’ve been thinking a lot about the way you spoke about the company’s commitment to diversity. I’ve been a co-lead of my company’s Asian American ERG for a couple years now and it’s really important to me that diversity is valued in the workplace. I’ve been really impressed to see how even the recruitment process has reflected this commitment. Given the opportunity, I’d love to help continue pushing the needle forward, whether it’s through another ERG or some other avenue at the company.”

Questions to Ask in a Second Interview

Aside from being prepared to answer questions, you should also be ready to ask some yourself. “It shows you’re prepared and want to learn—and remember, you’re interviewing the company, too!” Hocking says.

Typically, you’ll be given the opportunity to ask at least a couple questions toward the end of the interview. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the role or team, but also to show off some of the homework you’ve done on the company since your last interview. Don’t be afraid to bring up what you already know—it’s a great way to further demonstrate how interested you are. Ideally, your questions can show that you’re already catching on to what the role is going to call for based on your previous interviews or even networking conversations. An excellent way to end the interview is for the interviewer to think you’d be quick to train.

Just don’t forget to also ask any questions you’d like to know the answer to before deciding to accept the role if it’s offered to you!

A few general favorites from Smith include:

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about working for your company?
Is risk-taking encouraged?
What happens when people fail?
How would you describe organizational politics?

You can also get specific with questions like:

You mentioned [new project], what would this position’s role be in that?
When I spoke with [team member], it sounded like the team is looking for someone who can [skill]. Could you tell me more about how you see this role interacting with the rest of the team?

What to Do After the Interview

Let’s assume you knocked that second interview out of the park thanks to all that prep work you did. Don’t mess it up now by forgetting this important final step: writing a thank you note.

The thank you note is likely the last bit of communication you have with the hiring manager before they make a decision about who to hire (or at least who to move to the final stages of the process). It can be tempting to just dash off a quick email or go the opposite direction and write a novel rehashing all the ways you are qualified for the job. Instead, try to strike a happy medium and write a note—an email is fine—that thanks them for their time, highlights the parts of the conversation you especially enjoyed, and concludes with how what you learned makes you even more enthusiastic about the opportunity. Or, you know, just follow this thank you note template.

That’s it. Now go prepare. Good luck!

Source – Lily Zhang

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